The MLS All-Stars topped Bayern Munich 2-1 Wednesday night, with plenty of Pacific Northwest soccer exposure mixed in with a little bit of postgame controversy. The MLS team rode the strength of a beautiful 51st-minute strike from the New York Red Bulls’ Bradley Wright-Phillips and a nice 70th minute tally from Landon Donovan to the victory.
MLS fans have to be pleased with the win even if it was against a Bayern squad that wasn’t fielding a full-strength line-up and is now in the midst of pre-season tune-ups. Critics of American soccer are sure to point to those factors to diminish the importance of the victory, but this is far from the fall-out that would have taken place if MLS had lost 5-0.
The Northwest was well represented, with four Seattle Sounders and three Portland Timbers making appearances. Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins and DeAndre Yedlin all started for Seattle and played the entire first half. The Timbers, meanwhile, hosted the event at Providence Park and fielded two All-Stars of their own in Diego Valeri and Will Johnson, with Valeri notching a beautiful assist on Donovan’s goal.
The end of the match featured a controversial sequence, with Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola giving Portland/MLS All-Star head coach Caleb Porter a Mutombo-style finger wag and refusing to shake hands with him after the game. Guardiola was seemingly upset at what he perceived to be overly physical play from the MLS side, including a hard tackle by Seattle’s Osvaldo Alonso.
Guardiola isn’t wrong to be irritated at unnecessarily aggressive play in what is supposed to be a friendly exhibition match. But snubbing Porter on the handshake sure seems like an excessive move. Blaming the opposing team’s coach for hard tackles by players that aren’t even on his original team is silly.
Alonso is notoriously physical and plays at a persistently high gear regardless of the setting. The hard tackles by the MLS players weren’t a diabolical Caleb Porter-led conspiracy to injure the Bayern Munich side and Guardiola—one of the most successful coaches in the world at the moment—probably should have thought about this before indignantly refusing to shake hands with an opposing coach. The dispute was reportedly squashed following the game but it was nonetheless an unfortunate blemish on what was an otherwise entertaining match-up throughout.
Victories in matches like this can only mean good things for MLS, regardless of its current status on the world stage. The MLS roster was permeated with players who have been internationally competitive and have worked to increase the credibility of the league by a large margin in the last few years.
No one is saying that this type of victory places MLS on the same tier as overseas leagues. But, frankly, I’ve never understood why this is even an issue. The game was an entertaining spectacle and allowed Portland fans (and soccer fans nationally) to get a glimpse of the best players in MLS taking on arguably the best club in the entire world at a high-intensity, competitive level.
I only see positivity in that.
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