The 2016 Major League Soccer All-Star Game, the 21st annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game, took place on July 28, 2016 (7:30 p.m. EDT, 4:30 p.m. local time) at Avaya Stadium, the home of the San Jose Earthquakes. The game was televised live on ESPN and Univision in the United States, and on TSN and RDS in Canada. The game featured the MLS All-Star team playing English side Arsenal, with the match being a preseason friendly for Arsenal as part of their tour of California.
Chuba Akpom was named MVP.
Background The Major League Soccer (MLS) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition game played by a selection of players from the league's teams. It began in 1996 with the Eastern Conference and Western Conference fielding their own teams, similar to other major North American sports. After numerous format changes, the 2003 edition saw the format change again to matchup Mexican club Guadalajara against the "MLS All-Stars", a team with the best players competing in MLS. After reverting to the original format in 2004, the "MLS All-Stars" had since played various club teams from across the world, including Premier League clubs Manchester United and Chelsea.
MLS announced in May 2015 that Avaya Stadium, the home stadium of the San Jose Earthquakes, would host the 21st edition of the MLS All-Star Game. In February 2016, it was announced that Premier League side Arsenal were set to play the MLS All-Stars on July 28. Telecommunications company AT&T sponsored the game and the match was broadcast live in the United States through ESPN and Univision; it was also available internationally in over 100 countries.
Squads MLS All-Stars The MLS All Star Fan XI was announced on July 9, 2016, however members of this XI were not guaranteed a slot in the 22 man game day squad.
Notes: Injured or otherwise unable to play.
Arsenal On July 22 Arsenal announced a 25-man traveling squad for the MLS All-Star game:
Notes: Injured or otherwise unable to play. Development Squad
Match
GK 1 Andre Blake DF 12 Keegan Rosenberry DF 23 Laurent Ciman DF 37 Jelle Van Damme DF 95 Kellyn Acosta MF 21 Andrea Pirlo MF 25 Kyle Beckerman MF 17 Giovani dos Santos MF 22 Kaká (c) FW 7 David Villa FW 11 Didier Drogba Substitutes:GK 34 David Bingham DF 3 Brandon Vincent DF 4 Kendall Waston DF 14 Andrew Farrell DF 15 Steve Birnbaum MF 2 Clint Dempsey MF 6 Darlington Nagbe MF 8 Chris Wondolowski MF 16 Sacha Kljestan MF 20 Wil Trapp MF 28 Ignacio Piatti MF 29 Mauro Díaz FW 9 Cyle Larin FW 10 Sebastian Giovinco Manager: Dominic Kinnear GK 33 Petr Čech (c) DF 2 Mathieu Debuchy DF 16 Rob HoldingDF 37 Krystian Bielik DF 3 Kieran Gibbs MF 35 Mohamed Elneny MF 34 Francis Coquelin MF 10 Jack Wilshere MF 15 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain MF 28 Joel Campbell FW 14 Theo Walcott Substitutes:GK 26 Emiliano Martínez DF 18 Nacho Monreal DF 21 Calum Chambers DF 24 Héctor Bellerín MF 17 Alex Iwobi MF 29 Granit Xhaka MF 31 Jeff Reine-Adélaïde MF 40 Gedion Zelalem FW 32 Chuba Akpom FW 68 Chris Willock Manager: Arsène Wenger
Most valuable player: Chuba Akpom (Arsenal)
Assistant referees: Frank Anderson Matthew Nelson Fourth official: Juan Guzman Fifth official: Chris StricklandMatch rules 90 minutes. Unlimited substitutions. No extra time. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
References