The MLS All-Star Game is a unique opportunity in the American Professional sports landscape to gather all of the league's stars under one banner. Unlike other leagues' All-Star or All-Star adjacent festivities, this is the only one that unifies the league rather than splitting it into two dueling teams.
That format, an East vs. West or captain-selected draft or otherwise alternative selections arbitrarily assigned squads, has its merits. MLS has used those formats before, doing so in 2004 with an East vs. West game, but has also used the USA vs. World format. Those styles do put more attention solely on the league. In contrast, this year's edition, a match with Liga MX All-Stars at Lower.Com Field in Columbus, Ohio, adds a similar shine to the neighboring league to the South. It also serves as a sort of welcome party for the leagues as both begin the 2024 Leagues Cup in just a few days.
So, with all of MLS gathered and united under one banner, it is Luciano Acosta, Cincinnati's top man and MLS Captain, as voted in by the fans in an online election, who leads them out on the field. This fact brings comfort to the gaffer of the MLS All-Stars this year, FCC's deepest rival, Columbus Crew Head Coach Wilfried Nancy.
"I'm happy that he's in my team now," Nancy said with a smile and a hardy laugh at the MLS All-Star press conference Monday afternoon from Lower.Com Field. "Because, and pardon my language, he is a pain in my a** when we play against each other."
"He's a really, really, really good player; so difficult to play against…what I like about him is he can play by himself but he likes to make the good pass and I think that's very important. So I'm happy to be together and hopefully we (the team) can have a few good moments out there (on Wednesday)."
Acosta, who will play in his third MLS All-Star game on Wednesday night, was voted in as the captain for the second time in a row, winning the vote over Columbus local Cucho Hernandez, Inter Miami CF star Leoniel Messi, and later suspended Real Salt Lake striker Christian "Chicho" Arango.
"I think that being here, with the best players in the league, is a source of pride for us all," LA Galaxy star Riqui Puig said of the event.
"I'm very happy, very happy to be captain again for the All-Stars, with all the great players that are here," Acosta said of the honor. "I think that being captain of a team like this, I feel very proud, and I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying the experience this year, but today I enjoy just being here, being coached by last year's [MLS Cup] Champion coach and playing with players of this level, I think it's very nice."
Acosta, along with his MLS teammates, will take on Liga MX in the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. Acosta is scheduled to compete in three of the five challenges alongside nine other MLS All-Stars, with the group facing a 10-man Liga MX side in the competition.
