A paced house at Sporting Park in Kansas City, KS awaits the MLS All-Stars and A.S. Roma for tonight's MLS All-Star Game. It is an exhibition and defending is expected to be lax, at best, but it should still be fun as both teams look to put on a show in America's heartland.
MLS head coach peter Vermes has opted to start three players from his Sporting Kansas City side in Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, but he couldn't be accused of favoritism in that trio. It looks like the team will play in a diamond midfield, with Kyle Beckerman at the bottom and Graham Zusi at the top. Fellow MLS-lifers Will Johnson and Brad Davis will flank them, while Marco Di Vaio and Thierry Henry will provide a bit of European flavor up top.
Roma is going with many of their best players, namely club legends Francesco Totti and Daniel De Rossi. American Michael Bradley also gets the start, with Erik Lamela and Miralem Pjanic also out there so the MLS defense will be tested.
MLS: Raul Fernandez; Tony Beltran, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler, Corey Ashe; Will Johnson, Kyle Beckerman, Graham Zusi, Brad Davis; Marco Di Vaio, Thierry Henry.
Roma: Morgan De Sanctis; Vasilis Torosidis, Mehdi Benatia, Leandro Castan, Federico Balzaretti; Michael Bradley, Kevin Strootman, Alessandro Florenzi; Miralem Pjanic, Mattia Tallo, Francesco Totti.
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