FC Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala has made a charge up the charts in the fan voting for the 2006 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game, which is being conducted on MLSnet.com, the league's official Web site. Elsewhere, the race for starting spots in the league's midsummer showcase is heating up, with the leaders getting pulled ever so slightly closer to the rest of the pack.
The game, which will take place Aug. 5 at Toyota Park, the Chicago Fire's new stadium in Bridgeview, Ill., will pit the MLS All-Stars against two-time defending English Premier League Champions Chelsea FC (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN).
The MLS All-Star starting lineup will consist of one goalkeeper, three defenders, five midfielders and two forwards. The online fan balloting program will comprise 25 percent of the total vote, with coaches and general managers (25 percent), players (25 percent), and media (25 percent) combining for the remaining 75 percent of the vote. A maximum of 10 ballots may be submitted per person per day. Online voting ends July 7.
Just two weeks ago, Sala found himself with the sixth-most votes at his position. But now, the Argentinean shot-stopper leads the hunt to start between the pipes, as his name appears on 14 percent of all fan ballots. Sala serves as the anchor for an FCD defensive unit that is much improved over last season; while he sits in the middle of the pack in goals against average, only Tony Meola of the New York Red Bulls and Zach Thornton of the Fire have made more saves than Sala.
Close behind Sala in the goalkeeping race is the New England Revolution's Matt Reis, who appears on 13 percent of ballots. Also close behind is D.C. United's Troy Perkins (12 percent), the league leader in minutes played and goals against average.
Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan still leads the overall voting (39 percent), and the Revolution's Clint Dempsey (27 percent) and Houston Dynamo's Dwayne De Rosario (26 percent) remain his closest pursuers, though all have seen their ballot performance slip recently.
United midfielder Freddy Adu has made a move upward; he now appears on 24 percent of all ballots. Adu's club teammates Ben Olsen (17 percent) and Christian Gomez (13 percent) still stand a good chance of making the starting 11, while Pablo Mastroeni of the Colorado Rapids, the Galaxy's Cobi Jones and Youri Djorkaeff of the Red Bulls - all at 11 percent - are a bit farther back.
On the backline, the fan balloting is shaping up to be a runaway for Real Salt Lake's Eddie Pope (25 percent) and the Galaxy's Chris Albright (21 percent). The real race there is for the third spot: Jimmy Conrad of the Kansas City Wizards (13 percent) holds the No. 3 position at the moment, but United defenders Facundo Erpen and Bobby Boswell and the Columbus Crew's Frankie Hejduk (12 percent each) are hot on his heels.
The battle at the forward position is among five players. Dynamo's Brian Ching (20 percent) and the Revolution's Taylor Twellman (19 percent) are closely followed by FCD's Carlos Ruiz (17 percent) and United's Alecko Eskandarian (16 percent). Eskandarian's teammate Jaime Moreno, who recently became the second player in MLS history to score 100 career goals, appears on 13 percent of ballots. Strangely absent from the top of the forward list are league-leading scorer Ante Razov of Chivas USA and RSL's Jeff Cunningham, who has seven goals on the year.
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
