COLUMBUS -- When West Ham United officials were offered a chance to play the MLS All-Stars, the match itself was just one of the reasons the club accepted.
Among others was an opportunity for the club to continue its preseason conditioning, starting with a friendly Sunday in Columbus that reaped a 3-1 win for the Hammers.
"It was fun, a lot of hard work and a really good test. Columbus is in midseason so we knew it was going to be a tough game," Hammers captain Lucas Neill said. "I was a bit surprised how fit and strong we looked."
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SIGHTS & SOUNDS
That bodes well for an extremely competitive and entertaining match when the English Premier League club faces the best Major League Soccer has to offer on Thursday at Toronto's BMO Field.
"Obviously, we know it's a big game," manager Alan Curbishley said. "We know it's sold out. We've got a lot of fans going there who have booked up holidays around the game. We're going to make sure we're OK for the game, probably ease up training for the game a little bit. We understand it's going to be an electric atmosphere, so, game on. We're looking forward to it."
In addition to the match, the Hammers were motivated to leave East London to see for themselves the emergence of soccer in the States. And, if, the club can develop a stronger fan base here and sell a few more pieces of merchandise, then all the better.
"We wanted to come to America. We wanted to promote ourselves. We want to help America promote soccer and do our part," Curbishley said. "Not only the first team squad came out but a lot of the academy coaches came out to do soccer camps, soccer schools as we go along.
"We're here for a whole bundle of reasons. One of them is to get fit. The other is to show everybody what we're about at West Ham."
The Hammers are a mid-level club in the Premiership and not as well-known or marketed as widely as powerhouses Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and, of course, Manchester United.
"West Ham is a unique club. We've got fantastic support -- very, very aggressive when you play at Upton Park. They're like another player for us," Curbishley said. "Over the years West Ham has been known for the way they like to play soccer, for a lot of players. A lot of people will look in the history book and Bobby Moore first comes to mind, playing in the World Cup in '66, but there's been a tradition after that of bringing players along and playing a certain way.
"We feel we can become even bigger. We've got lots of fans in America, we know that, and the interest in these two games is fantastic from Americans who support West Ham and not just ex-pats. We know when we get to Toronto we'll have good support there and, of course, David Beckham is from West Ham so it could be interesting."
Striker Luis Boa Morte, who along with midfielder Matthew Etherington sat out the Crew match but should be fit for Thursday, played for Fulham when the EPL took on the MLS All-Stars in Columbus in 2005 and lost 4-1.
"It was not good memories after five, 10 minutes. No, it was good to be part of this game against MLS. We enjoyed the experience," he said. "It's more about conditioning. Of course, we'd like to come here and get two wins because at the end of the day, who doesn't like to win? I like to win but most important is to get football games without injuries and enjoy it as much as we can."
Curbishley came away from the match in Columbus excited about the progress of soccer in the United States. He watched from afar as the North American Soccer League tried to gain a foothold on the American sports scene in the 1970's and mid-80s.
"I remember the American soccer FA attempting to get soccer off the ground in perhaps the wrong way. I don't mean to be unkind in saying it, but they brought aging stars to try and promote the game when they should have brought coaches out and go into the schools and go into the grassroots and get people interested, generating the interest and let the grassroots set in," Curbishley noted. "That's what happened. Over the last 10, 15 years it's changed dramatically with the coaching the schoolboys and schoolgirls are receiving.
"The fact is there are American players in the Premiership. We've got one, Jonathan Spector, and there will be more in the coming years. I know Americans can take in the Premier League (on TV), albeit at strange times some times. I was in Tampa, Fla., in the summer and managed to catch the European Cup finals and saw the excitement."
He had watched several MLS games on the tube but Sunday was his first chance to see a league club live. The match on a sweltering afternoon drew 9,117 fans, including more than 500 West Ham followers.
"I'm impressed with, I must admit, my first MLS game and stadium I've been to," he said. "We're really pleased. I've been really impressed with the stadium; really impressed with the fan support. Crew fans are very good and obviously our American contingent was as well."
Neill said the players have only regret so far about their journey abroad.
"The whole trip is shorter than we wanted because we wanted to stay longer and probably make base here a bit but the dowry doesn't allow that," he said. "We're really excited to be here and the exposure we're getting is great. We didn't realize how many American West Ham fans there are. It's amazing. Major League (Soccer) is trying to take off soccer-wise and you can see by the crowd coming out on a Sunday afternoon it's really good. They've got a lot of work to do but the more publicity and high profile teams from England and all over the world that come to play, the better it will be."
The West Ham contingent arrived in Toronto on Monday and planned training sessions the next two days.
"There are one or two things we want to do this week. We want to get fit but we want to give MLS an uplift," Curbishley said. "It's going back live to England as well (midnight London time). It's not just being shown here. We're going to take it seriously."
That's the theme ingrained into the players as the Hammers prepare for their Premiership opener Aug. 16 vs. Wigan.
"We've got to look at the bigger picture and the picture is we've got a season to be training for so we'll work Tuesday and Wednesday a little harder than we would a normal game but certainly come Thursday we'll be really excited," Neill said. "Obviously, it's the best players in America and we're getting to take it on in what seems to be a really promoted event and we're privileged to be a part of it."
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