Henry has played in MLS since 2010 (©GettyImages)
(PhatzRadio / CBC Sports) — American Michael Bradley returns to the U.S. and will join Francesco Totti as Italian club Roma takes on Thierry Henry and the best that MLS has to offer in the league’s annual All-Star game on Wednesday night.
“There’s no question that the league continues to grow,” Bradley said. “You look around the league, you see the stadiums that are being built, you see the teams that come into the league that have support and fans like they do in Seattle, Portland, and I think that’s great for the league and great for our country. I think the quality continues to get better and better.”
There may be no better example of all of those factors than Kansas City.
The club was known as the Wizards in its early years, but after it was sold to local owners in 2006, it underwent a dramatic rebranding that ultimately spawned Sporting KC.
Now, a franchise that hadn’t tasted much success in the better part of a decade — and that couldn’t draw fans to games at Arrowhead Stadium and a minor league ballpark — is selling out just about every game at Sporting Park, its soccer-specific, $200 million jewel in Kansas City, Kan.
The fact that this year’s All-Star game was awarded to the franchise is a testament to the success of those involved in the club, Commissioner Don Garber told The Associated Press.
“They had a plan from the beginning to connect in the community, to rebrand the club with an international feel that’s embedded in the community, and from the very beginning they wanted to build this state-of-the-art facility,” Garber said. “Sporting Park is just that.”
The stadium has already hosted a myriad of international competitions, and will do so again in October when the U.S. national team plays Jamaica in a World Cup qualifier.
Veteran superstars collide
But on Wednesday night, it’s Roma that gets a chance to see what it’s all about.
One of the most prestigious clubs in Italian soccer, Roma has won three Serie A titles and features one of the greatest players ever in the 36-year-old Totti, who has hinted that he may retire next year with his contract set to expire.
“For me and my teammates, for Roma, it’s the first time we’ve played a match against a team like MLS,” Totti said through a translator. “We’re happy we’ve been invited for this match, and of course, very happy to see Michael play against some of his good friends.”
Totti will be facing some familiar faces, too.
One of the players on the MLS squad is Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry, the longtime Arsenal star helped lead France to the World Cup final in 2006. Henry’s team finally ran into the Azzurri of Totti and lost 5-3 in a dramatic penalty shootout.
“When you think about Roma, you think about Francesco Totti,” Henry said. “I have maximum respect for him to stay with the same team throughout his career, the team he supported as a boy. We could be here and talk about Francesco Totti all day.”
There are plenty of American stars who will be taking part, though, including a couple from the host club. Matt Besler, who helped the U.S. win the Gold Cup over the weekend, is scheduled to play along with Sporting KC teammate Graham Zusi, who has become a staple of the national team.
They’ll be coached on the MLS side by Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes.
“The challenges are simple,” Vermes said. “We’re playing against Roma and we have a very short period of time together to prepare for the game, but just knowing the players we have on this roster, I’m sure we’ll make it extremely exciting and give them a very, very good game.”
The MLS is 7-2-1 in All-Star games since the current format featuring an international opponent was adopted more than a decade ago. Both losses came to Manchester United of the English Premier League, though the MLS side beat Premier League club Chelsea last year.
“For me, I grew up with the MLS. I was 9 years old when the league began,” Bradley said this week, “so for me to have an opportunity to come back to my home country and play against the MLS All-Star team, it’s going to be a great night.”
