Arsenal FC will take on the best and brightest of American Major League Soccer in an international friendly on July 28th. Arsenal FC versus the MLS All-Stars will take place at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California.
Last year, it was another North London club, Tottenham Hotspur, who took on the MLS All-Stars. When you look at the list below of fan voted in players, it only reinforces the idea of MLS being the sport’s global retirement home; a reputation that becomes more well deserved by the year.
All-Star Fan XI
Goalkeeper: Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union)
Defenders: Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact), Keegan Rosenberry (Philadelphia Union)
Midfielders: Kaka (Orlando City SC), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Andrea Pirlo (New York City FC), Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy)
Forwards: Didier Drogba (Montreal Impact), Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC), David Villa (New York City FC)
Still, MLS All-Star Week will be a big event that’s great fun for all those involved.
It features six days of events leading up to the match including a concert at San Pedro Square on Monday, community service initiatives through MLS WORKS, a Special Olympics Unified Soccer Match at Avaya Stadium following All-Star training on Tuesday, the MLS Homegrown Game on Wednesday evening, and pregame festivities outside the stadium leading up to the match on Thursday.
According to FOX Soccer, “There will be a total of 22 more players added to the All-Star team, with the remainder announced on July 17. 20 of those players will be chosen by the MLS team’s coach, Dominic Kinnear, while two will come from Don Garber, who gets to make two commissioner’s picks.”
Kinnear will then whittle the final roster down to 22.
For more information about the schedule of events, please CLICK HERE.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
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