By Scott French, Senior Editor
There's been talk in WUSA corridors of an all-star game — a real all-star game — since last year. It'll be more than talk come September.
The WUSA and Portland Family Entertainment have scheduled a ''major soccer announcement'' Monday morning in Portland to unveil a ''new soccer initiative.'' The news, several league sources confirmed, will be that the league's first All-Star Game will be held Sept. 21 at PGE Park in Portland, Ore. PFE operates the former Portland Civic Stadium. The game will begin at 1 p.m. PDT and be televised on PAX TV.
WUSA Commissioner Tony DiCicco on Friday was en route to the West Coast for Saturday's San Jose-New York game and Monday's news conference and couldn't be reached for comment. League spokesman Dan Courtemanche and PFE officials declined comment.
The league has been working feverishly much of the season to add an all-star match to its schedule, and Portland — Tiffeny Milbrett's hometown and a soccer hotbed — was targeted early in the process. Most of the work had been completed by the start of July, according to one WUSA official.
The league had to fit the game into a crowded September schedule. The U.S. national women's team will meet Scotland on Sept. 8 in Columbus, and WUSA exhibitions are planned for Sept. 14 in Boston (Boston vs. Washington, with Michelle Akers) and Pasadena, Calif. (San Diego vs. Philadelphia, part of a WUSA/MLS doubleheader).
An informal all-star match was held in February in conjunction with the WUSA draft in Fort Lauderdale. The South (players from Atlanta, Carolina, San Diego and Washington) topped the North, 4-3, on goals by Atlanta's Homare Sawa, Charmaine Hooper and Cindy Parlow and San Diego's Shannon MacMillan.
New York's Milbrett and Kristy Whelchel and Philadelphia's Mandy Clemens tallied for the North. New York defender Sara Whalen suffered fractured ribs and a collapsed lung in a collision with MacMillan and was sidelined for all of preseason and the first month of the season.
No word on how the teams will be divided nor on how the players will be selected. The WUSA hoped to involve fans in determining the rosters, most likely through voting on its Web site.