ORLANDO, Fla. (July 17, 2016) – Orlando City SC captain Kaká and striker Cyle Larin have been named to the 2016 AT&T Major League Soccer (MLS) All-Star Game, joining the league’s best talents to face English Premier League side Arsenal FC on Thursday, July 28 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, Calif. The match will be broadcast live at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, UniMás, UDN, TSN, and RDS.
Lions playmaker Kaká earns his second MLS All-Star call-up while goal scorer Larin receives his first. Orlando City is one of six teams with multiple representatives on the 26-man roster.
After being selected by fans to captain the MLS All-Star roster in last year’s 2-1 victory over EPL side Tottenham Hotspur, the Brazilian superstar scored a goal and an assist en route to All-Star Most Valuable Player honors.
Earlier this week, Kaká was named to the team as a Fan XI selection for the second consecutive year. The 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year has started nine games for the Lions this season, scoring three goals and five assists. The playmaker was named the MLS Player of the Week in Week 4 after scoring a goal and two assists in the Lions’ 4-1 win over Portland on April 3 and was selected to the MLS Team of the Week in Week 16 after netting the game-winning goal against Toronto FC on June 25.
At just 21 years old, Larin is the youngest player on the squad. The 2015 MLS Rookie of the Year has enjoyed another strong campaign in 2016, leading the Lions with nine goals, which is tied for third in the league in just 18 games played. Orlando’s No. 9 was named to the MLS Team of the Week after scoring and assisting in the 2-2 draw against Real Salt Lake in the season opener and again after scoring both goals in the 2-1 victory over the Montreal Impact in Week 12. Most recently, Larin scored the game-tying goal against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday. The Toronto native has also scored four goals in 17 senior international appearances for the Canucks since 2014.
Based in London, England, Arsenal is one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs, having won 12 FA Cups and 13 League titles. The Gunners finished second in the Premier League in 2016.
The Lions join a 26-man squad of recognized and world-class talents, two of which were Commissioner's Picks and 24 of which were selected by All-Star and San Jose Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear, who took into consideration the All-Star Fan XI and player voting.
2016 MLS All-Star Game Roster
Goalkeeper: David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union)
Defenders: Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact), Andrew Farrell (New England Revolution), Liam Ridgewell (Portland Timbers), Keegan Rosenberry (Philadelphia Union), Brandon Vincent (Chicago Fire), Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Mauro Diaz (FC Dallas), Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Jermaine Jones (Colorado Rapids), Kaká (Orlando City SC), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Andrea Pirlo (New York City FC), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)
Forwards: Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Didier Drogba (Montreal Impact), Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC), Cyle Larin (Orlando City SC), Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact), David Villa (New York City FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
