Denis Bouanga and Riqui Puig among 30 players named to MLS All-Star roster
LAFC’s Denis Bouanga and Hugo Lloris and the Galaxy’s Riqui Puig were among the 30 players selected Monday to the MLS team for this month’s all-star game against a team from Mexico’s Liga MX. The exhibition will be played July 24 at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.
Also selected to the team was Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and his three former Barcelona teammates, defender Jordi Alba, midfielder Sergio Busquets and forward Luis Suárez.
Twelve players on the roster were selected through a combination of fan, player, and media voting. Columbus Crew manager Wilfried Nancy chose another 16 players with the final two picked by MLS commissioner Don Garber.
With the World Cup returning to Mexico in less than two years, the national team program is in tatters and the panic is real.
The all-star selection is the second in as many years for Bouanga, the reigning MLS Golden Boot winner. Lloris was picked in his first season in the league. Bouanga and Lloris were put on the team by Nancy, a fellow Frenchman, and Puig was voted in for his first selection.
Bouanga ranks third in MLS with 13 goals this season and leads the league in both shots and shots on target. Puig is first in touches, passes and completed passes. Lloris ranks second in wins (11) and clean sheets (seven) for LAFC (12-4-4), which is tied with the Galaxy (11-3-7) atop the Western Conference standings heading into Thursday’s El Tráfico at the Rose Bowl.
A pair of former LAFC players in Columbus forward Diego Rossi and Real Salt Lake’s Cristian Arango were also named to the team.
The 26-player Liga MX roster will be announced later this month.
The MLS roster
Goalkeepers: Roman Bürki (St. Louis City) Hugo Lloris (LAFC), Maarten Paes (FC Dallas)
Defenders: Jordi Alba (Inter Miami CF), Rudy Camacho (Columbus Crew), Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake), Aaron Herrera (D.C. United), Thiago Martins (New York City FC), Steven Moreira (Columbus Crew), Luca Orellano (FC Cincinnati), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Keegan Rosenberry (Colorado Rapids)
Midfielders: Luciano Acosta (FC Cincinnati), Sergio Busquets (Inter Miami CF), Mathieu Choinière (CF Montréal), Evander (Portland Timbers), Ryan Gauld (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Héctor Herrera (Houston Dynamo FC), Robin Lod (Minnesota United FC), Hany Mukhtar (Nashville SC), Darlington Nagbe (Columbus Crew), Riqui Puig (Galaxy)
Forwards: Cristian Arango (Real Salt Lake), Christian Benteke (D.C. United), Federico Bernardeschi (Toronto FC), Denis Bouanga (LAFC), Juan Hernández (Columbus Crew), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami CF), Luis Suárez (Inter Miami CF), Diego Rossi (Columbus Crew)
