the game was originally scheduled to be between the mls all-stars against real madrid at gillette stadium in foxborough, massachusetts. once the spanish team instead decided to play friendlies in japan, they opted out of the game in the united states and mls was forced to change the all-star game's format. the mls all-stars eventually played real madrid at their home stadium santiago bernabéu in the 2005 trofeo santiago bernabéu.