Three FC Cincinnati players selected to MLS All-Star Game roster, will face Arsenal FC
Major League Soccer's best team will be well-represented at the 2023 MLS All-Star Game next month in Washington, D.C., with three FC Cincinnati players named to the squad that will face Arsenal FC of the English Premier League.
FC Cincinnati's Luciano Acosta, Matt Miazga and Alvaro Barreal were voted onto the MLS All-Star team to be managed by D.C. United Head Coach Wayne Rooney. MLS players, media and fans participated in the voting process.
The MLS All-Stars are scheduled to face Arsenal at D.C. United's Audi Field on July 19, with players scheduled to participate in several additional events in the days leading up to the match.
The three MLS All-Star Game inclusions are a new club record for FC Cincinnati after it sent two players − Acosta and Brandon Vazquez − to last year's MLS All-Star Game in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
For Acosta, the MLS All-Star Game appearance will be the second of his career. Miazga and Barreal will both make their debuts in the annual midsummer showcase match.
Acosta has been FC Cincinnati's attacking catalyst after a relatively slow start to 2023 by his own lofty standards. He has nine goals and four assists to lead FCC in goal contributions.
Miazga has anchored FC Cincinnati's defense in 2023, which is on pace to meet general manager Chris Albright's stated aim of conceding 10 fewer goals than last season's 56 scores allowed.
Miazga is currently playing with the United States Men's National Team (USMNT) in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. He is expected to be available to participate in the MLS All-Star Game even if the USMNT advances to the competition's July 16 final at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Barreal is likely the most intriguing MLS All-Star for FC Cincinnati. As he continues to attract attention from European clubs, Barreal's FC Cincinnati career seems to be nearing its pinnacle and its full-circle moment.
Barreal is an FC Cincinnati product through and through, and one of the few players to stake a claim to such a mantle. FCC secured the services of Barreal, then 20 years old, in the heart of the 2020 pandemic-shortened season via a transfer from Velez-Sarsfield of Argentina.
The idea was for Barreal to be an investment for FC Cincinnati's future, said then-technical director Gerard Nijkamp.
"Of course, we need players who can help us today, but we need also players who will help us in the future," Nijkamp said during a Sept. 2, 2020, video-conference call. "I think Álvaro Barreal is a player of that kind, a player with potential. A young player, so he needs also time. You have to give him time to cope with all the new things he will need to work on ... We are very confident that he can make the next step in our club."
Being named to the MLS All-Star Team, which carries with it a high-visibility platform for Barreal, is part of the realization of FC Cincinnati's investment in the player.
Playing as a left wingback for most of the last two seasons, Barreal has seven goals and 14 assists in league play (two goals, five assists in 2023). He has 13 goals across all competitions in his FC Cincinnati career.
All-star game snubs?
As with any all-star game played in any North American sports league, there will be a discussion of which deserved to get the call to the roster but didn't.
It stands to reason FCC should have more players in the game than other teams since they've been the runaway leader in MLS so far this season with a 13-2-4 record. Of course, there are other deserving candidates elsewhere, and part of the point of the MLS All-Star format is to showcase its top talent against one of the world's biggest clubs in Arsenal.
Talk of FC Cincinnati snubs will likely focus on goalkeeper Roman Celentano, whose statistics matched up well with other players at his position. A Monday report revealed Rooney was using one of his personal selections to the MLS All-Star roster on D.C. United goalkeeper Tyler Miller. Miller helped blank FCC, 3-0, on Saturday but probably wasn't considered by most MLS observers to be a leading candidate for the MLS All-Star Team.
Obinna Nwobodo, a defensive midfielder and ball hawk, and center back Yerson Mosquera also had strong arguments to join in the festivities at Audi Field.
The full roster
The roster was selected through a combination of fan, player and media voting (12 players), designations by Rooney, the manager of host club D.C. United (12 players), and a pair of selections by MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
GOALKEEPERS (3): Roman Bürki (St. Louis CITY SC / Voted In), Tyler Miller (D.C. United / Coach’s Selection), Djordje Petrović (New England Revolution / Coach’s Selection)
DEFENDERS (7): Álvaro Barreal (FC Cincinnati / Voted In), Jon Gallagher (Austin FC / Voted In), Ryan Hollingshead (LAFC / Coach’s Selection), Matt Miazga (FC Cincinnati / Voted In), Tim Parker (St. Louis CITY SC / Coach’s Selection), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls / Coach’s Selection), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC / Voted In)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Luciano Acosta (FC Cincinnati / Voted In), Thiago Almada (Atlanta United / Voted In), Mathieu Choinière (CF Montréal / Commissioner’s Selection), Héctor Herrera (Houston Dynamo FC / Coach’s Selection), José Martínez (Philadelphia Union / Coach’s Selection), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew / Voted In), Hany Mukhtar (Nashville SC / Voted In), Riqui Puig (LA Galaxy / Coach’s Selection), Lucas Zelarayán (Columbus Crew / Coach’s Selection)
FORWARDS / WINGERS (7): Christian Benteke (D.C. United / Coach’s Selection), Dénis Bouanga (LAFC / Voted In), Cristian Espinoza (San Jose Earthquakes / Coach’s Selection), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas / Voted In), Giorgos Giakoumakis (Atlanta United / Coach’s Selection), Kei Kamara (Chicago Fire FC / Commissioner’s Selection), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC / Voted In)
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: MLS All-Star Game: Three FC Cincinnati players voted in
