All-Stars vs. no-stars as Inter Miami comes to Charlotte

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina (right), who leads MLS with nine clean sheets and fewest goals allowed (21), was snubbed for the annual All-Star roster.

Charlotte FC’s climb up the MLS table and power rankings didn’t translate into All-Star selections against the estrellas of Mexico’s Liga MX July 24 in Columbus, Ohio.
Inter Miami is coming to town Wednesday with four All-Star selections while Charlotte has none despite their success. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba have all been voted onto the 30-player roster.

That’s all understandable given that the Miami has the greatest collection of big-name players since the New York Cosmos put Pele, Beckenbauer, Chinaglia, Alberto and Neeskens on the pitch in the 1970s. Miami already is an all-star team.

Miami will be Messi-less in Charlotte as their talisman is on duty with Argentina in the Copa America tournament. Suarez is also with his national side, Uruguay, who beat the USA 1-0 on Monday.

If Messi, who played the full 90 in his visit last season, plays in the Queen City this year, it will be for his country here in the Copa America third-place match on July 13. Charlotte will host a semifinal on July 10, but Argentina’s side of the knockout bracket would have them at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 9 for the other semifinal. The only path to Charlotte for Messi would be the third-place match.

No Messi, no problem

Even without Messi and Suarez, who have 12 goals each this season, Miami have won their last three matches against Philadelphia, Columbus, and Nashville by identical 2-1 scores. Two wins were on the road. Ian Fray, who scored two of those goals, has started at right back in the last two matches, and they still have former Barcelona stars Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, who scored a golazo against Nashville.

That’s why Miami has risen to the top of the Supporters Shield standings with a league best 13-3-5 record. Their 48 goals are seven more than the two Los Angeles teams behind them. Scoring is their thing, with only a pair of shutouts this season, a 4-0 thrashing by New York Red Bulls on March 23 and a 0-0 draw at Orlando on May 15. They’ve only achieved four clean sheets and have conceded up 30 goals.

Reading the stars

The Crown have not dazzled with offense. Though there have been some nice goals, Patrick Agyemang’s team-leading five doesn’t even rate the first page of league leaders on the MLS website where there are 42 players ahead of him. Top scorer Christian Arango of Real Salt Lake has 16, just six less than CLTFC’s team total of 22.

But the Crown has ruled with team defense this season and two players who warranted All-Star consideration have been goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina and centerback Adilson Malanda. Neither made the cut, which bears examination.

The All-Star roster was built with 12 players determined by a combined balance vote of fans, media and players, each group counting one third. Another 16 players were selected by MLS All-Star head coach Wilfried Nancy of host team Columbus Crew, and two players selected by MLS Commissioner Don Garber.

Only 18 of 29 MLS clubs are represented.

While league leading, star-laden Miami has four players in the mix, Columbus, now fourth in the East with a 9-3-6 record, has five. None were voted in but four were selected by their coach, including forwards Cucho, and Diego Rossi, and defenders Steven Moreira and Rudy Camacho. This is where Malanda was arguably slighted. Only Columbus has conceded fewer goals (18) than Charlotte this season, which is equal in goals per game. Are their defenders equal or better?

That NYCFC’s centerback Thiago Martins was chosen ahead of Malanda is more arguable as the baseball pitch denizens have conceded more goals and have only recently moved ahead of Charlotte in the table.
One sure way to get Crown players an All-Star nod is to host the game so Dean Smith will have the same leverage Nancy did.

The commissioner’s picks were a pair of midfielders, Houston’s Hector Herrera and Columbus’ Darlington Nagbe, who surprisingly was not a choice of his club coach.
The three goalkeepers chosen ahead of Kahlina are another thing.

Going into Wednesday’s match, Kahlina, who leads MLS with nine clean sheets, has given up the fewest goals (21) in the most games (21) and has 69 saves. Along with centerback Andrew Privett, Kahlina is tied for the top in total minutes played with 1,890.

According to MLSsoccer.com, FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes, who was voted in, “saw a wave of support from Indonesia, which the Dutch-born goalkeeper aims to compete for internationally after obtaining his passport in May.” He leads MLS with 87 saves but has also conceded 32 goals, sixth-most in the league. But he was voted in nonetheless.

The other two were coach’s selections.

Nancy chose LAFC’s Hugo Lloris, the former French national team stopper so let’s say that’s a Les Miserables connection. He does rank second in clean sheets with eight, so this choice is defendable. Nancy’s other choice, not so much.

With no question, St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Burki was an All-Star last season, earning the 2023 Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award for his part in the club’s fantastic debut. But while his bio says he has 13 shutouts in 52 matches since arriving from German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, five are from 2024, where the ball has gotten past him 31 times, 10 more than Kahlina.

An Israeli in Paris

In one of those love/hate moments – when you’re proud on one hand of a player’s accomplishment but lamenting he will miss club games – CLTFC announced that Liel Abada has been called up to the Israel National Team for the Paris Olympics.

The Olympic tournament will run July 24-Aug. 10. Charlotte has at least three games during this period, at Austin on July 20, and Leagues Cup games, at Philadelphia on July 27 and home against Cruz Azul on July 31.

Advancing in the Leagues Cup would mean more games in early August. Depending on when Abada must report, the July 17 match in Columbus may also be missed.

The Olympic tournament for men is an under-23 competition. Abada is 22. Israel will have first round matches against Mali (7/24), Paraguay (July 27) and Japan (July 30). It will be Israel's first Olympic soccer appearance since their fifth-place finish at Montreal in 1976.

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