AUSTIN, Texas - The first thing Gio Saverese remembers is the noise. There were nearly 80,000 fans at Giants Stadium on July 15, 1996, when the then-MetroStars forward took the field in the 42nd minute. It was the first MLS All Star Game. And the crowd was into it.
"As soon as they said my name there was a big clap," he recalled.
Saverese rewarded the fans. He scored a crucial second goal to equalize for the Eastern Conference against their Western counterparts. Steve Pittman buried the winner with two minutes to go. Saverese's team had done it.
Back then, the win meant a lot. Major League Soccer was still in its infancy. The ASG, back then, was a mimicry of the kind of thing the NBA, NFL and MLB did every year. This was an honor to be selected, an honor to play in, and a must win game - especially once the competition got going.
"Your DNA always gets competitive, yeah. And the more that you're in the game, the more that you want to do well. And then it gets a little bit choppy," Saverese said.
Fast-forward 30 years, and it's different. MLS had tweaked the format over the years, going from East-West faceoffs to clashes against European teams, to, more recently, matchups with the best Liga MX has to offer. And now, although the format has struggled for consistency, players maintain that the significance of being named an All Star isn't lost.
"It's an honor," Cincinnatti FC's Evander said. "It says that all you've been doing all season is working. You've been selected to play among the best players in the league, and that really means something."