The MLS All-Stars should be filled with Chicago Fire players and two of them are among the first players on the roster.
Bastian Schweinsteiger and Nemanja Nikolic were included in the group of 10 players that fans voted into the MLS All-Star Fan XI, as first posted by the Chicago Tribune. The MLS All-Star Game will take place at Soldier Field on August 2 with Real Madrid serving as the opponent.
Both Schweinsteiger and Nikolic are newcomers to the Fire this season and have been huge parts of the team's turnaround from cellar dwellar to being currently tied with Toronto FC for the best record in Major League Soccer. Schweinsteiger was called the MVP at this point in the season by MLSsoccer.com's Matthew Doyle and Nikolic is leading the league in goals with 16 so far.
Joining the two Fire standouts as players voted in the by fans are David Villa (New York City FC) at forward, Kaka (Orlando), Michael Bradley (Toronto) and Miguel Almiron (Atlanta) in midfield, defenders DaMarcus Beasley (Houston), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City) and Greg Garza (Atlanta) and goalkeeper Tim Howard (Colorado). Toronto's Sebastian Giovinco got into the Fan XI via a contest involving FIFA 17.
Schweinsteiger played in the 2014 MLS All-Star Game when he played with Bayern Munich in Portland and was on the receiving end of a tackle from Will Johnson that set then-Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola off. This time Schweinsteiger will be a part on the MLS side of the All-Star Game.
Later in July, Fire coach Veljko Paunovic will add 11 players and commissioner Don Garber will select two more to fill out a 23-man roster. Dax McCarty and David Accam seem likely choices to join the All-Star Team from the Fire.