2009 WPS ALL-STAR GAME

Women’s Professional Soccer today announced that The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, MO, will be the site of the 2009 WPS All-Star Game on August 30, 2009, eight days after the WPS Championship is played on August 22. The game will be televised live nationally on Fox Soccer Channel and regionally on select Fox Sports Net affiliates, starting at 5:00 p.m. ET with a half-hour pre-game show prior to kick-off at 5:30. The league will employ a unique format for this inaugural WPS All-Star Game by selecting one WPS All-Star team of 18 players, who will face off against an international club team to be announced soon.

The WPS All-Star team will be selected by late July in the following way:

11 players Vote counting 25% fans, 25% media, 25% players, 25% coaches
7 players At-Large Selections (WPS Commissioner and All-Star Head Coach)

In a unique twist for the first year of the WPS All-Star Game, the All-Star Team head coach will be voted on collectively by the players with the announcement coming in late July.

The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park is currently the home field of the Saint Louis Athletica and has a rich soccer tradition dating back almost three decades to when it opened in 1982.

Speculation has already started about which international club will play against the All-Stars of the WPS. Marta's former club Umea (Sweden) has been strongly linked to be that club , as well as Olympique Lyon(France).

Both clubs are argubly two of the best clubs in Europe.It would be a great showpiece to stage and show off women's soccer. The only concern here at womans soccer insider that we have is that along with all the Europeans currently playing in the WPS like the Kelly Smiths', Sonia Bompastors', Camille Abillys' etc will be playing in the 2009 FIFA European Championships in Finland along with half of the Umea team and most of the Lyon team.With Sweden and France both participating in the Euros. The star players in the German top club teams will also be in Finland in August with Germany if the All-Star opposition happens to be a top German club.
Same applies to the top English clubs.

So will this big showpiece game consist of mostly american players... and Marta versus the reserves of any of these top clubs? I hope not but i can't see it being anything else.

For us at this moment it takes away ...just a little bit of the excitement we had before the date was announced.