Seeing a combination of passes between Evander, Son Heung-min, Anders Dreyer and Tim Ream usually would end in you turning off the PlayStation5 and going to bed. But this week in Charlotte, North Carolina, at MLS All-Star week, it's just the normal sights of training.
MLS All-Star festivities are now well underway in the Charlotte area, with training going on at Atrium Health Performance Park. Evander and his teammates took to the pitch for the first time ahead of the marquee event on Wednesday night when MLS takes on the best of LIGA MX in the 2026 MLS All-Star game, presented by Chime.
Training at these All-Star game gatherings are some of the strangest sights to behold for an MLS fan, as it brings together a level of star power into one group that isn’t even replicated in some of the most prestigious national team programs. In all, 29 of the biggest names in Major League Soccer were all on one pitch to train, and right in the middle of it was FC Cincinnati star midfielder Evander.
This is Evander’s third All-Star selection in as many years, and his second with FC Cincinnati. In 2025, he was voted in by the fans league-wide as a starter for the match, then voted as team captain of the MLS All-Stars in a subsequent vote. This year he doesn’t have those same responsibilities. Evander was a coach's selection to the squad and will not be captaining the group.
But as a three-time All-Star in a league where multiple selections are exceedingly rare, Evander has become a sort of ‘Diplomat to the Stars.’ He is friendly and familiar with some of the league’s big names, while also serving as a welcoming voice to both first-time selections and MLS NEXT players who are at their first league-wide event.
“It’s a great experience. I’m always very excited for this week. This is my third year here now so I am a little more experienced,” Evander explained after training. “I get to see the guys that I’ve met before and then connect with some of the new guys. I’m just really excited to be here with the group and looking forward to the game Wednesday.”
Given the more festive nature of the MLS All-Star game, it should be unsurprising to hear that training was a little more fun and loose than it was grinding. But it did allow players to get a feel for each other on the field and start to mesh ahead of the match Wednesday night. Players were split into multiple groups and then taken through multiple drills before opening things up to more ‘free time’ where soccer-tennis, shooting stations and other communal activities were available to mix the groups up.
Evander started in a group with LAFC and South Korea national team star Son Heung-Min, San Diego FC midfielder and former teammate in Denmark Ander Dreyer, USMNT captain Tim Ream, fellow Brazilian attacker Guilherme, breakout Croatian World Cup star and FC Dallas striker Petr Musa and Charlotte FC All-Star Ashley Westwood.
It was – perhaps unsurprisingly due to Evander’s previous relationships with Dreyer and Guilherme, and some of the other preestablished friendships in the group like Tim Ream and Ashley Westwood – the liveliest bunch of the training session and pretty clearly the most vocal.
Evander and Guilherme were playfully called out for scheming in Portuguese when trying to coordinate passes. Son and Westwood playfully poked at Ream for his age every time he did anything even remotely athletic, and Ream, playing back, would point to team trainers on site, crediting them for keeping him “upright.”
There was also then a series of shouts between groups as rumors of a shared boots situation began to make the rounds. It was believed that after forgetting his boots at home, Thomas Müller had to borrow boots from someone in Evander’s group. That rumor was cleared up as untrue, and while Müller did forget his boots, the Vancouver staff got them delivered to him; but that did not make the back-and-forth any less fun.
After a series of rondos, the open time commenced, and the groups dispersed. Evander said he spent that time meeting international stars like Thomas Müller and was also seen chatting with 19-year-old Real Salt Lake midfielder Zavier Gozo.
“It’s just a really great group of guys and they all make it so easy to connect,” Evander said. “I know Guilherme, he’s Brazilian and we first connected in preseason and have stayed in touch. It's great to have him here. Then of course with Anders, and I got to know Thomas Müller and Son, and they’re both amazing human beings, amazing guys. It’s really great just to get to know these guys and have some fun.”
There will be one more training session on Tuesday morning ahead of the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T at 7:30 p.m. at Truist Field in downtown Charlotte. Evander, who set a record in the Shooting Challenge last year with 72 points, will be participating in that event again this year in addition to the Crossbar and Relay Challenge, but will be doing so with a twist.
Evander will only compete in the Shooting Challenge this year IF his record mark of 72 is surpassed. If it’s not, he will remain the king of that event, even if there is a 2026 winner for the sake of the event's scoreboard.
MLS NEXT All-Star Game
The headlining event of day 1 at the All-Star week though was the MLS NEXT All-Star Game, which brought together the top players from throughout the Academy and Youth systems for a showcase of the next generation talent.
The FC Cincinnati Academy had two players selected for the game, goalkeeper Connor Dale (16) and defender Dom Lester (16). Both played the full second half for the East and helped secure a 6-1 victory for their side in the first competition of All-Star week.
The big moment of the match for FC Cincinnati was in the 67’ when Connor Dale made an impressive kick save to keep the sheet clean. Lester, who played Right Back for his time on the pitch, just missed out on an assist when a play he started ended in a shot just wide on a breakaway. Lester had another big moment in the 72’ minute when he dispossessed the recently committed Chelsea youngster and youngest player in FC Dallas first team history Benji Flowers, and stopped one of the few scoring opportunities for the West in the process.
FC Cincinnati first team star Evander gave the duo of Young Gary’s some advice prior to the match, and says he stressed the importance of embracing the moment.
“They have to enjoy this moment and this opportunity. I think it's important for them to have fun and enjoy the game, because we never know when we're going to get to represent our club again,” Evander said. “It's also a time for them to show who they are as well. The whole country will be watching for them, and so it's a good time for them to enjoy, have fun and put their best foot forward for themselves and FC Cincinnati.”
Next up is the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge on Tuesday night, and the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday night. For information on how to watch those events, click here.
