A week into fan voting for the 2014 AT&T MLS All-Star Game the league’s biggest stars, not surprisingly, are leading the way.
Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando, Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler, Seattle Sounders midfielder Clint Dempsey and LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan are the leading vote-getters in their respective positional categories. Players like the Galaxy’s Omar Gonzalez, Toronto FC’s Michael Bradley and New York Red Bulls’ Thierry Henry are not far behind.
Voting for the game, which features MLS All-Stars against Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich on Aug. 6 (9:30 pm ET, ESPN2, UniMas, TSN/RDS) at Portland’s Providence Park, started May 28. MLS fans can vote for 11 players – the All-Star Fan XI – who will then be made available for head coach Caleb Porter.
There are 152 players on the fan ballot as nominated by media members and the ballots close on July 11 at 3 pm ET. There will also be a Twitter vote that will take place from July 2-6.
In addition, a forward will also be determined by fans through the AT&T/EA SPORTS™ “More than a Vote” Challenge. The MLS forward with the most goals scored in the EA SPORTS FIFA 14 game will join the All-Star Fan XI, which will be revealed on July 16.
Porter, whose full-time job is head coach of the Portland Timbers, will ultimately select the gameday roster and the starting lineup from the list of players made available to him as determined by media, fans, players and two picks made by MLS commissioner Don Garber that will be announced in July.
A total of 32 All-Stars are named each year – four goalkeepers, eight defenders, 13 midfielders, seven forwards – per the MLS-MLSPU Collective Bargaining Agreement and the full list of inactive players – those not selected to the gameday roster – will be revealed on August 6 on MLSsoccer.com.
Here are the top vote-getters in each category:
GOALKEEPERS (5)
1. Nick Rimando (RSL)
2. Julio Cesar (TOR)
3. Eric Kronberg (SKC)
4. Donovan Ricketts (POR)
5. Jaime Penedo (LA)
DEFENDERS (7)
1. Matt Besler (SKC)
2. Omar Gonzalez (LA)
3. DeAndre Yedlin (SEA)
4. Aurelien Collin (SKC)
5. Chad Marshall (SEA)
6. Seth Sinovic (SKC)
7. Steven Beitashour (VAN)
MIDFIELDERS (7)
1. Clint Dempsey (SEA)
2. Michael Bradley (TOR)
3. Kyle Beckerman (RSL)
4. Graham Zusi (SKC)
5. Tim Cahill (NY)
6. Will Johnson (POR)
7. Benny Feilhaber (SKC)
FORWARDS (7)
1. Landon Donovan (LA)
2. Thierry Henry (NY)
3. Jermain Defoe (TOR)
4. Robbie Keane (LA)
5. Chris Wondolowski (SJ)
6. Obafemi Martins (SEA)
7. Bradley Wright-Phillips (NY)
