MLS All-Stars Vs. Bayern Munich: Game Summary And Highlights: The MLS All-Stars Shock Bayern Munich 2-1 And Cement Themselves As A Formidable World Foe [VIDEO]

The MLS sent a message to the rest of the world in Portland on Wednesday: we are a forced to be reckoned with. Led by Bradley Wright-Phillips and Landon Donovan, the MLS All-Stars defeated one of the best teams in the world in Bayern Munich 2-1 in front of a capacity crowd at Providence Park in Portland, OR.

Bayern Munich struck first in the opening minutes of the game with a goal by new transfer, Robert Lewandowski, but a completely different XI started the second half for the MLS All-Stars and New York Red Bulls Striker Bradley Wright-Phillips and LA’s own Landon Donovan, each scored in the second half giving the MLS All-Stars their most impressive victory to date over a strong European foe.

Lewandowski, scored a sensational first goal in the 9^th minute from just outside the box. The strike defied gravity as it soared in the air and then came down perfectly over MLS goalkeeper Nick Rimando’s head.

DeAndre Yedlin had a great cross in the box in the 25^th minute, but unfortunately it was a bit high for the 5’9” Tim Cahill. Cahill was wide open and if he was just a few inches taller he would have had the equalizer.

Fans got to see the United States’ youngest scorer in World Cup history, earlier than anticipated when 19-year-old phenom Julian Green came in the game for Claudio Pizarro in the 37^th minute and received a standing ovation from the Stars and Stripes friendly Portland crowd.

Green holds both German and American citizenship and caught the eye of Team USA Coach Jurgen Klinnsmann while scoring 15 goals for Bayern Munich’s second team last season. He became the only player in World Cup history to score a goal on his first ever touch in World Cup play.

The MLS All-Stars proved they came to play as they managed to hold Bayern to just one goal going into halftime. Most of the MLS success on defense could be attributed to Real Salt Lake’s goalie Nick Rimando who made five saves in the first half. Rimando looked like his Team USA counterpart, Tim Howard for much of the first half making great athletic saves against some of the best strikers in the world.

Both coaches promised substantial substitutions in the second half, and the MLS All-Stars coach Caleb Porter did not disappoint. He put 10 completely new players on the pitch in the second half, including Maurice Edu, Osvaldo Alonso, Bradley Wright-Phillips and Portland’s own Will Johnson.

In a move of professionalism and class, Porter waited for the second half to start before substituting Thierry Henry who perhaps could be playing in his last all-star game at 36 years old for the controversial, Landon Donovan.

Pep Guardiola countered in the second half with the World Cup’s FIFA Golden Glove winner, Manuel Neuer who replaced keeper Tom Starke.

New York Red Bulls striker, Bradley Wright-Phillips scored a marvelous goal to open the second half. The MLS Golden Boot leader, Wright-Phillips received a pass off the head of Erik Torres that he took just outside the left of the box. In one motion, Wright-Phillips received the pass, set and struck with his left foot and buried it deep into the top right side of the net for the equalizer.

Henry cheered his New York teammate from the sidelines as he has personally assisted on 10 of Wright-Phillips goals in MLS league play.

Landon Donovan shocked his former teammates with the go-ahead goal in the 70^th minute. Diego Valeri delivered the ball on a dime in the box for Donovan who was able to fight off two defenders and find the back of the net. Donovan played for Bayern in 2009 and is familiar with many of the theam’s players. With the goal, Donovan became the all-time leading goal scorer in MLS All-Star game history with six goals. The nearly two goal underdog MLS All-Stars suddenly had a 2-1 lead with less than twenty minutes to play.

Bayern Munich got desperate in the final ten minutes of the game and Guardiola decided to bring in his secret weapon: the best players on the World Cup Champion German Men’s National Team. Mario Goetze, Thomas Mueller and Bastian Schweinsteiger all came onto the pitch and pushed the pace searching for the equalizer against the MLS stars.

As if Bayern didn’t have enough fire power already, Guardiola upped the ante in the final five minutes by adding Arjen Robben into the mix. Robben is known for his blistering speed and break neck pace, and he brought the game to the MLS stars in the waning moments.

Mueller almost scored the equalizer in the 88^th minute, but D.C. United’s goalkeeper Bill Hamid made an excellent save, centering Mueller’s shot and withstanding the blow from the young German striker. The crowd began to chant “USA, USA, USA!” as the final seconds of regulation counted down. The chant was a bit ironic considering that a handful of MLS All-Stars are from international countries like France, Australia, Nigeria, Mexico and more.

The MLS All-Stars hung on to the victory and sent a statement to the rest of the world that they are not only a growing league, but a very talented one at that. The team of MLS stars, was without a doubt the best team to date for the MLS, but they were still heavy underdogs to Bayern who is composed of essentially a team of international all-stars.

“I think anytime you can beat Bayern Munich that’s a good feat whether they are in preseason or not. But, we give them a lot of credit, they came out and played hard and we put on a good show that was the most important thing.” said Man of The Match, Landon Donovan after the game.

The game ended on a sour note as Bayern Munich head coach, Pep Guardiola refused to shake MLS All-Stars coach, Caleb Porter’s hand after the game. He further went on to show poor sportsmanship by instructing his staff and players not to shake hands with the MLS stars as well. The fans booed loudly after the game ended as Coach Porter tried a second time to speak with Guardiola who again ignored him and walked away without saying a word.

Guardiola was upset with Porter because of what he deemed to be aggressive tackling by some of the MLS All-Stars’ defenders like Osvaldo Alonso who was given a yellow card for his tackle on Xherdan Shaqiri. Guardiola wrongly believed that Porter told his team to injure some of the Bayern players in what was clearly rough incidental contact. Despite being an exhibition contest of sorts, soccer can be a rough sport and my message to coach Guardiola is if you don’t want to compete and give your best, don’t play the game.