Sporting Kansas City striker Dom Dwyer has been chosen by manager Caleb Porter to replace Toronto FC striker Jermain Defoe in the 23 man MLS All-Star squad. Defoe was held out of Toronto's starting line-up in their 2-0 win over the Montreal Impact last Saturday due to a groin injury. Dwyer will be the fourth representative from Kansas City in the All-Star game. Sporting KC is also sending defenders Matt Besler and Aurelien Collin along with midfielder Graham Zusi.
Dwyer is the fourth person who was not included in the original fan squad who will be a member of the final squad. Dwyer, Philadelphia Union midfielder Maurice Edu, D.C. United defender Sean Franklin, and D.C. United defender Bobby Boswell were selected by Porter to replace Defoe, Seattle Sounders defender Chad Marshall (back), LA Galaxy striker Robbie Keane and Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez (both removed due to the Galaxy having a scheduled game against the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday, just two days after the All-Star game).
This will be Dwyer's first MLS All-Star appearance in the 24-year-old's first full season in MLS. Dwyer has taken MLS by storm this year and has proven the offensive catalyst for a surging Sporting KC side. He has scored 14 goals in 19 starts this season, scoring at a truly impressive pace of 0.72 goals per 90 minutes. Considering that an average of 0.5 goals per 90 minutes is seen as a remarkable pace for a striker, the Englishman has been truly off the charts this season.
The MLS All-Star game will take place on Wednesday, August 6th at 9:30 pm EDT. Continue checking back with VAVEL USA this week to see our continuing coverage of the MLS All-Star game, and check here again during the game as we will have live commentary of the game right here.