TORONTO -- After the MLS All-Stars' 3-2 victory against West Ham United at a packed BMO Field, All-Star head coach Steve Nicol thought his temporary charges earned the victory.
"It was a fantastic performance," Nicol said. "We thoroughly deserved to win and it was a pleasure for me."
Cuauhtemoc Blanco garnered MVP honors by scoring a goal and an assist in his 45 minutes of action. He said that it wasn't difficult to merge stars from across the league in order to overcome a strong West Ham United team.
"We also wanted to put in a good team performance because we are a bunch of players that play against each other every week and haven't played with each other," Blanco said. "But we proved tonight that we can come together and we played as a team, we worked as a team and we won as a team. So, overall, it was a very good performance."
It started off a bit sluggishly for the All-Stars as they tried to figure out how to communicate and how to mesh with each other. Without much practice time, the opening stages of the match turned into the time where the team could mold into a unit.
NEWS • Blanco plays the hero for MLS
• All-Stars demonstrate strength of MLS
• Stars gush over All-Star experience
• All-Star nod No. 9 fine for Mastroeni
• All-Star notebook: Long day's end
• Hammers pleased with performance
• Blanco leads MLS past West Ham
• Garber's State of the League address
• All-Stars aim to defeat West Ham
• All-Star first for MLS luminaries
• De Rosario shines in spotlight
• West Ham visits land of opportunity
• MLS announces All-Star First XI
• MLS All-Stars to face West Ham
ANALYSIS • Davis: All-Star Game earns high marks
• Davis: All-Star matchups
• A look at West Ham United roster
PRESS RELEASES
• MLS All-Stars defeat West Ham United
• MLS seeks two expansion teams by 2011
• MLS finalizes '08 All-Star roster
• West Ham to face MLS All-Stars
• Toronto to host 2008 All-Star Game
SIGHTS & SOUNDS
Highlights: MLS 3, WHU 2: 350K Postgame press conference: 350K Awards presentation: 350K David Beckham postgame: 350K Dwayne De Rosario's penalty kick: 350K Dean Ashton's double: 350K Cuauhtemoc Blanco's bender: 350K Christian Gomez's goal: 350K MLS-West Ham Preview: 350K
All-Star Highlights, part 1: Photos All-Star Highlights, part 2: Photos 2008 All-Star First XI: Photos
"We were feeling each other out, trying to figure out where the space was going to be," All-Star captain Jimmy Conrad said. We really only had one practice and that was yesterday. We only had eight guys at our practice on Monday. It's going to take 15-20 minutes."
Defensive midfielder Shalrie Joseph said that the team settled into the game after Dean Ashton opened the scoring with the first of his two goals.
"Soccer's a universal language," Joseph said. "Playing with these guys makes it easier. These are some of the top guys in the league. It makes it easier."
Ashton's goal was met with an instant reply from Christian Gomez. The goal restored parity and allowed the All-Stars to show off to the crowd with their newfound momentum.
"We got the flair going once we got scored on," Conrad said. "We scored a great first goal and then we loosened up a bit. The first 20 minutes was just about us feeling each other out. We don't know who they are as players. We see these guys on TV a little bit, but we don't know what they're about. We have to figure out what they are trying to accomplish. I thought as the game went on, we did a better job of that. The only time we were threatened was when we turned the ball over in bad areas."
As the match progressed, the All-Stars' superior fitness came to the fore. West Ham is in the middle of its preparations for the English Premier League season, allowing the All-Stars to surge forward and keep the Hammers inside their own half.
"We wanted to be the aggressors," midfielder Steve Ralston said. "We were in better shape than them. We wanted to try to get on top of them."
Dwayne De Rosario's penalty ensured a happy ending to the night, one that Nicol feels established that the quality of MLS players continues to improve with each passing year.
"It's always a pleasure to be involved with good players," Nicol said. "I think we showed tonight that not only do we have good players in this league, but we have great players."
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