MLS All-Star Game 2013: Roma put on a show in 3-1 win

A.S. Roma put on a show at a sold out in Wednesday’s MLS All-Star Game. The Giallorossi were scintillating and wowed the sold out crowd at Sporting Park en route to a 3-1 win over the MLS All-Stars in Kansas City, Kan.

Roma continued to pressure and looked to have doubled their lead three minutes later, but Junior Tallo was ruled offside. The visitors bossed the rest of the half and while they didn’t get anything more to show for it, it didn’t take them long in the second half to add to their lead.

MLS will add four more teams by 2020, the league announced on Wednesday. With New York City FC poised to become the league’s 20th team in 2015, that means MLS will eventually boast at least 24 teams, making it the largest top-division in the world. MLS Commissioner Don Garber first made the announcement at halftime of the MLS All-Star Game, but an official release soon followed.

“The strength, passion and vision of the MLS ownership group is the foundation behind the success of our league,” Garber said in the release. “We look forward to adding new partners with the same commitment to the sport and love of the game. As MLS enters a period of accelerated growth, the addition of new teams will allow us to expand our geographic coverage, grow our fan base and help us achieve our vision of being among the best leagues in the world by 2022.”

A paced house at Sporting Park in Kansas City, KS awaits the MLS All-Stars and A.S. Roma for tonight’s MLS All-Star Game. It is an exhibition and defending is expected to be lax, at best, but it should still be fun as both teams look to put on a show in America’s heartland.

Roma: Morgan De Sanctis; Vasilis Torosidis, Mehdi Benatia, Leandro Castan, Federico Balzaretti; Michael Bradley, Kevin Strootman, Alessandro Florenzi; Miralem Pjanic, Mattia Tallo, Francesco Totti.

The MLS All-Star Game heads to the heartland Wednesday night when the league’s all-stars take on A.S. Roma at Sporting Park in Kansas City. It marks the ninth time the MLS All-Star Game has featured a foreign club, with the MLS team winning five of the eight prior contests, including a 3-2 victory over Chelsea last season.

There isn’t much value in the All-Star Game. While MLS may point to wins as proof of MLS’ growth, if someone needs an exhibition to prove to them the league’s worth than they are already lost. For Roma, it is just another preseason match.