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Major League Soccer (MLS) has announced its all-star squad, which is scheduled to take on Tottenham Hotspur in a one-off showpiece match on July 29 at Commerce City, Colorado, Fox Sports reports.
The inclusion of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have grabbed the headlines as the pair have not featured for their respective teams in a competitive fixture. The English midfield duo were selected by MLS Commissioner Don Garber as his two picks to compliment the all-star XI chosen by the fans.
Lampard signed up for New York City FC last summer but agreed a season-long loan deal with their sister club Manchester City while Steven Gerrard ended his association with boyhood club Liverpool to join up with LA Galaxy. Though the latter did appear for a friendly with his new team, both of them are still awaiting their official debut.
The MLS all-star game is an annual event in the US football calendar since 1994, but the present format of pitting the best players from the league against an international club was started in 2005. Former Spanish international David Villa and two-time Ballon d’Or winner Kaka are the stand-out picks in the MLS selected team.
The all-star XI features many of MLS’s top designated players with as many as nine making the cut. The designated player rule was introduced in 2007 to attract high profile footballers to the US, with only a part of their salary counting towards the annual salary cap the MLS clubs have to comply with.
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando of Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City’s Benny Feilhaber are the only exceptions in the squad who do not fall under this slot. The rest of the players making up the eleven are the forward pair of Seattle Sounders Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins, LA Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler and Graham Suzi of Sporting Kansas City, Houston Dynamo’s DaMarcus Beasley and Toronto FC’s Micheal Bradley.
Martins picked up a spot in the XI after winning the “More than a vote” contest after supporters used him to score the maximum goals in the FIFA 15 video game.
It has to be noted however that the Fan XI does not necessarily mean the same eleven will be starting on match day. Colorado Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni, who is in charge of the all-star team and Garber will now pick the rest of the team depending on player availability. The final squad announcement will be done on July 18.
The MLS all-star XI
