US international Auston Trusty delivered the decisive blow as we won the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge at a sold-out Audi Field in Washington.
Ten team members took part in a series of challenges in the build-up to the main event, Wednesday’s All-Star Game, and we prevailed in the final shot of the night. Here’s how it all unfolded.
1. Shooting challenge
We started with the shooting challenge where three players from each side had 60 seconds to hit different targets in the goal from a penalty. Our trio of Jurrien Timber, Folarin Balogun and Jakub Kiwior took the honors with 121 to 88. Timber top scored with 50 points and Kiwior was also impressive with his left foot, racking up 49 points to take the win. Former Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke – now leading the line at local side DC United – has been given the All-Stars challenge.
2. Tap Challenge
Next up is the touch challenge, with Kai Havertz and Marquinhos in action for us. The goal was to control and volley into different areas to score. Marquinhos was first, finishing some passes from Trusti and Jorginho to score 53 points. We trailed in the second round, but Havertz poured in 86 points to give us the win, 139-115, making it 2-0 after two challenges.
3. Cross and volley challenge
Havertz was again up to the challenge on crosses and volleys. Points were awarded depending on the type of finish for each goal, although the German failed to hit the target in the first round. Balogun found the net three times, but Denis Buanga was in fine form against Alex Runarsson to bring the All-Stars back to 2-1 after three challenges, with a 125-25 win.
4. Passing the challenge
Pinging passes was the name of the game in the fourth challenge, in a best-of-three-round battle, each round lasting 60 seconds. Trusty missed in the first round, but Jorginho leveled things up by winning his head-to-head bout against Riqui Puig. The Kiwior then sealed the win with a quick fire with an accurate pass.
5. Crossbar Challenge
The score in this final challenge was 3-1 to us but with every shot on the post worth a point it was all up for grabs. Seven players from each side were involved, targeting the frame from the edge of the penalty area, then from the middle of the half. The All-Stars brought the score back to 5-5, meaning it was all about the long-range effort. Aaron Ramsdale came agonizingly close before Trusty stepped up and hit the post to seal a 6-5 victory.
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