The biggest stars in Major League Soccer take on Italian Serie A giants AS Roma at the Sporting Park, Kansas City on July 31, 2013.

Preview: Rudi Garcia ambitious ahead of the 2013/14 Italian Serie A campaign

The game would be the 18th MLS All-Stars game and this time around, the best in MLS will take on Giallorossi. Sporting Park in Kansas City, home of Kansas City Wizards is the location for a match that promises a lot of goals.Rudi Garcia’s men would be the first Serie A side to take on All-Stars with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton playing the All-Star games in recent years. So far, Roma have played just one preseason game which was a 2-1 win over Greek side Aris last Friday.

 

In a bid to test the best his team can give, Garcia has chosen to name a very strong squad with club legend Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi included in the side. However, the biggest attraction for the American fans tonight would be the inclusion of USMNT star, Michael Bradley.

Last year, the MLS All-Stars took on the then Champions League winners Chelsea. Eddie Johnson scored a goal late in the game as the ALL-Stars raced to a 2-1 win after initially going a goal down. However, before that game, MLS’s best had struggled with European opposition.

Although they might not have the hardened stars rich with European experience, Francesco Totti believes that the All-Stars will provide stern opposition tonight. The Italian legend expects the game to be more than just a preseason game.

“I believe that going up against a team that has players like (Thierry) Henry, (Tim) Cahill, Robbie Keane or my good friend (Marco) Di Vaio will make the game much more than a simple preseason test for us,” he told FutbolMLS.com.

“The fact that they have beaten (a team like) Chelsea speaks for itself. There will be a lot of quality on the field, so I bet it will be a beautiful encounter in which the big winner is the spectacle.”
Each player in the squad is eligible to play and each team is allowed to make 10 changes during the game. If the teams are tied at the end of 90 minutes, no extra time will be played and penalty kicks will decide the fate of the game.

Seasoned MLS referee, Hilario Grajeda will officiate this game although this would be his first MLS All-Star game. The same goes for assistant referees Paul Scott and Bill Dittmar.

Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV channels

Owing to the fact that this is the first time an Italian side will take on an MLS All-Star side so there is bound to be a lot of interest in USA and many viewers would be keen on finding out which channels are going to broadcast this spectacle that promises a lot of goals.

Watch the game live:

In USA at 21:00 ET on ESPN2, UniMás, MLS LIVE

In Canada at 21:00 ET on MLS LIVE, RDS, TSN

Fans in South East Asia can watch the match live on Ten Action, whereas viewers in Africa can watch it on SuperSport 6 Africa.

MLS squad for the game:

Goalkeepers: Raul Fernández (FC Dallas), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders: Corey Ashe (Houston Dynamo), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Aurélien Collin (Sporting Kansas City), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)

Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Patrice Bernier (Montreal Impact), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Will Johnson (Portland Timbers), Mike Magee (Chicago Fire), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

Forwards: Marco Di Vaio (Montreal Impact), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), Camilo Sanvezzo (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)