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| The Red Bulls' All-Stars (from l. to r.) Murillo, Wright-Phillips, & Long. Provided by Red Bulls. |
The Red Bulls have three All-Stars this season, as forward Bradley Wright-Phillips, along with defenders Michael Amir Murillo and Aaron Long will take part in the 2018 MLS All-Star Game, the MLS announced today.
The trio and the rest of the 2018 MLS All Stars will take on Italian giants Juventus FC on August 1 at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Wright-Phillips, playing in his second MLS All-Star Game, is a Commissioner's selection.
Long and Murillo earn their first All-Star selections as coach's picks by Atlanta United FC coach Tata Martino.
The Red Bulls have the second-most All-Stars of any MLS team, behind only the hosts, Atlanta United FC. No other MLS team has more than two representatives for the match against Juve.
The Red Bulls boast multiple All-Star selections for the first time since 2014 when Wright-Philips was joined by Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill to face FC Bayern Munich. Wright-Phillips tallied his first career All-Star goal in the 51st minute to help the MLS All-Stars defeat Bayern, 2-1, at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.
Wright-Phillips, a two-time MLS Golden Boot Winner, is having a stellar start to his 2018 campaign, tallying a team-high 11 league goals and five assists in 15 matches. His 11 league goals are just three shy of Atlanta's Josef Martinez for the Golden Boot lead.
Wright-Phillips' goal and assist production has been unmatched up to this point, owning a 1.37 goals-plus-assists per 90 minutes this season, which is the top mark in the league for players with at least 750 minutes played and no penalty kick goals.
Long, 25, has been a mainstay at center back since earning promotion to the First Team prior to the start of 2016. Long has made 15 appearances this season and logged the most minutes of any field player, playing 1,203 of the possible 1,350 minutes.
Murillo, 22, was permanently transferred ahead of the 2018 MLS season after joining New York on loan from San Francisco FC in 2017. The defender is set to return to the Red Bulls after playing in the 2018 FIFA World Cup with Panama, where he faced off against some of the biggest names in world football.
On the offensive end, Long (2G) and Murillo (1G, 2A) have combined for three goals and two assists, part of an offensive effort that has seen New York record 15 different goal scorers across all competitions.
Juventus, the defending Serie A Champions, is the most decorated club in Italy, winning more Serie A and Coppa Italia titles than any other Italian club. Juventus also reached the UEFA Champions League final in two of the past four years (2015, 2017). The team is managed by Massimiliano Allegri, who just completed his fourth season with the club.
Kickoff for the 2018 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target on August 1 is set for 7:30 p.m. ET with coverage on ESPN, UniMas, TSN and TVA Sports. Tickets to the game are now on sale by visiting Ticketmaster.com. Tickets start as low as $35.
2018 MLS All-Star Game Roster by Position:
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan^ (Atlanta United), Zack Steffen* (Columbus Crew SC)
Defenders: Francisco Calvo* (Minnesota United), Laurent Ciman^ (Los Angeles Football Club), Matt Hedges* (FC Dallas), Aaron Long* (New York Red Bulls), Michael Amir Murillo* (New York Red Bulls), Michael Parkhurst^ (Atlanta United), Graham Zusi^ (Sporting Kansas City)
Midfielders: Miguel Almirón^ (Atlanta United), Ezequiel Barco^ (Atlanta United), Alphonso Davies# (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Jonathan dos Santos* (LA Galaxy), Alberth Elis* (Houston Dynamo), Ignacio Piatti* (Montreal Impact), Alexander Ring* (New York City FC), Ilie Sanchez* (Sporting Kansas City), Diego Valeri^ (Portland Timbers), Yoshimar Yotún* (Orlando City SC), Wilfried Zahibo* (New England Revolution)
Forwards: Sebastian Giovinco* (Toronto FC), Zlatan Ibrahimović^ (LA Galaxy), Josef Martínez^ (Atlanta United), Carlos Vela^ (Los Angeles Football Club), David Villa* (New York City FC), Bradley Wright-Phillips# (New York Red Bulls)
^Fan XI selection
*Gerardo "Tata" Martino selection
#Commissioner Don Garber selection
Previous MetroStars/Red Bulls All-Star Selections:
1996 -Tab Ramos, Tony Meola, Roberto Donadoni, Giovanni Savarese
1997 - Tony Meola, Roberto Donadoni
1998 - Tab Ramos, Tony Meola, Alexi Lalas, Diego Soñora
1999 - Tab Ramos, Mark Chung
2000 - Mike Ammann, Daniel Hernandez, Lothar Matthaus, Mike Petke, Clint Mathis, Adolofo Valencia, Mark Chung
2001 - Tim Howard, Mike Petke, Steve Jolley, Clint Mathis
2002 - Tim Howard, Mike Petke
2003 - Tim Howard, Eddie Pope, Amado Guevara, Clint Mathis
2004 - Amado Guevara, Eddie Pope, Eddie Gaven
2005 - Amado Guevara
2006 - None
2007 - Juan Pablo Àngel, Claudio Reyna, Ronald Waterreus
2008 - Juan Pablo Àngel
2009 - Juan Pablo Àngel
2010 - Juan Pablo Àngel, Joel Lindpere
2011 - Thierry Henry, Tim Ream, Juan Agudelo, Rafael Màrquez, Dwayne De Rosario, Joel Lindpere
2012 - Thierry Henry, Kenny Cooper, Heath Pearce
2013 - Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill, Jamison Olave
2014 - Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill, Bradley Wright-Phillips
2015 - Dax McCarty
2016 - Sacha Kljestan
2017 - None
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