Two of the eight Atlanta United players nominated for this summer’s MLS All-Star game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium say they don’t plan on using social media to promote themselves.
Fan voting for the game, to be played Aug. 1 against Italian giants Juventus, opened last week on the MLS App. Online voting will run from June 8-20 on mlssoccer.com.
Each team had eight players nominated by the media for the All-Star game. The eight Atlanta United players are: Ezequiel Barco, Julian Gressel, Miguel Almiron, Brad Guzan, Michael Parkhurst, Josef Martinez, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and Darlington Nagbe.
Three Atlanta United players, Greg Garza, Parkhurst and Almiron, participated in last year’s game in Chicago against Real Madrid.
Gressel said he wants what the club is trying to accomplish with the All-Star game. Atlanta United is in first place in the MLS Eastern Conference with 25 points. Garza suffered a shoulder injury during last year’s All-Star game. After suffering two more injuries to the shoulder, Garza underwent surgery and is expected to miss 4-6 months.
“Hope some of the guys experience it (the game) this year, including me,”’ Gressel said. “Trying to do my thing week in and week out and see what happens.”
Parkhurst said he also wouldn’t use social media to promote himself because he said Atlanta United already has the best supporters in MLS.
The roster will include 24 players. Ten will be selected by the online voting. Two will be decided by league commission Don Garber. One will be selected via the EA Sports “More than a vote” Challenge on the video game FIFA 18. Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino will select the remaining players.
Martino said on Tuesday that he hasn’t begun to think about the roster. Instead, he’s focusing on Wednesday’s game at New England, Saturday’s against Philadelphia and next week’s U.S. Open Cup game against Charleston followed by Saturday’s game at NYCFC.
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