MLS
Diego Luna and Bombito join the MLS All Star in place of Chicho Arango and Robinson
The Real Salt Lake midfielder and the Colorado Rapids defender join the MLS all-star team.
The MLS All Star match against the Liga MX 2024 All Star takes place next Wednesday, July 24 with some of the best players from the American and Mexican leagues facing off at Lower.com Field in Columbus. Ohio. It promises to be an entertaining match, despite some players not being able to make the date for one reason or another.
Wilfried Nancy will lead the Major League Soccer XI, while Mexico’s two-time champion coach, André Jardine, will coach the Liga MX side out on the pitch of the reigning MLS champions, the Columbus Crew. Should the game end level after 90 minutes, it will be decided by a penalty shootout.
Changes to the MLS All-Star team
The 30 players who will represent Major League Soccer against the top stars of the Liga MX were announced on 1 July, but since then there have been changes to the roster.
Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna has been called up to replace Cristian Arango, who is suspended while Colorado Rapids defender Moïse Bombito comes in for Miles Robinson, who has been drafted by the USMNT for the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Luna, 20, has made 23 appearances for Real Salt Lake this season, scoring five and creating another eight goals in his 21 games - 19 of them in the starting XI. Centre-back Bombito meanwhile, has been a mainstay for most of the campaign for Chris Armas, starting 16 of his 17 regular season appearances so far. The Canadian has contributed a couple of goals too - finding the net in the games against LAFC and Cincinnati.
Without doubt the biggest absentee is Lionel Messi. Under normal circumstances, the Inter Miami captain would have been there, but he suffered an ankle injury in Argentina’s Copa América final victory over Colombia last Sunday, ruling him out of both the All-Star Game and his team’s commitments in MLS.
The 2024 MLS All-Star Game will be played on Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at Lower.com Field with kick off at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT.