Galaxy’s Jelle Van Damme, Giovani dos Santos named to MLS all-star team
Galaxy forward Giovani dos Santos and defender Jelle Van Damme were selected Tuesday for the MLS All-Star team that will play Spanish superclub Real Madrid on Aug. 2 in Chicago.
They were named to the team by Chicago Fire head coach Veljko Paunović, supplementing players chosen for the game in a vote of fans.
In addition, MLS Commissioner Don Garber added Kellyn Acosta of FC Dallas and Dom Dwyer of Sporting Kansas City to the 24-man roster.
Left off the team, however, were arguably the Galaxy’s two best players in the first half of the season — left back Ashley Cole and midfielder Romain Alessandrini.
Cole, 36, has been a rock on the backline for the injury-plagued Galaxy, starting 14 games and providing valuable leadership for a young squad.
Alessandrini, 28, joined MLS from French club Marseille in January and leads the Galaxy in both goals (8) and assists (7). Two of those goals were game-winners.
Dos Santos, a two-time World Cup performer for Mexico, has six goals and one assist in 12 MLS starts in 2017 and will be appearing in his second consecutive MLS all-star game. He was selected to the team as a midfielder.
Van Damme, also a two-time all-star, has a goal and assist in 15 starts this season.
The all-star roster:
Goalkeepers: Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids)
Defenders: DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), Greg Garza (Atlanta United), Hernán Grana (FC Dallas), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Johan Kappelhof (Chicago Fire), Michael Parkhurst (Atlanta United), Jelle Van Damme (Galaxy), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Giovani dos Santos (Galaxy), Kaká (Orlando City SC), 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 Nikolić (Chicago Fire), David Villa (New York City FC)
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