My MLS All-Star experience

This article is about my experience for the MLS All Star game. We’ll start off with the open training session that took place the day before the game.

My brother and I got to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park around 9:30am, half an hour before the session was supposed to start. The line was very long, with many Tottenham supporters waiting eagerly to see their team practice. There were many jerseys, old and new. Also, there were people wearing shirts displaying their local supporter’s clubs. I saw shirts from Denver, Tallahassee, Boston, Baltimore, and many more. It made me truly happy to see people from all around the U.S. to come and support their club.

The gates were opened and we rushed in to find our seats. We were able to snag first row seats. As we waited for the team, I saw Poch and I believe to be Perez standing in the middle of the pitch, it was really cool to see them in person. Eventually the team strolled out to massive cheers, and we all pitched in on a happy birthday song to Harry. He seemed to enjoy it.

They continued to practice and then Brad Friedel strolled by, waving at the fans. He started to make the rounds to sign autographs. We were handed little pamphlets with info about Spurs, when opened, displayed a very nice poster. I figured that would be perfect for the players to sign. Brad eventually wound his way over to me, I was starstruck, I said hi and asked him to sign my poster. I was shocked so much that I didn’t even ask for a picture, a mistake that I didn’t repeat.

The practice went on, the first team, was working on positioning and passing drills. Other teammates were doing shooting drills just inside the box. Fazio hit a screamer, Winks was hitting some great curved shots, and Trippier hit a weaving shot that was blocked.

After the practice was over, some players came over to sign autographs. I was able to meet and grab photos with Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm. It was just so crazy to meet some of the players. I would’ve loved to meet some of the younger players like Alli, and Onomah, some inspirations to me, but there’s always next time. Now onto the game itself.

We got to the stadium a little less than an hour before kick-off. Walking into the stadium, we saw the a Spurs’ supporters club, (I think it was Baltimore). They were all in a big group, chanting. It was amazing to see that. We got into the stadium and started walking around to find a suitable place to stand. We found a place on the west side of the stadium, and realized that we were at the home side. We walked back and found a great spot on the Spurs side.

The game started. Honestly, I really didn’t care about the result. I was just so glad to be at my first Spurs game. I didn’t like the first goal from Kaka, from my angle, I thought it was a weak penalty, especially for a friendly. But the second goal was a work of art. Kaka played that ball superbly.

I thought the best player of the half was Dembele, I thought his touches were great and he controlled the ball well. As the half progressed, some guy with a Chelsea jersey decided to be an idiot. He started saying, “Tottenham sucks!” And we didn’t like that, some fans started yelling at him. Right after the guy said that, Kane had his breakaway and scored. We went nuts! We went towards him, yelling profanities and throwing down some gestures as well. Then some fans went to him and I assume told him to get lost, because I didn’t see him again.

The second half started with some changes. Alli I thought was amazing, so was Trippier. His runs were great, but other players didn’t see him often. The only thing I wished to see in the second half was a higher tempo and more shots. I know it was a friendly, but it would’ve been nice to see a second goal. The game ended, and I walked out with a smile on my face.

This has been a great experience for me, finally going to see my favorite club play. The game was a good one, even though they lost. I am excited for the start of the season. I hope that we get a new striker, and a defensive midfielder. I look forward to traveling to England some time to see them play at home. That’s definitely on my bucket list.

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