Bastian Schweinsteiger has had a very smooth adjustment from Manchester United to the Chicago Fire. The German midfielder had to adjust to a new league, team, country on the other side of the world and a different footballing/soccer culture.
Schweinsteiger has passed all these tests, on the individual level, with flying colors, as he’s having a stellar season that saw him named to the Major League Soccer All-Star Game. On the team level, which is of course more important in a team game, his Chicago Fire are undefeated in their last 11 and atop the MLS Eastern Conference standings.
Find any MLS power rankings and you’ll see the Fire in the top spot, deservedly so, as they currently lead the race for the Supporters Shield. Schweinsteiger has two goals and five assists on the season (he arrived in Chicago a few weeks after the campaign had begun), but the Fire teammate who’s joining him on the MLS All-Star XI has put up astounding numbers.
That’s striker Nemanja Nikolic who currently leads the MLS Golden Boot race with 16 goals, four ahead of his closest competitor. The Serbian-born, but Hungarian international stands a very good chance of breaking the MLS single season scoring record this season.
Nikolic was named MLS Player of the Week for weeks seven and 18, and Player of the Month in May.
“In a short period of time, Bastian and Nemanja have endeared themselves to Fire fans through their play and commitment to the club,” reads a statement from Fire General Manager Nelson Rodríguez. “Their excellence has been justly rewarded with Fan XI honors and we look forward to the two representing our club and city at the All-Star Game next month.”
The MLS All-Stars will take on Real Madrid August 2nd in the Fire’s hometown of Chicago. A game of this magnitude requires it be played in the city’s much larger, downtown venue of Solider Field, instead of the Fire’s smaller suburban home venue of Toyota Park.
Here’s the full MLS All-Star Fan XI:
Goalkeeper: Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids)
Defenders: Greg Garza (Atlanta United), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City), DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo)
Midfielders: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Chicago Fire), Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United), Kaká (Orlando City SC), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC)
Forwards: David Villa (New York City FC), Nemanja Nikolic (Chicago Fire), Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC)
10 of the 11 members named to the team above were voted in by the fans. The 11th was determined by a video game sponsored fan challenge.
13 more MLS players will be named to the 24 man roster, which will be announced in mid-July. It is expected that the Fire will get two more players on the roster, Dax McCarty and David Accam (or at least they really should).
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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