Toronto FC announced Tuesday that midfielder Ronnie O'Brien has been included on the roster of the 2007 Sierra Mist MLS All Star Game as one of Head Coach Steve Nicol's selections. The All Star coach makes 5 selections, to round out the 18 man roster along with the Commissioner's two picks. Nicol earned the honor of coaching the MLS side by virtue of leading his team to the highest points per game average in the League through games played on June 25.
The First XI was announced last week, and was selected by a combination of votes from fans, players, media, coaches and General Managers.
This is O'Brien's fourth consecutive and fourth overall selection in the league's showcase, which will be played at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Denver Colorado on Thursday July 19th. MLS All Stars will take on Scottish side Celtic in this year's match.
"It's always nice to be chosen and get a chance to play in an All Star game," said O'Brien. "I look forward to going to Denver, but really, there could have been a bunch of guys chosen from our team, we're not a team of individuals and we've had a solid start."
O'Brien has contributed 4 assists in 11 games this season, and was previously named to the Best XI in the 2004, 2005 season.
The 28 year old midfielder joins other coaches selections Brian Ching (Houston), Landon Donovan (L.A. Galaxy), Kevin Hartman (Kansas City) and Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado) as well as Commissioner Don Garber's two picks, Eddie Pope of Real Salt Lake, and Cobi Jones of the Los Angeles Galaxy. Both Pope and Jones have announced their retirement at the end of this season.
For the complete roster of this year's MLS All Star squad head to www.mlsnet.com
O'Brien will head to Denver following the team's game in Houston on July 15th, and meet back up with the rest of his teammates for the next game Sunday July 22nd in Columbus.
