The 2016 MLS All Star game will air at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT on July 28 and can be viewed on ESPN, UniMás, TSN, or RDS. The All-Stars will take on English Premier League powerhouse Arsenal in San Jose’s new Avaya Stadium. The team will feature players picked by the fans as well as MLS Commissioner Don Garber. The following is the 2016 MLS All-Star roster:
GK BINGHAM, David – San Jose Earthquakes
GK BLAKE, Andre* – Philadelphia Union
D BIRNBAUM, Steve – D.C. United
D CIMAN, Laurent* – Montreal Impact
D FARRELL, Andrew – New England Revolution
D RIDGEWELL, Liam – Portland Timbers
D ROSENBERRY, Keegan* – Philadelphia Union
D VINCENT, Brandon – Chicago Fire
D WASTON, Kendall – Vancouver Whitecaps
M BECKERMAN, Kyle** – Real Salt Lake
M DIAZ, Mauro** – FC Dallas
M DOS SANTOS, Giovani* – LA Galaxy
M JONES, Jermaine – Colorado Rapids
M KAKÁ* – Orlando City SC
M KLJESTAN, Sacha – NY Red Bulls
M NAGBE, Darlington* – Portland Timbers
M PIRLO, Andrea* – New York City FC
M TRAPP, Wil – Columbus Crew SC
F DEMPSEY, Clint* – Seattle Sounders
F DROGBA, Didier* – Montreal Impact
F GIOVINCO, Sebastian* – Toronto FC
F LARIN, Cyle – Orlando City SC
F PIATTI, Ignacio – Montreal Impact
F VILLA, David* – New York City FC
F WONDOLOWSKI, Chris – San Jose Earthquakes
HEAD COACH: Dominic Kinnear (San Jose Earthquakes)
* Fan XI vote
** Commissioner’s Picks SOURCE: mlssoccer.com
The team is packed with notable players like Clint Dempsey, Didier Drogba, Sebastian Giovinco, Andrea Pirlo, David Villa, and many more. Arsenal will be bringing their best as well, fielding players such as Theo Walcott, Petr Cech, and Santi Cazorla. Arsenal will have its work cut out for them as they face an All-star team that hasn’t lost in two years, and has only lost four times since 2005. It should be noted that the only drawback to a fixture like this is where the two teams stand in regards to their season.
The All-Stars come in their top form and fitness while Arsenal is in their pre-season form and still testing new players and strategies. This has been an issue in the past. For example, when the All-Stars played Bayern Munich in 2014, the then manager Pep Guardiola threw a fit because of the perfectly legal slide tackles against his side. It seemed as if he did not want to actually have his team play real soccer, but instead play a game for money that gave his players some fitness.
Hopefully that is not what happens when Arsenal takes the field on Thursday night and we are able to watch a fun and exciting game full of talent and skill.
