Ibrahimovic, Vela headline four LA selections in MLS All-Star Game
Is the World Cup making you jones for some more top-tier soccer? Well, you're in luck.
Both LAFC and the Los Angeles Galaxy will send a pair of players to compete for what will be the most diverse roster to ever appear in an MLS All-Star game this year.
Forwards Carlos Vela (LAFC), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Galaxy) and Jonathan Dos Santos (Galaxy) will join defender Laurent Ciman (LAFC) as part of the spectacle pinning the MLS' best against one of the top teams in the world, Juventus.
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Ten players with World Cup experience are on the roster, including five players in this year’s tournament and all four of the LA selections. The roster also features players from 16 countries – the most in MLS All-Star Game history, eclipsing the previous record of 13 in the 2016 and 2017 MLS All-Star Games.
The team is made up of 11 players selected by fans, 13 chosen by All-Star coach Tata Martino (ATL) and two by MLS commissioner Don Garber. Every Los Angeles selectee was chosen by the fans other than Dos Santos, who was one of Martino's picks.
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Ibrahimovic, who made 70 appearances for Juventus while with the club from 2004-06, is Sweden’s all-time leading goal scorer with 62 goals in 116 games and has played in two FIFA World Cups (2002, 2006). He currently leads the Galaxy in goals with seven.
Vela, who has been a pivotal part of Mexico's current World Cup campaign in his second installment with the team (2010), has won the Concacaf Gold Cup on two occasions. He too has seven goals in MLS play, leading LAFC, and is tied for second on the team in assists with five.
Ciman represented Belgium at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where they fell in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Argentina. The 32-year-old has been a dominate force in the MLS since joining the league in 2015, earning MLS Defender of the Year, MLS Best XI and Impact Defensive Player of the Year honors to go along with his now third all-star selection.
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Dos Santos is currently teamed with Vela on Mexico's roster in Russia for his first World Cup appearance. Since signing with the Galaxy in 2017, he has made 20 appearances while scoring two goals and adding two assists from his position in midfield.
The 2018 All-Star Game will take place in Atlanta August 1.
