FC Dallas midfielder Ronnie O'Brien was today named to the Major League Soccer RadioShack Best XI. This is the second consecutive season in which FC Dallas' Irish-born midfielder had been named to the league's Best XI which is the annual selection of the league's best players at their position. This year's team was selected in a 3-5-2 formation with O'Brien being selected as one of MLS' best five midfielders.
The 26-year old Bray, Ireland native, who is in his fourth-year with the Hoops, tallied career highs in goals (six) and assists (12) in 28 games in 2005. The 12 assists were good for second place in Major League Soccer and made O'Brien just the third player in Dallas history to record double digits in assists on multiple occasions.
As a result of his strong play, O'Brien was also named as a starter to the MLS Sierra Mist All-Star Team and was selected to represent the MLS Select Team at the Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu against Real Madrid on August 23 in Madrid.
"It's always a tremendous honor to receive an award like this, especially one that is selected by your peers in the game," O'Brien said. "However, as nice as this award and all the rest of them are, I'd give them up to be playing here on Sunday and that is going to be our goal next year and beyond."
By being named to the RadioShack Best XI, O'Brien becomes the only player to have been named to the Best XI team on multiple occasions as a member of the Dallas franchise and one of just three players to make the Best XI in each of the last two years.
The RadioShack Best XI team was determined by equal voting from the MLS players (33.33 percent), MLS coaches and general managers (33.33 percent), and media (33.33 percent). With each voting category representing one-third of the total votes, the formula used for determining the award winners involved assigning 33.33 total points to each category for a possible total of 99.99 points.
The 10th season of Major League Soccer culminates on Sunday afternoon at Pizza Hut Park with MLS Cup 2005 between the New England Revolution and the Los Angeles Galaxy on ABC Sports at 2:30 p.m. Ensure your spot at this once-in-a-lifetime event by heading to Pizza Hut Park Sunday morning after 9:30 a.m. to purchase your standing room only tickets. These special tickets cost $35 and will give you the chance to see the league's championship match at the country's newest and most breathtaking soccer-specific stadium, Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. There are only a limited number of these standing room tickets available so arrive early and guaranteed your spot in history at MLS Cup 2005.
