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Becks hails All-Stars after win

25 July 2008 | 13:21 - PA Sport

David Beckham (Getty)

Major League Soccer All-Star David Beckham hailed the collective spirit of his league colleagues that saw them beat England's West Ham 3-2 at BMO Field on Friday (AEST).

The MLS All-Stars extended their unbeaten All-Star Game record against overseas opposition to 5-0 in front of a stadium-record sell-out crowd of 20,844, with impressive first-half goals from Christian Gomez and Mexico's Cuauhtemoc Blanco, voted the All-Star Game's MVP, and a successful second-half penalty from Canada's Dwayne De Rosario.

Striker Dean Ashton netted both goals for West Ham as the Londoners took the lead in the 26th minute and then levelled 2-2 in the 67th in a match that both sides made extremely competitive.

"Any good player that's passionate about soccer is committed in every game that we play," Beckham said "And every player out there was committed to winning the game.

"We said we were going to take it seriously and we wanted to win the game and we did that.

"We also wanted to put in a good team performance because we are a bunch of players that play against each other every week and haven't played with each other.

"But we proved tonight that we can come together and we played as a team, we worked as a team and we won as a team.

"So, overall, it was a very good performance."

MLS coach Steve Nicol was delighted with the victory, hailing it as a great boost for the MLS' standing in world football.

"It's always a pleasure to be involved with good players and I think we showed tonight that not only do we have good players in this league but great players," Nicol said.

"It was a fantastic performance, we thoroughly deserved to win and it was a pleasure for me."

With the Hammers only three weeks into their pre-season preparations, manager Alan Curbishley said he took plenty of positives from the game, despite the defeat.

"I think for everyone concerned it's been a success," Curbishley said. "There were goals scored and the chances that were created there could have been a bit more of a scoreline but I think everybody came away with something tonight.

"We needed the fitness work and we certainly got it tonight. The MLS players scored two terrific goals and it was a good evening.

"Everybody can be well pleased with their efforts."

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