MLS All-Stars Prevail In Charlotte

LAFC’s Heung Min-Son notched a first-half brace, while Chicago Fire’s Philip Zinckernagel & FC Cincinnati’s Evander added support tallies to lift the MLS All-Stars in a 4-3 victory over the Liga MX All-Stars.

After Liga MX’s Luis Gabriel Rey of Chivas Guadalajara opened the scoring in the 9th minute, Son shook off some early rust to bang two goals in the span of three minutes.

“With amazing players around me makes the job really easier,” Son said after the league named him All-Star Game MVP. “[It was a] great performance, and scoring two goals, makes the night even [more] special.”

Ashley Westwood received the captain’s armband from Son when the first subs came in the match, and the Charlotte FC skipper was touched by the gesture.

“It’s a real privilege, the armband means nothing, it was bigger coming from who it came from,” Westwood said, who later handed off the armband to former World Cup Winner Thomas Müller.

Westwood called the whole week a “pinch-me” moment, saying, “I’ve done a lot of incredible things in my career, this is probably up there with them.”

Tim Ream, no stranger to the captain’s armband from his World Cup days, said the game played out as expected in terms of the physicality they experienced from the Liga MX side.

“That was about right, that’s par for the course, a little physical at times. It’s about what I told the guys to expect,” Ream said. “It’s gonna get chippy, it’s gonna get physical, obviously you have to protect yourself. Nobody wants to come out here and get injured in what should be a celebration. But at the same time, the way our sport is, you can’t just play ‘easy-ozy’ and walk around and do tricks and all that. There’s a real physical element to it, so it’s just being mentally prepared and switched on, and knowing that’s going to be the case.”

MLS All-Star Head Coach Dean Smith of Charlotte FC said he hopes to “retire 1-0 in All-Star Games”, and added that the “unique” experience of this week was something he embraced.

“It was always going to have a friendly feel, but competitive at the same time, it was always going to be a balancing act,” Smith said. “I’ve really enjoyed the players a mixture of young and old lads, some at the start of their career, some at the latter stage of their careers. The banter in the dressing room was really good, they cared. But when you’re making 17 substitutions, it’s a little bit tough. My big thing was to make sure they got at least 30 minutes. It would classify me as getting a Masters in mathematics.We’ve done it well.”

Charlotte FC resumes the MLS season on Saturday in Chicago against the Fire. Hear the coverage on Sports Radio 92.7 WFNZ beginning at 8 PM.