By TATE STEINLAGE
Maurice Edu, Bobby Boswell, and Sean Franklin are MLS All-Stars after all.
The league announced Saturday that the Philadelphia Union midfielder and D.C. United defenders will join manager Caleb Porter’s squad as replacements for Seattle Sounders defender Chad Marshall and LA Galaxy teammates Omar Gonzalez and Robbie Keane.
Reports surfaced Friday that the LA Galaxy were working to get Gonzalez and Keane withdrawn from the Aug. 6 friendly against Bayern Munich because of their Western Conference clash with the San Jose Earthquakes two days later.
According to the Goal USA report, Galaxy All-Star forward Landon Donovan will still be “involved in a limited role.”
Chad Marshall is still recovering from a July 26 rear-end car accident that left him with back spasms and forced him to sit out of his team’s 3-0 loss to the Galaxy Monday.
“Given the limited minutes that Omar and Robbie would need to play due to having a game on Friday and the injury to Chad, I felt we needed to bring in Sean, Bobby and Maurice to provide us with more cover in the back,” Porter said in a release. “This will also allow us to manage the other players’ time so everyone is ready for their matches on the weekend.”
The full 23-man roster for the All-Star game can be seen below:
Goalkeepers: Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Bill Hamid (D.C. United)
Defenders: Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Aurélien Collin (Sporting Kansas City), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Sean Franklin (D.C. United), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)
Midfielders: Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders FC), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Will Johnson (Portland Timbers), Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union)
Forwards: Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy), Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders FC), Erick Torres (Chivas USA), Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls)
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What do you make of the roster shake up for the All-Star game? Good for LA to sit out their players with a game two days later? Did Porter pick the best replacements?
Share your thoughts below.