It's time to bring back the A-League All-Stars

Adam Taggart will get a taste of a Korean institution on Friday evening as he lines up as part of a very attacking K-League All-Stars team that take on Juventus in Seoul in front of what is expected to be a bumper crowd.

Alessandro Del Piero in action for the 2014 A-League All-Stars Source: Getty Images

The former Brisbane, Perth and Newcastle frontman scored plenty of goals in the A-League and needed little time to settle at Suwon Bluewings, after joining the two-time Asian champions earlier this year.

Taggart has quickly established himself as one of the top marksman in a league where plenty of foreign forwards have failed over the years.

There should be more to come in the Korean capital against the Italian giants. All-Star games tend to be free-scoring affairs whatever the formats and there have been plenty of those over the years.

Some of these suggest a blueprint that Australia could follow.

The A-League has dabbled in the past with games against Manchester United and Juventus in 2013 and 2014 respectively with big crowds and plenty of column inches.

Korea has done something similar in the past in inviting foreign clubs.

There was the visit of Barcelona in 2010, which upset the locals but that is a whole separate story.

There have been domestic varieties too: current stars against past stars, domestic v foreigners, top tier v second tier and an All-Star team against an eleven selected by former Manchester United star Park Ji-sung.

When the All-Star game has been at its best however is when it has taken one of two forms. 

One is the classic K League clash in which the country is divided into two geographical zones: north and south.

Fans vote for all the players over a course of a few weeks and then the two teams battle it out. 

These games are popular. Not only are they no holds barred in terms of attacking football, there is more thought given to the elaborate goal celebrations than any strategy.

There are also races and other sporting events that the players love to get involved in. 

These are great adverts for the league with the weeks of voting, the build-up and prime time television broadcasts.

These were games in which the personality of players and coaches could shine through. The negative was always that the authorities never quite made use of it. 

The second adds a different element. In 2008 and 2009, the K League All-Stars played the J.League All-Stars.

These were games that were friendly on the surface but had a fierce undercurrent of competitiveness.

These games received plenty of column inches on both sides of the body of water that separates the two countries (they can’t agree on what that should be called).

It was a great way of getting fans behind their leagues and could yet be the way forward for Australia.

There is nothing stopping an A-League All-Star team taking on an equivalent team from Japan, Korea or even China.

In fact, given the stars that can be found in the Chinese Super League, a two-legged clash between the best from Down Under and the best from the Middle Kingdom would be a showstopper. 

There could even be a week-long mini-league between the three major East Asian leagues and that of Australia, providing there was enough time and corporate interest to lend some financial support.

Or there could be efforts to engage with Southeast Asia.

There would be considerable interest in the region if a team of the best from ASEAN did battle with the best from the A-League. This would do Australia’s relations with its closest neighbours no harm at all either.

As has been mentioned on numerous occasions, Southeast Asia is a football-loving region of 640 million or so people.

The FFA have been working increasingly hard behind the scenes but there is always room for more visible examples for fans to support.

Getting back into the All-Star games can offer opportunities for the A-league - and not just when the big European teams come to town.