The 2012 Major League Soccer All-Star Game, held on July 25, 2012, was the 17th annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game, a soccer match involving all-stars from Major League Soccer. The game was played at PPL Park, now known as Subaru Park, in Chester, Pennsylvania, the first time an all-star event was played in the Philadelphia area since the 2002 NBA All-Star Game.
The game featured the MLS All-Stars against Premier League team Chelsea, who were the FA Cup and European Champions League holders. Chelsea made their 2nd appearance in the MLS All-Star Game; the Blues were visiting side in the 2006 MLS All-Star Game at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois, losing to the MLS XI 1–0.
Piotr Nowak, the coach of the Philadelphia Union (the All-Star Game's host), was originally announced to coach the MLS All-Stars. After Nowak was dismissed from the Union on June 13,"All-Star: MLS to announce Nowak's replacement soon," from MLSsoccer, 6/13/2012 MLS chose D.C. United coach and Pennsylvania native Ben Olsen to coach the All-Stars."Olsen's appointment a 'team honor' for United," from MLSsoccer.com, 6/21/2012
A tracking system was worn by each player to monitor heart rate, intensity of play, speed, distance covered and other personal characteristics in real-time.
Rosters
MLS All-Stars
♦
(Captain)
♦
%
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
♦ - Players selected by MLS Commissioner Don Garber * - Injured and unavailable for matchday ** - Added as a replacement for Heath Pearce % - Promoted from the Inactive Roster to the Active Roster to fulfill Chelsea's request that the number of substitutes be increased from seven to ten. ♥ - "Inactive Roster" players voted for by other players in MLS
Chelsea
Match
Details
GK 1 Jimmy Nielsen RB 33 Steven Beitashour CB 6 Jay DeMerit CB 78 Aurélien Collin LB 15 Justin Morrow DM 16 Osvaldo Alonso AM 7 Dwayne De Rosario (c) RM 23 David Beckham LM 10 Landon Donovan CF 14 Thierry Henry CF 8 Chris Wondolowski Substitutes:DF 2 Carlos Valdés GK 22 Dan Kennedy MF 13 Chris Pontius MF 5 Kyle Beckerman MF 11 Graham Zusi DF 12 Ramiro Corrales FW 9 Eddie Johnson MF 21 Michael Farfan Manager: Ben Olsen
GK 40 Henrique Hilário RB 2 Branislav Ivanović CB 26 John Terry (c) CB 24 Gary Cahill LB 3 Ashley Cole DM 5 Michael Essien CM 7 Ramires CM 8 Frank Lampard MF 30 Yossi Benayoun MF 21 Marko Marin CF 18 Romelu Lukaku Substitutes:GK 22 Ross Turnbull MF 19 Paulo Ferreira MF 15 Florent Malouda DF 4 David Luiz MF 17 Eden Hazard MF 12 Mikel John Obi MF 16 Raul Meireles FW 35 Lucas Piazon MF 14 Kevin De Bruyne DF 45 Nathaniel Chalobah Manager: Roberto Di Matteo Volkswagen MLS All-Star MVP: Chris Pontius (MLS All-Stars)
Assistant referees: (Ian Anderson) (Greg Barkey) Fourth official: (Jorge González)Match rules 90 minutes. No extra time Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Maximum of ten substitutions.
References