(First written Jul 29 2026, X)

So, with the popularity of the World Cup my passion for soccer was reawakened. I have always watched my beloved Aston Villa, but I moved to the United States fifteen years ago and not once had I thought to watch any American soccer, and I have no idea why. I guess I just had no interest in it, soccer was something from home and I was always keeping it that way. Every time Villa got to play over here, I tried to get tickets to the game. In fifteen years, I was able to see them play twice, once in Chicago and once in St Louis and the one thing that I truly missed was the excitement of seeing live games. Nothing to me beats the atmosphere of the stadium, live crowds, shared passion, nothing beats cheering on your team as the game plays out right in front of your eyes- and that is what I missed. During the World Cup I had a few personal crisis and it caused me to be out of work, I had a lot going on and my mental health had begun to deteriorate- but the World Cup changed all of that for me. It gave me hope and something to enjoy, I watched a lot of games and became invested in stories on and off the pitch and I rediscovered a passion, it gave me a reason to live in a period of time in my life that was really dark. It felt like I was at my lowest point, but the World Cup had given me a reason to continue. I did not want that feeling to end, I had met some great people during the World Cup, a lot of them Americans and so I figured the best way to keep the good time rolling was to check out American soccer. I had no idea where to begin so I started with an MLS team as that to me seemed like a logical starting point- although I do want to check out all levels of the game here but I wanted to experience the game on the grandest stage that the country has to offer. So, I used my brain and on an official MLS post I asked which team people thought I should follow and the response was truly overwhelming and all it did was prove what I already knew- that American fans no matter the sport, once invested are one of the most passionate sets of fans in the world. So, I settled on a team and started following them- however American soccer and in particular the MLS is a hard landscape to navigate.

As someone that comes from a different soccer background and sports culture in general- All-star games were a completely new concept to me, I was familiar with the concept from both NFL and NHL but didn't pay much attention to those and I never watched MLS, so I wasn't even fully sure of what an All-star game was and in fact I thought that it followed the format of East vs West, the best of both conferences facing off in a game, which of course is not the case. I would have been right in 1996 when the annual fixture first began but it has long since evolved past that and now the game is played against a rival league the Liga MX which honestly, I feel adds a slightly more competitive edge to the game than I first thought. The best players from the MLS playing against the best players from a rival league could become an incredibly competitive game as players from both teams will surely want to showcase their best they have to offer. A real treat for the fans, however the part I do not understand is why it is played in the very middle of the season. In my mind what is essentially a glorified friendly is played at the start of the season and if it tuns into a competitive game risks injuries to top players that still have a regular season to finish out- if the challenges start flying in then players could lose key players. That to me signifies a massive risk- such a game in England if it existed would be scheduled outside of the season so as not to affect clubs' assets. Sometimes in England clubs sometimes even try to hold their players back from international duty if it just a friendly for fear of losing their prize players- so to me it is crazy that this game is played when there is still so much to play for within the MLS. However, after some investigating, I also see the positives to the game and even some positives to the timing, so let me unpack it.

The more I dug into this game, I began to realize it wasn't just about this game- it was much more than that. A lot of people have said that the MLS was not capitalizing on the obvious success of the World Cup but that is where the timing of this game could not be more perfect.

You see to my surprise this “game” is far more than just a game and the timing of it could not be more perfect, we are only a couple of weeks removed from the World Cup and so soccer is still very much on people's minds and this is not just a game of soccer, it is a festival of soccer and there was something for everyone. The whole city of Charlotte was taken over for an entire celebration of soccer- there were community events and businesses celebrated to, there was artwork and concerts and it bought fans and soccer enthusiasts from all over the country together - something that was also achieved by the World Cup and for another week managed to get more eyes on the sport. We were treated to an MLS next all-star game that was aimed to showcase some of the best young talent that the country has to offer, it got some of those players some experience on a huge stage and would have been a great developmental experience for some of these excellent young players. We also got to see a host of skills challenges which of all of the events I was able to watch I have to say I fell in love with Goalie wars- a really cool way to show off exactly how skilled Keepers are and as someone that has played games in that position, it is the hardest position on the field and is often not given the respect it deserves. I really enjoyed seeing the Keepers showcase their ability on this stage- a very underrated position. We also had shooting, passing and a crossbar challenge and were also treated to a relay race. It was a treat to see these players just have fun as they showcased their skills in a much more enjoyable way perhaps than your average soccer match.

So now we get to the match and this is the part that I will never get and I talk about this a lot and maybe it really is a cultural thing, I just feel that this type of game hurts the national team and I know full well that this is a very controversial take so let me explain. I have said before that I feel Americans putting players on a pedestal above other players are detrimental to team unity- we saw it with the Balogun situation at the World Cup, he was put above the rest of the team, and we all saw what happened against Belgium. The rest of the team looked to lack belief in themselves and that is because a “Star” was put above the team. Now I know that Americans love their stars, it is no secret that in this country they absolutely love winners and those winners become their idols. Now in most sports that works- the difference is that Soccer is a team game and can't be won by an individual. You can have a “Star” like Messi but without the players around him he would be nothing. On occasion a star can win a game but that is rare- yet Americans are so used to praising an individual winner that this is the part of this sport that is overlooked and I really believe that the Men's National team need to be building towards team unity where every player is as valuable as the next- that is the key to global success. They need to stop the star culture in the sport. So, although this is a fun game from a fan perspective, I do not believe this match adds a great deal of benefit to the sport in this country. It is a good marketing vessel but that is about it, it does put eyes on the game, but star culture is what is actually killing US soccer.