Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer was named an MLS All-Star on Sunday, replacing injured Toronto FC forward Jermain Defoe on the gameday roster. MLS All-Star Head Coach Caleb Porter selected Dwyer to join teammates Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin and Graham Zusi for the league’s showcase against FC Bayern Munich at 8:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.
With Dwyer’s addition, Sporting Kansas City’s four players on the MLS All-Star gameday roster are tied with the Seattle Sounders FC for most among any team. The two sides lead their respective conferences and are separated by one point in the Supporters’ Shield standings.
“I am excited to play with some of the best players in Major League Soccer and in the world,” Dwyer said. “It should be a memorable week and I look forward to the events, the game and representing MLS.”
Dwyer ranks second among MLS players with 14 goals this season, third most on the team’s all-time single-season goal scoring chart. His nine left-footed goals and three headed goals lead the League, as do his four multi-goal games.
The 24-year-old is the only player to appear in all 26 competitive matches for Sporting KC this season. He was named MLS Player of the Month in May with goals in four consecutive games.
Selected in the first round of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, Dwyer scored 26 goals across six competitions in 2013 while splitting time with Sporting Kansas City and the team’s USL PRO affiliate Orlando City SC. The Englishman was the USL PRO’s top scorer and Championship MVP with four goals in the final before propelling Sporting KC to MLS Cup by scoring the game-winning goal in the Eastern Conference Championship.
The 2014 MLS All-Star Game will be nationally televised live on ESPN2 and UniMas in the United States as the MLS All-Stars take on 23-time German Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich.
As part of the 2014 MLS All-Star festivities, the Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game will debut on Monday. Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Jon Kempin and defender Erik Palmer-Brown were chosen to the 20-player roster to join the League's top Homegrown players in a showcase against the Portland Timbers U-23s (9 p.m. CT, WatchESPN, MLSsoccer.com).
2014 MLS All-Star Gameday Roster
Goalkeepers: Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders: Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Aurélien Collin (Sporting Kansas City), Sean Franklin (D.C. United), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC)
Midfielders: Osvaldo Alonso (Seattle Sounders FC), Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union), Will Johnson (Portland Timbers), Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Forwards: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Dom Dwyer (Sporting Kansas City), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls), Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders FC), Erick Torres (Chivas USA), Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls)
