Adidas tech lets coaches know who's slacking off in tonight's MLS All-Star Game

Tonight's MLS All-Star Game (ESPN2, 8:30 p.m.) between the Major League Soccer's top players and Chelsea FC of the Premier League is being called the world's first "smart soccer" game. This doesn't mean that all previous MLS games have been dumb, it's just that tonight's contest will incorporate adidas'smiCoach Elite System for the first time. The miCoach Elite System is a new technology which allow coaches to monitor in real time their players' intensity, heart rate, speed, distance covered, and other stats. The way the system works is that players wear a small data cell between their shoulder blades on the shirts their undershirts. That cell wirelessly sends data to a central computer on the sideline which then routes it to a coach's iPad so he can keep track of his players' performances. So now when a coach decides to substitute for a player he thinks has run out of gas, he'll have the data to support his decision.

The system will make its debut in the All-Star Game and will be used by every team in the MLS for the 2013 season. Fans will be able to get a sneak peek at the data through adidas's Facebook page tonight, but next season MLS teams will be the only ones with access to that information.