Dallas - 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 was announced today. Of the starting 11, FC Dallas produced four players - forwards Eddie Johnson (first All-Star selection) and Carlos Ruiz (fourth All-Star selection), midfielder Ronnie O'Brien (second All-Star selection), and defender Greg Vanney (second All-Star selection). The four starters for FC Dallas are the most of any MLS team this year.
The four starters for FC Dallas represent the second highest total in the team's 10-year history. Dallas posted five starters during the 1997 MLS All-Star Game when the game was played between the Western and Eastern Conferences (Mark Dodd, Diego Sonora, Alain Sutter, Damian and Dante Washington).
The 2005 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game will take place on Saturday, July 30 in Columbus Crew Stadium and will be televised nationally live on ABC Sports at 2:30 p.m. (CST).
"Our four players have earned the right to start in this game due to their stellar play this season," said FC Dallas and MLS All-Star Head Coach Colin Clarke. "It looks like our team is shaping up to be a very good one and I look forward to the opportunity I have to coach these fine players."
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. 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.
