Major League Soccer on Tuesday announced the final 13 players for the MLS All-Star gameday squad to face Real Madrid, with commissioner Don Garber adding Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer and FC Dallas midfielder Kellyn Acosta as the final selections.
Chicago Fire coach Veljko Paunovic, who will lead the All-Star team at Soldier Field on Aug. 2, also selected 11 more players, who will join the Fan XI that was selected last week.
The most notable names on Paunovic's list are LA galaxy midfielder Giovani dos Santos and Toronto FC forward Jozy Altidore.
Paunovic also selected two of his own players, Chicago midfielder Dax McCarty defender Johan Kappelhof, while also adding two more FC Dallas players to the back line in Hernan Grana and Matt Hedges, along with Atlanta's Michael Parkhurst and LA's Jelle Van Damme.
Montreal's Ignacio Piatti and Portland's Diego Valeri were also added in midfield, while Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei also made the squad.
Altidore, McCarty, Acosta and Hedges are currently playing with the U.S. national team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, while Dwyer just left the team after playing in the knockout stage.
Fan XI ☑️
Coach's Picks ☑️
Commissioner's Picks ☑️Presenting the 2017 #MLSAllStar Team! // @Target pic.twitter.com/SSnh5qn5Sv
- Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 18, 2017
Among the notable omissions to the All-Star squad is Seattle's Clint Dempsey, who missed out for the first time since returning to the league. Erick "Cubo" Torres also was left out despite scoring 12 goals for Houston this season, tied for second-most in the league. Dempsey and Torres were both late additions to Gold Cup squads but so was Altidore.
Other players who failed to make the team despite scoring at least 10 goals were Dallas' Maximiliano Urruti, Chicago's David Accam, Portland's Fanendo Adi and Minnesota's Christian Ramirez. Assists leaders Victor Vazquez of Toronto and Michael Barrios of Dallas also missed out.
All told, the MLS squad represents 13 of the 22 MLS teams, from 13 different countries. Paunovic will select the starting XI from the full 24-player pool available to him.
Goalkeepers: Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids)
Defenders: DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), Greg Garza (Atlanta United), Hernan Grana (FC Dallas), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Johan Kappelhof (Chicago Fire), Michael Parkhurst (Atlanta United), Jelle Van Damme (LA Galaxy), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Kaka (Orlando City), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire), Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Chicago Fire), Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers)
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Dom Dwyer (Sporting Kansas City), Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC), Nemanja Nikolic (Chicago Fire), David Villa (New York City FC)