NEW YORK - Major League Soccer today announced the starting lineup for the MLS All-Star squad that will face English Premier League club Fulham FC at the 2005 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game on Saturday, July 30, in Columbus Crew Stadium (live on ABC Sports at 3:30 p.m. ET).
The leading vote-getter is the Los Angeles Galaxy's Landon Donovan, who joined the club prior to the 2005 MLS season. He will be making his fifth appearance in an MLS All-Star Game.
"We are pleased for Landon and happy to see his club accomplishments recognized," said Galaxy President and General Manager Doug Hamilton He is clearly deserving of this recognition and as a club, we look forward to his contributions in the second half of the season."
All 11 MLS starters for the game are:
GOALKEEPER (1): Matt Reis (New England Revolution)
DEFENDERS (3): Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake), Greg Vanney (FC Dallas), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Ronnie O'Brien (FC Dallas), Amado Guevara (MetroStars), Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution)
FORWARDS (2): Carlos Ruiz (FC Dallas), Eddie Johnson (FC Dallas)
The starting XI was determined by online fan balloting (25 percent), media votes (25 percent), players (25 percent), and MLS coaches and GMs (25 percent). With each voting category counting for a quarter of the total votes, the formula used for determining the starters involved assigning 25 total points to each category for a possible total of 100 points. Therefore if a player received 50 percent of the votes in any category, he would earn 12.5 points for that category. For example, Donovan received 9.70 points for online balloting, which is 38.82 (total percentage of online votes) percent of 25. The voting totals were as follows:
| 2005 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game Starters | |||||
| Points | Fan | Media | Player | Coach/GM | Total |
| Goalkeeper | |||||
| Matt Reis | 4.03 | 9.86 | 12.08 | 13.41 | 39.38 |
| Defenders | |||||
| Greg Vanney | 2.77 | 11.27 | 7.25 | 14.63 | 35.92 |
| Eddie Pope | 6.77 | 9.51 | 10.87 | 8.54 | 35.68 |
| Jimmy Conrad | 1.68 | 6.34 | 6.76 | 8.54 | 23.32 |
| Midfielders | |||||
| Landon Donovan | 9.70 | 18.31 | 14.73 | 15.85 | 58.60 |
| Clint Dempsey | 6.85 | 15.14 | 13.04 | 12.80 | 47.84 |
| Ronnie O'Brien | 3.81 | 12.32 | 11.47 | 17.68 | 45.29 |
| Amado Guevara | 3.30 | 11.62 | 9.66 | 8.54 | 35.68 |
| Shalrie Joseph | 2.00 | 3.52 | 7.13 | 7.32 | 19.96 |
| Forwards | |||||
| Carlos Ruiz | 4.84 | 11.97 | 8.33 | 10.98 | 36.12 |
| Eddie Johnson | 5.47 | 7.75 | 8.57 | 10.37 | 32.16 |
FC Dallas head coach Colin Clarke earned the honor of coaching the MLS side by virtue of leading his team to the highest point total in the League through Week 14. On Thursday, July 14, Clarke will select the five reserves who will join two other Commissioner's selections to comprise the 18-man MLS roster.
The 2005 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game offers four levels of ticket pricing, ranging from $25 to $45 for individuals. Tickets can be acquired at the Crew Stadium Box Office, at any area Ticketmaster outlet, via phone at 614-431-3600 or online at www.MLSnet.com and www.TheCrew.com. Group pricing is also available. For more information or to purchase group tickets call The Crew at 614-447-CREW.
