Atlanta United fullback Greg Garza thanked the team's fans on Saturday for their help in getting him into the MLS All-Star team that will face Real Madrid in Chicago on Wednesday.
Garza was one of two Atlanta United players along with attacking midfielder Miguel Almiron who made the team through fan's votes. Michael Parkhurst also made the squad as a manager's selection.
“I am very fortunate to be called into the All-Star my first year in the MLS ever,” Garza said after Atlanta United tied Orlando City 1-1 on Saturday in the final game at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium. “I am very happy and satisfied with everything. That just doesn’t come from me that comes from the 45,000-50,000 people that are here that have our backs.”
Garza is on loan with Atlanta United from Tijuana in Mexico's LIGA MX. He has said that he would love to join the MLS team permanently.
He has been one of the better fullbacks in MLS this season, particularly going forward up the left side to join the offense. The 25-year-old has one goal and three assists in 20 starts.
Garza leads all defenders in chances created (including assists) with 26. Only two other defenders -- Seattle’s Joevin Jones (21) and D.C. United’s Taylor Kemp (20) -- have 20 or more chances created.
Garza’s family will join him in Chicago, which he said is one of his favorite cities. This will also be the first All-Star game in which he has played in a career that includes time spent in Brazil, Portugal and Mexico.
“No other league does All-Star things,” he said. “That’s an American thing. It’s a cool thing they have here. I’m happy to be part of it.”
As of last week, Garza said he has no idea what manager Veljko Paunovic has planned. Garza said he’s just excited to potentially face on Wednesday some of the players he grew up dreaming of one day facing. Those includes Brazil’s Marcelo and Spain’s Sergio Ramos. Garza said he played against Germany’s Toni Kroos in and Under-17 tournament.
He said the result of the game irrelevant because few of the MLS All-Stars have played together.
“It’s a tough situation to be in to play against one of the best teams in the world,” he said. “Try our best, get a good result and put on a good show for the people.”
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