Major League Soccer on Thursday announced the four players named to the AT&T MLS All-Star inactive roster, completing the 32-man selection for 2016.
Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted, Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando, Philadelphia Union forward C.J. Sapong and Portland Timbers playmaker Diego Valeri joined the 28 previously named players.
The 25-man active MLS All-Star roster will take on English Premier League giants Arsenal in the AT&T MLS All-Star Game at Avaya Stadium on Thursday night (7:30 pm ET; ESPN and UniMas in the US, TSN2 and RDS in Canada).
This is the seventh-straight All-Star selection for Rimando, the second nod for Ousted and Valeri and the first career All-Star selection for Sapong.
Ousted has started all 22 of Vancouver’s regular season matches this year, posting an 8-8-6 record and registering a league-high 81 saves.
Rimando is 7-3-7 in 2016, notching three shutouts and posting a 1.47 goals against average. The longtime MLS veteran is currently one win shy of tying Kevin Hartman for the all-time league record for wins and he is tied with Hartman for the all-time MLS record of 411 career regular season starts.
The 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year, Sapong has been solid for the Union this year, recording six goals and two assists in 18 appearances for Philadelphia. Valeri’s numbers are even better, with the Timbers star notching nine goals and five assists in just 18 regular season matches.
The league officially confirmed that Colorado Rapids midfielder Jermaine Jones (undisclosed injury), Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler (left MCL strain) and Portland Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell (calf strain) will all miss Thursday’s All-Star Game against Arsenal due to injury.
All three players, none of whom played for their respective clubs last weekend, will be held out of their teams’ next matches due to a league rule that bars All-Stars from playing in their next league game if they can’t participate in the All-Star Game.
Jones will be held out of Colorado’s match at New York City FC on Saturday (3 pm ET; MLS LIVE), while Besler and Ridgewell will sit out Sunday’s game between SKC and Portland at Children’s Mercy Park (2 pm ET; FOX in the US, MLS LIVE in Canada).
