By Jamie Trecker SportsTicker Contributing Editor

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- What was to be a celebration of U.S. soccer turned soggy Saturday as inclement weather nearly washed out the MLS All-Star Game between Team USA veterans and the league's best.

But as America's soccer players have done in the past, they had a surprise - and five goals -- in store for the 31,096 faithful fans at RFK Stadium who sat through a 58-minute delay to watch MLS take a 3-2 decision.

This was not unlike the first MLS Cup at Foxboro, Massachusetts in 1996, when D.C. United and Los Angeles proved that classy soccer can be played in any conditions.

Despite the delay caused by torrential rain and lightning, a squad of United States national team members and MLS' emerging stars kept at it, overcoming a waterlogged field and difficult conditions to produce an entertaining 75 minutes of soccer.

The show even had a hometown hero as United's Marco Antonio Etcheverry tip-toed through the slop 18 minutes from the end to chip home a nice goal for MLS. The Bolivian earned Most Valuable Player honors.

That provided a 2-1 lead before Cobi Jones slid to score in the 76th minute and tie matters. New England Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston had the last word, collecting the game-winner with nine minutes remaining.

After a scoreless first half - an abnormality in any All-Star Game in any sport - Landon Donovan tallied for the United States in the 57th minute before Jason Kreis of the Dallas Burn tied the match two minutes later.

The game honored Team USA, which under coach Bruce Arena surprisingly reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in June. Half that squad was not available due to club duty in Europe, so former national team World Cup participants also wore the U.S. jersey again as Arena patched together a side.

The first half was shortened to 30 minutes when play was halted in the 20th minute by the heavy rain and potentially dangerous lightning. Referee Brian Hall sent the teams to the locker room just 10 minutes after play had resumed, but the teams did manage a full second half.

Fireworks went awry at the end of pop star Paulina Rubio's halftime performance, nearly setting the stage on fire.

The day started with brutally hot and humid conditions as temperatures on the field approached 130 degrees. Just 15 minutes in, a downpour soaked the players and pitch. Hall sent the players to the locker rooms after lightning flashed overhead.

When the match resumed, it initially was a pale shadow of what had been a strong attacking game. Playing on a heavily waterlogged pitch with thunder still rolling nearby, even the most skilled players had trouble controlling a ball that often unexpectedly died.

That improved in the second half as the field dried, although Chris Henderson fell flat on his back when making the cross on which Donovan opened the scoring.

Chris Klein set up Kreis' equalizer at the other end before Etcheverry made room on the left, outran Chad Deering and lobbed the ball over Juergen Sommer to put MLS on top.

Jones was at full stretch to meet Brian McBride's cross to produce another tie, but Ralston calmly put the ball behind his New England teammate, Sommer, to decide the match.