MLS Sporting Kansas City

Kansas City Wizards Defender Jimmy Conrad Named to Fifth-Consecutive MLS All-Star Roster

Published on July 10, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


(July 10, 2008) - Kansas City Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad has been selected as a member of the MLS All-Star First XI for the second consecutive year. Conrad will make his fifth-career All-Star appearance when the top players from Major League Soccer host West Ham United of the English Premier League. The 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game will be held Thursday, July 24 at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada. The game will be televised live on ESPN, Telefutura, and CBC Sports at 7 p.m. ET.

"It is always an honor to be named to the All-Star team, especially with the selection process in Major League Soccer," Conrad said. "MLS is sending a very strong team to Toronto for the All-Star game, and we look forward to playing West Ham United. I am also very thankful to my Wizards teammates as this certainly is attributed to a strong group effort on the part of our defense and entire team."

Conrad, 31, has become a mainstay of the MLS All-Star game in recent years. He has been selected to and started in each of the last four All-Star games. In 2004 when the Wizards were a member of the Western Conference, he started the East vs. West affair for the West, playing all 90 minutes. MLS began scheduling international opponents to play against the top players in the league in 2005 with Fulham FC of the English Premier League. Conrad played all 90 minutes again in the MLS' 4-1 victory over Fulham. Conrad then started and played the opening 45 minutes last year as MLS defeated English giant Chelsea 1-0. Last year, Conrad started and played the full 90 in a 2-0 win over Scottish giant Celtic at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.

Online fan balloting comprised 25 percent of the combined First XI vote, with MLS coaches and GMs (25 percent), media (25 percent), and players (25 percent) accounting for the remainder. Players and coaches/general managers could not register votes for players on their own teams. A chart below shows 20 of the top vote-getters, with the percentage of ballots within each voting group for each player.

Conrad was selected on 10.8 percent of fan ballots, 28.4 percent of players' ballots, 26.7 percent of media ballots and 38.6 percent of coaches/general managers' ballots. Conrad is joined on the First XI defense by New England's Michael Parkhurst and Columbus' Frankie Hejduk.

On July 15, Revolution head coach Steve Nicol and his staff will select five additional All-Stars, who will join two Commissioner selections to complete 18-man game-day MLS roster. Nicol earned the honor of coaching the MLS side by leading his team to the highest points per game average in the League through games on June 29.

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