UNITED DOMINATE MLS ALL-STAR VOTE

Fans pick six of team’s players for Aug. 1 game at Mercedes-Benz.

Dominating the standings and attendance, Atlanta United also dominated the voting for the MLS All-Star game, which will be played against Juventus on Aug. 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Six Atlanta United players — goalkeeper Brad Guzan, striker Josef Martinez, midfielders Miguel Almiron, Ezequiel Barco and Darlington Nagbe, and defender Michael Parkhurst — were voted into the MLS AllStar Fan XI. This will be Almiro’s and Parkhurst’s second consecutive All-Star appearance. Six is an MLS record.

“They are incredible,” Parkhurst said of Atlanta United

fans. “From day one, until now it’s been amazing. Everyone sees it on a game day, and the passion they bring and the excitement and the atmosphere they create. But

it’s everywhere. It’s when you are out about in the city and people recognize and the support they give you. It’s when you go to do a player appearance and go to sign autographs for an hour and there’s a line the whole time.”

The rest of the Fan XI is composed of talent that, combined with Commissioner Don Garber’s two selections and manager Gerardo Martino’s remaining 11 selections, which will be made later this summer, should make for a competitive game against the Italian powerhouse.

Joining the Atlanta United players are L.A. Galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored 23 goals in 70 appearances for Juventus from 2004-06, and LAFC’s Carlos Vela, who was voted in through the EA Sports More than a Vote Challenge. Ibrahimovic has seven goals and three assists in 11 appearances, and Vela has seven goals

and five assists in 12 appearances. Last year’s league MVP, Diego Valeri of Portland, is the remaining midfielder. He has six goals and three assists in 14 appearances.

The other two defenders are LAFC’s Laurent Ciman and Sporting KC’s Graham Zusi.

The Fan XI may not be selected by Martino as the starting 11, but the group has a bevy of World Cup experience, which may help. Ibrahimovic is a two-time World Cup participant with Sweden. Ciman (Belgium) and Zusi played in 2014. Guzan played in 2010 and ’14.

Martino knows what he will get from Atlanta United, which leads MLS with 34 points, and its fans in terms of support.

“It’s an honor,” Guzan told

CURTIS COMPTON/CCOMPTON@AJC.COM Atlanta United striker Josef Martinez, leading the MLS with 14 goals this season, was among six United players selected by the fans, an MLS record.