MLS All Star Game Belongs to Glasgow!

Two Scots, One a Former Sounder, to Face Off in All Star Game

June 23

Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear, whose team has the most points in the league, will coach the MLS against Premier League Everton in the All-Star Game July 29 in Sandy, Utah.

The Dynamo equaled a club record with an 11-game unbeaten streak, composed of eight wins and three draws as they moved into first place in the Western Conference following Saturday’s 1-1 tie with Real Salt Lake.

The 41-year-old was born in Glasgow, Scotland and won an A League title with the Seattle Sounders in 1995. He played for St Johnstone in Perth, as well as several sides in Florida and California.

When he joined Seattle from Mexican side Necaxa, he had 56 caps and 9 goals with the (US) National squad (clearly not good enough for Scotland!), and replaced the popular Dick McCormick. Five months later, he was allocated to the MLS Colorado Rapids. They then traded him to the San Jose Clash for Paul Bravo and Rafael Amaya.

Houston is his second managerial gig, having been coach of the San Jose Earthquakes in 2004-2005.

Against Everton, he will be managing against fellow countryman David Moyes, also from Glasgow. This has already provoked some humorous reaction in Scotland. Gerard Harley, respected Scottish soccer journalist said, “You have a game of football set up 4,000 miles away from the game’s country of birth and you still have to have two Scots telling you how the game should be played. Wha’s like us? Seems like American football is in safe hands!”

It seems unlikely however that anyone Scottish will actually be asked to play in the game. Everton’s sole representative from Moyes’ own country is reserve keeper Iain Turner, likely to be kept out the side by USA International Tim Howard. With Kenny Deuchar away home, and Adam Moffat’s hamstring keeping him from duty with the Crew, it seems more than likely that the Scots will be giving orders rather than taking them!

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