At the Whistle: MLS All-Stars 3, Liga MX All-Stars 1
Sam Surridge, Tai Baribo, and Brian White scored for the hosts to bring home another interleague title.
In the end, the dream of Lionel Messi playing in Q2 Stadium didn't materialize, but for those who showed up, the 2025 All-Star Game provided a memorable capstone to a five-day multi-layered – starting with Soccer Celebration at Auditorium Shores this past weekend — showcasing Austin, Austin's stadium, and on this night, Austin FC's goalkeeper gloriously well.
The MLS All-Stars, on the strength of three goalscorers who have a combined 43 goals on the season so far, beat their Liga MX counterparts, 3-1, in the Wednesday night match before a (or so the scoreboard claimed) sold-out crowd that was animated — in large part because of La Murga de Austin bringing Verde gameday atmosphere to the balmy setting.
MLS took the lead in the 28th minute, with LAFC's Denis Bouanga, thwarted on his shot attempt, but getting the rebound, sending a cross in to a lurking Sam Surridge of Nashville SC — who has rivaled the entire Austin FC squad in recent weeks for more goals scored — who headed it in. The crowd endured a lengthy review from VARlington, but the goal stood, and Bouanga and Surridge pressured Liga MX goalkeeper Luis Angel Maragón again — with Bouanga striking the post and Surridge putting in an attempt on the rebound.
From there, MLS head coach Nico Estévez made his first big line change, which included Stuver giving way to Minnesota United FC and Canada's Dayne St. Clair, and the two biggest MLS offensive threats of that third of the match coming off for the Union's Tai Baribo and Nashville's Hany Mukhtar, who provided some flashy moments but couldn't add to the scoreline before halftime — even when Mukhtar was in solo on Maragón in the VAR-boosted stoppage time.
Tai Baribo put the MLS team up 2-0 in the 51st minute, finishing a break that started with a takeaway by Columbus' Max Arfsten and reached its final form on an assist from Columbus' Diego Rossi that led Baribo in.
Wunderkind Gilberto Mora got Liga MX on the board in the 64th minute, spoiling the collective clean sheet with last night's crossbar challenge hero, Vancouver's Yohei Takoaka, giving up the goal. But, to his credit, he made other saves when the game got at its most pinched for the MLS defense.
Brian White put in an insurance goal in the 80th minute, crashing the box to slot home a Philip Zinckernagel pass. (The cutting in from the left and diagonally passing in worked particularly well for MLS on Wednesday night.)
How Austin FC fared
Brad Stuver got the start for the MLS All-Stars, making sense as Stuver knows the stadium, his own head coach was filling out the starting lineup, and he shone in the All-Star Skills Challenge during his time in goal for the cross and volley challenge. He got the biggest cheer in the pregame introductions, where they awkwardly brought out an MLS and Liga MX All-Star player simultaneously, save for the dual Evander-Sergio Ramos introduction (which, while I really like Evander and would like to think the cheers were for him, Sergio Ramos has a lot of fans out there).
Stuver made his first critical play successfully, rushing out on a ball that was leading Liga MX forward Alexis Vega to goal and kicking it away to safety, and then made his first big save on a Brian Rodriguez shot, and then another on a breakaway chance by Sergio Canales.
Guilherme Biro, perhaps the most surprising All-Star selection in All-Star history, came in just after the 75-minute mark to raucous applause. He did not do anything rash to draw attention to himself, which given the game state, is fantastic.
Immediate reactions from what I saw
Judging from Bouanga's play, it will be fortunate for Austin that he'll either be on international duty away from LAFC or (if you're believing the rumors) moved to Club America before Verde plays their rescheduled match against the Black & Gold at Q2 Stadium on Oct. 12. Bouanga looks very able to score multiple goals, even on Verde's firmed-up defense.
Though Evander wasn't able to affect the scoring directly, he looks very much the leading MVP candidate, and should FC Cincinnati win the Supporters' Shield and/or MLS Cup, he'll be the principal reason why. (I'm not predicting that, but I'm not not predicting that.)
