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Arena Leading All-Stars; Player Honors Roundup
With the World Cup heading for the finals, and some of the best quarterfinal matches to come, it’s easy to forget that the MLS continues to roll along.
For a reminder, the league announced Wednesday that LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena will coach the All-Stars against Manchester United on July 28.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and TeleFutura from Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas on Wednesday, July 28 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The honor of coaching the MLS All-Stars goes to the coach whose team has the best points-per-game average in League play through June 27. With a record of 10-1-3, for 33 points (2.36 points-per-game), the LA Galaxy secured the MLS All-Star Coach position for Arena.
Arena is in his third season as head coach of the Galaxy. A two-time MLS Cup winning coach, Arena is one of just four coaches ever to win the cup on more than one occasion. As the all-time leader in wins among coaches in U.S. National Team history, Arena led the U.S. to the FIFA World Cup twice, including a historic quarterfinal berth in 2002 in Japan/Korea.
Because the LA Galaxy are scheduled to host the Puerto Rico Islanders in a 2010-2011 CONCACAF Champions League match on Tuesday, July 27, Arena has asked host city head coach, Dominic Kinnear of the Houston Dynamo, to lead the All-Star training sessions on Monday, July 26 and Tuesday, July 27, as well as serve as his assistant coach on gameday.
Still Voting: Fans and media may continue to vote for the MLS All-Star First XI through July 6. One-fourth of the total vote for the First XI will come from each of the following groups: fans, players, coaches and general managers, and media members. The MLS All-Star First XI will be announced on Tuesday, July 13.
Arena and Kinnear will collaborate to select five additional All-Stars who will join the two Commissioner’s selections to complete the 2010 AT&T MLS All-Star Game roster. The entire 18-man roster, including those five coaches’ selections and two Commissioner’s picks, will be announced on Monday, July 19.
And A Goalkeeper Wins: MLS and the North American Soccer Reporters announced Thursday that Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando was voted Major League Soccer’s Player of the Month for June.
The naming of Rimando marks the second consecutive month that a Real Salt Lake player has captured the honor. Salt Lake forward Álvaro Saborío won the award in May.
Rimando posted three shutouts through three games played in June, facing 16 total shots, to help the defending MLS Cup champions to a club record eight-game undefeated streak and a club record 17-game home undefeated streak. The Montclair, California, native has recorded 99 career wins through MLS regular season play and will look to become only the fifth player in MLS history to hit the century mark as the team lines up against the New England Revolution Friday at Rio Tinto Stadium.
And Finally: ColoradoSoccerNow’s vote aligned with the rest of the universe as our selection, Juan Pablo Angel, was Major League Soccer Player of the Week for Week 13 of the 2010 MLS season. Ángel recorded two goals and an assist in New York’s 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday, June 26, at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
After heading a ball out of the midfield to Salou Ibrahim, who scored the Red Bulls’ first goal of the match, Ángel tallied one of his own in the 82nd minute. With his team leading 1-0, Red Bulls goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul sent a long ball up the field which bounced twice and fell to Ángel in the box. Ángel fought around Wizards defender Aaron Hohlbein and hit a hard shot that got past Wizards goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen to double the Red Bulls’ lead late in the game.
Ángel put the game out of reach for the Wizards with a brilliant individual effort in the 90th minute. As the clock wound down, he chased down a clearance out of the backfield, fought around Hohlbein, and dribbled around Nielsen to tap in his eighth goal of the season.
Ángel’s brace helped New York defeat Kansas City 3-0, for their eighth win of the season.
This is Ángel’s fourth career Player of the Week award: 2007 – Week 7; 2007 – Week 19; 2008 – Week 20.
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