Moments after Tim Howard slapped away a Freddie Ljungberg penalty kick to give Everton a win in the MLS All-Star game, Ljungberg was carted off the field complaining of loss of vision and the onset of a migraine.

He was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

Ljungberg had played all 90 minutes of the game, which began at Rio Tinto Stadium with temperatures at 84 degrees.

Ljungberg has a histroy of migraines and had missed time earlier this season because of them. At the time, he explained that he usually gets them once a year and isn’t sure what causes them.

There isn't likely to be any more news tonight. I'm traveling Thursday but I've asked my editors to post any news they might receive while I'm unavailable.

Even five PKs weren't enough. But on the sixth, Tim Howard reached back to tap away the shot by Freddie Ljungberg, giving Everton the win. It's the first MLS loss after five wins in this All-Star format.

Howard was honored as MVP.

Apparently no coaches or players we spoke to after the game knew about the Ljungberg situation (see post above) as the coach Dominic Kinnear spoke purely about the game and his team's effort, and Kasey Keller spoke mostly about having had a good time, and the pure oddity of leaving a game and then subbing back in -- which is quite common in the Federal Way over-40 league, but apparently less so in international competition.

Some of those quotes:

KINNEAR overview: “It took us a while to get going. I think in the first 10 or 15 minutes we were a bit nervous. But I think we settled down and played some good stuff. … We had some good chances in the second half taken away by the post and Tim Howard’s play.”

KELLER on Howard:

“Tim was great. He made a couple of key saves and he obviously made a couple of good penalty saves. Tim was solid, and that’s nothing more than to be expected.”

KELLER on subbing back in, and going to penalty kicks:

“That was a little interesting. It was the first time I’ve started and subbed back in in the same game in a while. It was a fun game. … I thought for the majority of the game we were the better team. We had our chances to win the game. … Penalties are penalties. Why we went to penalties, I don’t know.”

KELLER on his first All-Star game as compared to other competitions: "I would say probably similar to the Chelsea game where both teams took it seriously and they did well, but at the same time you can never replicate a game that matters."

The Sounders will return to league play Sunday at San Jose.

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I've finally gotten a chance to take a deeper look at the Salt Lake papers today, and there's no shortage of Sounders items in there.

The main photo on the Desert News shows a picture from the all-stars/media gathering yesterday at Rio Tinto Stadium. Four interview clusters are clearly visitble: Dominic Kinnear, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Fredy Montero and Kasey Keller. (Both traveling sportswriters covering the Sounders are visible too.)

Inside the section, the News gives its MLS rankings, and the Sounders have moved to the top. The text says: "Six-game unbeating streak vaults Sounders to the No. 1 rankings." (Which isn't really gramatical, but...)

An inside story has a story on the MLS and Everton goalkeepers Kasey Keller and Tim Howard, with pictures of each.

The Salt Lake Tribune has a good inside spread on the game, including a list of both rosters with a quick one-sentence summary for each player. Here's what they had to say about the Sounders:

FREDDIE LJUNGBERG
Latest global star to join league has been key for Sounders.

FREDY MONTERO
Young star for Sounders among the league's top scorers.

KASEY KELLER
Longtime national star, arguably best American keeper ever.

JHON KENNEDY HURTADO
One of four Sounders on team has been rock in central defense.

It's MLS All-Star day. Here's my preview story from this morning's paper, dealing mostly with the four Sounders.

Meanwhile, here's a note from the MLS preview, which implies the MLS plans to put its offensive assets on display for the ESPN2 prime-time audience:

Although MLS All-Stars Coach Dominic Kinnear will make his final decisions on a starting lineup Wednesday, he tentatively plans to field a 3-4-3 alignment with four of the most productive players in the League this season leading the attack.

Colorado Rapids targetman Conor Casey will spearhead the attack and look to dish to crafty wingers Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Fredy Montero. Orchestrating the midfield will be Seattle Sounders FC’s darting Swede, Freddie Ljungberg, flanked by Houston Dynamo creators Stuart Holden and Brad Davis. The MLS All-Stars front six have totaled 30 goals and 29 assists just past the halfway point of the season.

Anchoring the center could be Kyle Beckerman, making his first All-Star appearance in front of his own Real Salt Lake fans. The back line is likely to feature three imposing, athletic and skillful defenders – Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew) between Wilman Conde (Chicago Fire) and Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo). In goal will be U.S. national team great Kasey Keller, also of Sounders FC.

Meanwhile, local papers have done a nice job with their pregame covers: Here's the Salt Lake Tribune, here's the Deseret News.

Here's the Everton site.

I'll report back from the stadium in the late afternoon and then keep a running blog going from the game.