Soccer Results: Courtesy of Livescore.com
Champions League – Qualification
FT Shakhter Karagandy 3 – 0 Skenderbeu
FT Austria Wien 1 – 0 FH Hafnarfjordur
FT Din. Tbilisi 0 – 2 Steaua Bucuresti
FT Nomme JK Kalju 0 – 4 Viktoria Plzen
FT Basel 1 – 0 Maccabi Tel Aviv
FT FC Nordsjælland 0 – 1 Zenit Petersburg
FT PAOK Thessaloniki FC 0 – 2 Metalist Kharkiv
FT Dinamo Zagreb 1 – 0 FC Sheriff
FT PSV Eindhoven 2 – 0 Zulte-Waregem
FT Lyon 1 – 0 Grasshoppers
International – Club Friendlies
FT Genclerbirligi 2 – 1 Greuther Furth
FT Konyaspor 0 – 2 MP Antalyaspor
FT Kaiserslautern 1 – 1 Bayer Leverkusen
FT Würzburger Kickers 0 – 3 Borussia Dortmund
FT Albacete 1 – 4 Valladolid
FT Vitoria de Guimaraes 2 – 0 P.Ferreira
FT Gainsborough 0 – 5 Mansfield
FT St. Mirren 0 – 2 Newcastle United
FT Stalybridge 2 – 2 Accrington
FT Aveley 3 – 1 Dag and Red
FT Brentford 3 – 2 Cardiff
FT Brighton 1 – 1 Norwich
FT Kidderminster 3 – 1 Cheltenham
FT Lechia Gdansk 2 – 2 Barcelona
FT Maidenhead U 4 – 2 Gillingham
FT Maidstone 0 – 2 Luton
FT Northampton 2 – 1 Leicester
FT CS Constantine 2 – 2 Espanyol
FT Philadelphia Union 0 – 2 Stoke
Germany – Regionalliga Bayern
FT Augsburg II 2 – 0 1860 Rosenheim
FT B.Munchen II 1 – 0 Nürnberg II
FT SV Seligenporten 1 – 0 1860 Munchen II
FT SpVgg Bayern Hof 0 – 1 Ingolstadt II
FT Eintracht Bamberg 2 – 0 TSV Buchbach
FT FC Memmingen 0 – 2 SV Heimstetten
FT FC Schweinfurt 2 – 2 Greuther Furth II
Germany – Regionalliga Südwest
FT Mannheim 4 – 2 Ulm
Russia – 2. Division Center
FT FC Metallurg Vyksa 2 – 1 Kaluga
FT Metallurg Oskol 1 – 2 Zvezda Ryazan
FT Dinamo Briansk 2 – 1 Spartak Tambov
FT Metalurg Lypetsk 0 – 0 Zenit Penza
FT FC Oryol 0 – 1 Avangard Kursk
FT Lokomotiv Liski 1 – 1 Fakel
FT Podolye Podolskiy Rayon 1 – 2 Sokol Saratov
FT Spartak Moscow II 2 – 3 Vityaz Podolsk
Russia – 2. Division South
FT Alania-D Vladikavkaz 1 – 2 Biolog Novokubansk
FT Astrakhan 1 – 1 Gazprom Transgaz
FT Druzhba 2 – 1 Terek Grozny II
FT FC Olimpia Volgograd 4 – 1 FC Krasnodar II
FT FK Taganrog 2 – 1 Chernomorets N.
FT Mashuk-KMV 2 – 0 Mitos
FT Energiya Volzhskiy 2 – 4 FC Volgar
FT Torpedo Armavir 1 – 0 Dagdissel
FT Vityaz Krymsk 0 – 2 SKA Rostov
Russia – Cup
20:00 Dinamo Kostroma ? – ? Tekstilshchik Ivanovo
20:00 Tosno ? – ? Pskov-747
South America – Copa Sudamericana
FT Inti Gas Deportes 0 – 1 Atletico Nacional
FT Liga de Loja 2 – 0 Deportivo Lara
FT Itagui 3 – 0 Juan Aurich
FT Nacional 0 – 0 The Strongest
FT Real Potosi 3 – 1 Univ. de Chile
Brazil – Serie B
FT America RN 2 – 0 ASA
FT Avai FC 1 – 0 Atletico GO
FT Ceara 3 – 1 Chapecoense AF
FT Joinville 2 – 3 Boa Esporte Clube
FT Oeste FC 1 – 0 Guaratingueta
FT America MG 5 – 0 Sport
FT Bragantino 0 – 0 Parana Clube
FT Palmeiras 4 – 0 Icasa
FT Paysandu 2 – 1 Figueirense
FT Sao Caetano 2 – 1 ABC
Colombia – Liga Postobón I Clausura
FT Santa Fe 2 – 2 A. Petrolera
Mexico – Primera Division Apertura
FT Cruz Azul 1 – 1 Jaguares
Soccer Recap: Thierry Henry leads MLS All-Stars against Totti’s Roma / World Soccer Results is a post from: PhatzRadio.com
