By DARRELL LOVELL
Major League Soccer is taking the 2013 All-Star game to Kansas City as the league announced Thursday that Livestrong Sporting Park will host the summer showcase July 30.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN, Univision, TSN and RDS at 8:30 p.m. ET but an opponent has yet to be announced as the league is slated to take on an international opponent for the 10th time in its history.
Leading the MLS contingent will be hometown manager Peter Vermes. The Sporting Kansas City boss has turned the club into a perennial power in MLS, taking the Midwest outfit deep in the Eastern Conference playoffs two years in a row while bagging the second US Open Cup in team history last season.
The MLS contingent will be looking to make it two in a row after D.C. United’s Ben Olsen led a 3-2 win over UEFA Champion’s League winner Chelsea last summer at PPL Park in Philadelphia. The win improved MLS’ mark against their Atlantic counterparts to 6-2-1.
The decision to take the game to LSP heightens the venue’s status of one of the premier stadiums in American soccer. SKC’s home is a strong possibility to host a US World Cup qualifier and has become a hub for soccer activity.
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Making plans to hit KC in the summer? Think LSP is becoming the new home for US soccer’s biggest games? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.