The 26 players set to face Arsenal in the 2016 MLS All-Star Game have been announced, and some of the league's biggest names will be on display in the July 28 match against Arsenal.
Twenty-four players were picked by All-Star team coach Dominic Kinnear (San Jose Earthquakes), while taking the Fan XI and player voting into consideration. Two were commissioner's picks.
Here is the squad.
Goalkeepers (2):
David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union)
Defenders (8):
Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact), Andrew Farrell (New England Revolution), Liam Ridgewell (Portland Timbers), Keegan Rosenberry (Philadelphia Union), Brandon Vincent (Chicago Fire), Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Midfielders (9):
Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Mauro Diaz (FC Dallas), Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Jermaine Jones (Colorado Rapids), Kaká (Orlando City SC), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Andrea Pirlo (New York City FC), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)
Forwards (7):
Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Didier Drogba (Montreal Impact), Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC), Cyle Larin (Orlando City SC), Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact), David Villa (New York City FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Commission Don Garber moved away from picking under-performing big names like he did a year ago in Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard with his selections. Instead, this year, he's going with Kyle Beckerman and Mauro Diaz.
Some of the biggest snubs are Portland Timbers star Diego Valeri and goal scorer Fanendo Adi as is New York Red Bulls star Bradley Wright-Phillips. Both Wright-Phillips and Adi are third in the league with nine goals each.
Gerard has seven assists on the season, third in the league, but did not make the squad despite being more deserving this year than last.
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