Major League Soccer fans can make their voices heard by choosing the MLS stars they want to see compete versus English Premier League champion Chelsea FC in the 2006 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game. Official online balloting is now open, at the league's official website www.mlsnet.com, giving fans the chance to vote for the MLS All-Star XI in this year's game.
The Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game will bring together the best MLS players for a marquee match-up with English powerhouse Chelsea FC on Aug. 5, 2006, in Chicago's handsome new soccer-specific stadium in Bridgeview, Ill. The game will be nationally televised live on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Fans can vote for the All-Star XI online at www.mlsnet.com by selecting up to one goalkeeper, three defenders, five midfielders, and two forwards. Fans can vote up to 10 times per day. The online fan balloting program, which concludes on Friday, July 7, will comprise 25 percent of the total vote for the All-Star XI, with coaches and general managers, players and media each holding 25 percent of the vote to combine for the remaining 75 percent.
The coach of the MLS All-Star squad will be the coach of the MLS team with the best record, as decided by the most total points in League play following games played on Wednesday, July 5. The standard MLS tiebreakers will determine the coach if two or more teams are tied. The All-Star XI will be announced on Wednesday, July 12. The MLS All-Star reserves will be announced on Friday, July 14. Five players will be selected as reserves by the head coach and the final two will be selected by MLS commissioner Don Garber.
This year's All-Star team will take on one of the world's top professional soccer clubs. Led by international soccer icons Frank Lampard, Arjen Robben, Hernan Crespo and Joe Cole, Chelsea FC is an all-star team of its own, and it has finished first in the prestigious English Premier League for two consecutive seasons.
This year marks the third time that MLS All-Stars have taken on a high-profile international opponent. In 2003 the MLS All-Stars defeated Mexican club CD Guadalajara 3-1, and in 2005 they stormed English opponents Fulham 4-1. The format of the Sierra Mist All-Star game makes it the most competitive all-star game in professional American sports.
