The stars will be in full force when Atletico Madrid faces off against the MLS All Stars at the end of July, but many of the same names will be involved in another competition the evening prior.
On Thursday, MLS announced its full roster for the 2019 MLS All-Star Skills Competition, which will feature trios of players from Atletico Madrid, Orlando City SC and a group of talents spread around MLS.
Representing La Liga giants Atletico will be recent signing Joao Felix, Mexican international Hector Herrera and Spanish midfielder Koke.
D.C. United’s Wayne Rooney, Los Angeles FC goalscorer Carlos Vela and LA Galaxy midfielder Jonathan dos Santos will team up for Team MLS, while Nani, Chris Mueller and Sebastian Mendez round out the competition for Orlando City.
It's time for a passing masterclass with @TheF2!
The gents will be joining us in Orlando for the #MLSAllStar Skills Challenge pres. by @target. Grab your ticket now: https://t.co/OW4iukz588 pic.twitter.com/Gpm00okwP7
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 18, 2019
The event, which will also feature a collaboration with the world-renowned F2 Freestylers (Jeremy Lynch and Billy Wingrove), will follow the 2019 MLS Homegrown Game on July 30 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.
The MLS All Stars will then take on Atletico at Exploria Stadium on July 31, as the former aim to end a three-year draught in the All-Star Game against European opposition. The last MLS victory came in 2015 against English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, with a 2-1 final score.
MLS really shoots themselves in the foot when including guys like Rooney and I know I am touching on the holy grail of soccer here. It just says, yeah Rooney coming from the English league is sooo good, he has to be an All Star in a little league like MLS, even passed his prime.
Ever since I started following MLS it has been like this. 2009 Fredy Lungberg, best XI, probably an all star too, not going to look it up, 2 goals, 5 assists as an attacking player…….all the way to 10 years later.
.
The argument will now be about Rooney, because he has made some big plays, but wherever you stand on him, my point stands.
People arguing, almost prove my point.
It is fine for a world superstar to come here, but if they stink, or are “just” above average, hero worship the players that are better. Judge them fairly, like you would any player.
It diminishes our league when people don’t.
Wow… why don’t they also have a slam dunk contest and a home derby while they’re at it? I don’t think MLS understands that American soccer fans follow the league in spite of MLS’ attempts to americanize the game, not because of it.
This whole all-star game concept is just so lame and a total disruption to the season (and don’t get me started on the ICC games and whatever “cup” games are concocted between MLS and Liga MX…). You want to boost attendance and viewership: Just raise the salary cap, improve the quality of rosters top-to-bottom, and let them play the game.