TFC’s Bradley, Giovinco head to all-star game
TORONTO — Toronto Football Club (FC) stars Michael Bradley and Sebastian Giovinco are headed to the 2017 Major League Soccer allstar game.
The all-stars will face Spain’s Real Madrid on Aug. 2 at Soldier Field in Chicago. The league annually invites a club from abroad to play against a league all-star team. The MLS All-Stars hold an 8—4 record.
The Fan XI announced Friday also includes goalkeeper Tim Howard (Colorado), defenders Greg Garza (Atlanta United), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City) and DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger (Chicago Fire), Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United) and Ricardo Kaka (Orlando City SC) and forwards David Villa (New York City FC) and Nemanja Nikolic.
Ten of the 11 players on the Fan XI were chosen by fan voting.
The 11th Giovinco — was determined by EA Sports “More Than a Vote” challenge that saw the Italian star score more than 1.1 million goals in the “EA Sports FIFA 17” video game.
Others in the top four of the challenge were Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Giovani dos Santos (L.A. Galaxy), Nikolic and Villa.
The rest of the 24-man roster will be announced in mid-July and will include two Commissioner’s Picks, and 11 picks by all-star coach Veljko Paunovic.
It’s the third all-star selection for both Bradley and Giovinco as members of Toronto FC.
Giovinco has 12 goals and five assists in 17 MLS and Canadian Championship matches this season. Bradley has two assists in 19 appearances.
Toronto FC’s all-time all-star list features Ronnie O’Brien (2007), Jimmy Brennan (2008), Dwayne De Rosario (2009, 2010), Jermain Defoe (2014), Altidore (2015), Bradley (2014, 2015, 2017) and Giovinco (2015, 2016, 2017). 2017 MLS All-Star Fan XI Goalkeeper: Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids).
Defenders: Greg Garza (Atlanta United), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City), DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo).
Midfielders: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Chicago Fire), Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United), Kaka (Orlando City SC), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC).
Forwards: David Villa (New York City FC), Nemanja Nikolic (Chicago Fire), Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC, via EA Sports “More Than a Vote” Challenge).