In conjunction with Major League Soccer, Columbus Crew SC today announced that midfielder Wil Trapp has been named to the Gameday Roster for the 2016 AT&T MLS All-Star Game. The MLS All-Stars are set to take on Premier League side Arsenal on Thursday, July 28 at Avaya Stadium, home of the San Jose Earthquakes (7:30 p.m. ET / ESPN, UniMas, TSN, RDS).
Trapp was selected to the Gameday Roster by San Jose Earthquakes and MLS All-Star head coach Dominic Kinnear. The announcement was made during ESPN's halftime coverage during today's match between the Montreal Impact and New York City FC.
VIDEO: Trapp on the honor of being named to the 2016 AT&T MLS All-Star Game gameday roster (LINK)
A native of Gahanna, Ohio, Trapp is the first Homegrown Player in Columbus Crew SC history to be named an MLS All-Star. The 23-year-old also becomes the fifth different player in three years named an MLS All-Star under Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, joining Michael Parkhurst (2014) as well as the trio of Ethan Finlay, Waylon Francis and Kei Kamara (2015). He also becomes the 22nd all-time member of the Black & Gold to be named as an MLS All-Star at least once.
This is the first MLS All-Star nomination of Trapp's MLS career, which began when he was signed by Columbus as a Homegrown Player on December 13, 2012. The fourth Homegrown signing in team history, Trapp has made 82 career MLS regular-season appearances (80 starts), with one goal and eight assists.
Over his four-year professional career, Trapp has become one of the League's best holding midfielders. In 2016, the Homegrown Player ranks second in MLS in completed passes (1,168) while ranking 12th in overall passing accuracy among players with at least 100 passes attempted (87.9%). He also ranks second in the League in successful passes in his own half (637) as well as sixth in successful passes in the opponent's half (531) and third in passes into the final third (207).
Since the start of the 2014 MLS regular season, under Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, Trapp has completed the third-most passes in MLS (3,893) while ranking eighth among all players in accuracy (87.7%) among players with at least 100 passes attempted.
The full roster is below, listed in alphabetical order by last name:
2016 AT&T MLS All-Star Game Roster
Goalkeepers (2):
David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union)
Defenders (8):
Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact), Andrew Farrell (New England Revolution), Liam Ridgewell (Portland Timbers), Keegan Rosenberry (Philadelphia Union), Brandon Vincent (Chicago Fire), Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Midfielders (9):
Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Mauro Diaz (FC Dallas), Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Jermaine Jones (Colorado Rapids), Kaká (Orlando City SC), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Andrea Pirlo (New York City FC),
Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)
Forwards (7):
Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Didier Drogba (Montreal Impact), Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC), Cyle Larin (Orlando City SC), Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact), David Villa (New York City FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)
Crew SC concludes a three-match Major League Soccer homestand on Saturday, July 23 when Orlando City SC visits Central Ohio (7:30 p.m. ET / The CW Columbus, Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, BCSN2, CD102.5 FM, La Mega 103.1 FM, English radio stream available on ColumbusCrewSC.com). Tickets are available here.
