SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper David Bingham has made 66 saves so far this season in earning his first AT&T MLS All-Star berth.
Given that the game is in his home stadium, he might also need an equal number of tickets before the league’s best kick off Thursday against Arsenal (7:30 pm ET, ESPN, UniMás, TSN, RDS).
“Not enough,” was all Bingham would say about the volume of his ticket purchases, before adding a small laugh.
As the two Quakes on the MLS All-Star roster, Bingham and San Jose captain Chris Wondolowski are getting a full dose of what it means to be an All-Star host. One key takeaway: It’s not really an “All-Star break” for either of them.
“It’s a fun week, but at the end of the week, there’s definitely a game that we want to go out and put on a good show and win,” Bingham told reporters after the MLS All-Stars training session Tuesday. “It’s a long week – we have three games this week. We had a game on [Friday, a 1-1 tie at Real Salt Lake], you play on Thursday and then you play again on Sunday [in Houston, 9 pm ET, MLS LIVE]. I don’t know if ‘recovery’ is the best way to put it, but it’s an exciting time.”
Bingham and Wondolowski are both Bay Area natives, but neither has the time to show off the region’s hidden gems to out-of-towners.
“No, definitely not playing tour guide,” Bingham said. “They keep us pretty busy with other things during the day. So everyone’s got their appearances set up and we get to come out and kick the ball around a little bit.”
For Bingham, the All-Star experience is still new. For Wondolowski, this is his fourth time through the process, but first since 2013. It’s also his first since Avaya Stadium – built in no small part on the back of his franchise-record goal-scoring haul – was erected, which has added to the thrill.
“It’s a huge dream come true and a huge true honor to represent the MLS All-Stars in my hometown, in the Bay Area,” Wondolowski said. “It’s unreal. It’s so amazing to see where this has come, literally, from scratch. We’d always joke and do warmups and face where the stadium was going to be. To see it actually built, it’s pretty special, and to host such a great event, it’s nice.”
So nice that Wondolowski finds himself in the same boat as Bingham when it comes to procuring seats.
“I’ve been trying to round some up,” he said. “If you have any extras, let me know.”
