When San Jose Earthquakes Head Coach Dom Kinnear pieced together the starting lineup that would square off with Arsenal in the 2016 AT&T MLS All-Star Game, he had the luxury of putting seven World Cup stars from seven different countries and another longtime international veteran along with youthful players at the outside backs and goalkeeper.
Among the former were the likes of Didier Drogba, David Villa, Kaka and Giovani dos Santos in the attack, a Belgian center back pair of Laurent Ciman and Jelle van Damme and the holding duo of legendary Andrea Pirlo and the lone US National Teamer – Kyle Beckerman.
The Real Salt Lake captain was partnered with a group of players that had logged Champions League matches for AC Milan, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus, Barcelona and Chelsea, among others. And he was every bit their equal in completing all but one of his 23 passes in his 45 minutes of action while also creating a scoring chance as the All-Stars played level at 1-1 through the first half at San Jose’s Avaya Stadium.
For Beckerman, it was his ninth MLS All-Star selection – the most among active players and tied for third all-time.
Arsenal got to an early lead on a penalty earned and converted by Joel Campbell, but Drogba scored the equalizer just before halftime. With both teams making wholesale changes throughout the second half, Arsenal eventually scored the winner on a great series of passes that ended with a tap-in from close range by Chuba Akpom.
Beckerman will rejoin his RSL teammates in Philadelphia for Sunday’s match against the Philadelphia Union.
RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando was also selected to the inactive roster for his seventh consecutive All-Star nod.