HOUSTON – As he prepares to play in his fifth MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday (8:30 pm ET | FS1, Univision in the USA; TSN, TVAS in Canada), Houston Dynamo defender DaMarcus Beasley just wants to have fun.
The veteran defender is making his second All-Star game as a Dynamo player, and is the first one from Houston to be named to the MLS All-Star Fan XI since 2015.
“It’s going to be fun to play with players that you see in MLS and the people that you compete against every week,” Beasley said. “And then playing against Real Madrid, for me personally that’s one team that I’ve never played against in my whole career. So it’ll be fun.”
Beasley's long career for club and country has seen him play against club soccer giants like AC Milan, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich, but never Los Galacticos.
Playing in the All-Star game will also be a return of sorts for Beasley, who started his MLS career in the Windy City with the Chicago Fire in 2000.
Beasley, a winger then, played in the 2001-2003 All-Star games as a member of the Men in Red, and it's easy to see why with a glance back at his numbers. The 34-year-old made 98 appearances for the Fire between 2000-2004 and notched 14 goals and 20 assist during his tenure. Beasley also made MLS Best XI in the 2003 season and scored in the 2003 All-Star Game.
Beasley admitted that returning to play where it all started does makes the game a tad bit more special, and also that he has some lost time to make up for.
“I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t been back in Chicago in a while. Only once in the past 15 years,” Beasley said. “It’ll be fun. I’m looking forward to it. I have a lot of friends to see. I really like the city of Chicago. They showed me a lot of love when I was there for four years. I really enjoyed my time there.”
