The MLS regular season is a little more than halfway through, and there has been some great soccer as of late. The MLS All-Stars have already been announced and the best the MLS has to offer will play Bayern Munich on August 6 at Providence Park, the home of the Portland Timbers. Here is a list of the MLS All-Stars that will be competing in the big game: GK Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), GK Bill Hamid (DC United), CB Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), CB Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), DEF DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC), DEF Aurelien Collin (Sporting Kansas City), DEF Chad Marshall (Seattle Sounders FC), DEF Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), MF Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), MF Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), MF Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City), MF Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls), MF Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders FC), MF Will Johnson (Portland Timbers), MF Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers), F Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), F Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), F Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders FC), F Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC), F Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy), F Erick Torres (Chivas USA), and F Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls).
Most of the players listed above played for the U.S. Men’s National Team during the FIFA World Cup. Twelve Americans made the list for the MLS All-Star team and eleven are international. Now, here’s how each team has been doing so far:
Kansas City has a one point lead over DC United for the Eastern Conference. United has shocked a lot of people by playing this well after finishing dead last in the entire league last year with only 16 points (3 wins, 7 draws and 24 losses). Now, they are 10-4-5 and have a goal differential of 9, the third best in the entire league. Their surprising efforts have come in due to the play of their All-Star goalkeeper Bill Hamid and their ability to play as one unit. Fabian Espindola deserves a little bit of credit for leading his team with seven goals this year. The 29-year-old forward from Argentina has been a huge help since joining the club earlier this year. His seven assists also leads the team and is tied for second in the entire league!
Back to Sporting Kansas City, they have three All-Stars on their team, but their best player didn’t even make the roster this year and that is Dom Dwyer. He is tied for second in the league with 14 goals with All-Star Erick Torres. The 23-year-old forward from England definitely has a bright future ahead and could open the eyes of some Premier League scouts.
Credit: http://www.sportstalkflorida.com
The team to beat right now is the Seattle Sounders. They have dominated their opposition, landing a 12-2-4 record and lead the league with 35 goals scored for them. They also lead the league with the most All-Star players with five. One of those five is National Team Captain Clint Dempsey. He has nine goals accredited to his name and fellow All-Star teammate Obafemi Martins is having one of the best years of his career. The 29-year-old Nigerian forward has eight goals and six assists in 16 appearances with the team this year. This one-two-punch combination has been deadly all year and will continue Seattle’s winning ways unless someone stops them.
Speaking of great seasons, Thierry Henry is continuing to defy his limits has he now leads the MLS in assists with eight and has scored four goals this year. The French Forward has been able to produce for New York even at the well-experienced age of 36. He has now made four straight All-Star appearances and will look to continue his amazing career after scoring 45 goals in 108 appearances for the Red Bulls.
Henry’s teammate, Bradley Wright-Phillips, is having one of his best seasons ever as well. The 29-year-old forward from England is leading the league right now with 17 goals in 19 appearances. It seems as if he’s bound to score at least one goal in every game he plays in! He will have to play just as hard for the rest of the season in order to catch up with Toronto FC just two points ahead of New York.
Credit: http://www.theguardian.com
The next MLS game will be played this Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. and it will pit San Jose against Chicago. Stay tuned for the rest of the MLS season as everything starts to get more interesting with playoff pushes in focus.
The Basket Foot 