Given the vociferous booing when Andrew Wiebe, doing pregame commentary, mentioned Lionel Messi by name, skipping out on this All-Star Game could have a tarnising effect on his MLS legacy. Certainly, it's not going to erase all he's done, and Miami could certainly be electric in the playoffs, but if I were making plans to attend the 2026 All-Star Game, I'd be very skeptical about Messi being part of that game no matter how many votes he secures.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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In the end, the dream of Lionel Messi playing in Q2 Stadium didn't materialize, but for those who showed up, the 2025 All-Star Game provided a memorable capstone to a five-day multi-layered – starting with Soccer Celebration at Auditorium Shores this past weekend — showcasing Austin, Austin's stadium, and on this night, Austin FC's goalkeeper gloriously well.
The MLS All-Stars, on the strength of three goalscorers who have a combined 43 goals on the season so far, beat their Liga MX counterparts, 3-1, in the Wednesday night match before a (or so the scoreboard claimed) sold-out crowd that was animated — in large part because of La Murga de Austin bringing Verde gameday atmosphere to the balmy setting.
MLS took the lead in the 28th minute, with LAFC's Denis Bouanga, thwarted on his shot attempt, but getting the rebound, sending a cross in to a lurking Sam Surridge of Nashville SC — who has rivaled the entire Austin FC squad in recent weeks for more goals scored — who headed it in. The crowd endured a lengthy review from VARlington, but the goal stood, and Bouanga and Surridge pressured Liga MX goalkeeper Luis Angel Maragón again — with Bouanga striking the post and Surridge putting in an attempt on the rebound.
From there, MLS head coach Nico Estévez made his first big line change, which included Stuver giving way to Minnesota United FC and Canada's Dayne St. Clair, and the two biggest MLS offensive threats of that third of the match coming off for the Union's Tai Baribo and Nashville's Hany Mukhtar, who provided some flashy moments but couldn't add to the scoreline before halftime — even when Mukhtar was in solo on Maragón in the VAR-boosted stoppage time.
Tai Baribo put the MLS team up 2-0 in the 51st minute, finishing a break that started with a takeaway by Columbus' Max Arfsten and reached its final form on an assist from Columbus' Diego Rossi that led Baribo in.
Wunderkind Gilberto Mora got Liga MX on the board in the 64th minute, spoiling the collective clean sheet with last night's crossbar challenge hero, Vancouver's Yohei Takoaka, giving up the goal. But, to his credit, he made other saves when the game got at its most pinched for the MLS defense.
Brian White put in an insurance goal in the 80th minute, crashing the box to slot home a Philip Zinckernagel pass. (The cutting in from the left and diagonally passing in worked particularly well for MLS on Wednesday night.)
How Austin FC fared
Brad Stuver got the start for the MLS All-Stars, making sense as Stuver knows the stadium, his own head coach was filling out the starting lineup, and he shone in the All-Star Skills Challenge during his time in goal for the cross and volley challenge. He got the biggest cheer in the pregame introductions, where they awkwardly brought out an MLS and Liga MX All-Star player simultaneously, save for the dual Evander-Sergio Ramos introduction (which, while I really like Evander and would like to think the cheers were for him, Sergio Ramos has a lot of fans out there).
Stuver made his first critical play successfully, rushing out on a ball that was leading Liga MX forward Alexis Vega to goal and kicking it away to safety, and then made his first big save on a Brian Rodriguez shot, and then another on a breakaway chance by Sergio Canales.
Guilherme Biro, perhaps the most surprising All-Star selection in All-Star history, came in just after the 75-minute mark to raucous applause. He did not do anything rash to draw attention to himself, which given the game state, is fantastic.
Immediate reactions from what I saw
Judging from Bouanga's play, it will be fortunate for Austin that he'll either be on international duty away from LAFC or (if you're believing the rumors) moved to Club America before Verde plays their rescheduled match against the Black & Gold at Q2 Stadium on Oct. 12. Bouanga looks very able to score multiple goals, even on Verde's firmed-up defense.
Though Evander wasn't able to affect the scoring directly, he looks very much the leading MVP candidate, and should FC Cincinnati win the Supporters' Shield and/or MLS Cup, he'll be the principal reason why. (I'm not predicting that, but I'm not not predicting that.)
Given the vociferous booing when Andrew Wiebe, doing pregame commentary, mentioned Lionel Messi by name, skipping out on this All-Star Game could have a tarnising effect on his MLS legacy. Certainly, it's not going to erase all he's done, and Miami could certainly be electric in the playoffs, but if I were making plans to attend the 2026 All-Star Game, I'd be very skeptical about Messi being part of that game no matter how many votes he secures.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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