Major League Soccer (MLS) revealed this Tuesday the eleven players who are part of the team of the season, after the regular season ended just a month ago and halfway through the playoffs.
The MLS announced the eleven players that stand out in each of the lines, with Atlanta United, Nashville SC and St. Louis City being the teams that contribute the most players to this list with two players per club.
MLS players, as well as the coaching staff and the media, were in charge of choosing the 11 winners to make up the team of the season with those who were considered the most outstanding and essential footballers on this list.
Lionel Messi was left out of the ideal 11 for MLS 2023. The Argentine has not been selected to join the team despite his arrival at Inter Miami. With only six games played in the regular season and a record of one goal and two assists, the winner of eight Ballon d’Ors faced difficulties to stand out within the league due to his arrival in the middle of the season and an injury that limited his participation of him.
Furthermore, his team also experienced an unsatisfactory performance, missing out on the Playoffs. Despite this, Messi managed to shine in the Leagues Cup, a new tournament where he won the first trophy for his club in the United States.
In contrast, other Latin American talents such as Luciano Acosta, Thiago Almada, Héctor Herrera and Juan Camilo ‘Cucho’ Hernández have been included in the 11 Ideal.
Thus, the team was made up of goalkeeper Roman Bürki (St. Louis City), with a defense made up of Matt Miazga (Cincinnati), Tim Parker (St. Louis City) and Walker Zimmerman (Nashville). In midfield, Latinos Acosta (Cincinnati), Almada (Atlanta United) and Herrera (Houston Dynamo) accompany Hany Mukhtar (Nashville). The lead is occupied by ‘Cucho’ Hernández (Columbus Crew), Dénis Bouanga (Los Angeles FC) and Giorgos Giakoumakis (Atlanta United).
It should be remembered that Luciano Acosta was awarded the Landon Donovan MVP as the best player of the season in Major League Soccer (MLS). The Argentine soccer player from Cincinnati led his team to obtain the Supporters’ Shield, scoring a total of 17 goals and 14 assists during the regular season. This Saturday, Acosta and his team will play in the semifinals against the Columbus Crew in the dispute for the MLS title.
The attacker, originally from Argentina and trained at Boca Juniors, received 60.37% of the votes, ahead of Denis Bouanga and Thiago Almada. With this recognition, he becomes the ninth South American and the fourth Argentine to win the MLS MVP, placing Argentina as the second country with the most winners of this award, after the United States.
Acosta, who also contributed to Cincinnati’s qualification for the Concacaf Champions League, expressed his gratitude to his teammates and focused his performance on the group achievement. “The first thing I think about is the group objectives. “All this is thanks to my teammates,” said Acosta when learning about his distinction. The attacking midfielder highlighted his evolution to a more scoring role, reflecting the importance of adapting on the field according to the circumstances.
Looking ahead to the title match, attention now focuses on the playoff matchups. On the East side, Cincinnati will face Columbus Crew, while in the West they will face Los Angeles FC and Houston Dynamo. The winners of each conference final will compete in the final for the MLS Cup, seeking to become champions of the current edition of the tournament.
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