With only one week until the MLS All-Star voting deadline, Sporting KC players need your votes now more than ever to help them secure their spots in the Fan XI.
Goalkeeper Tim Melia has been a stand-out player this year for Sporting KC and his performances on the field have not gone unnoticed. After climbing over the Galaxy's Jaime Penedo last week, Melia has made huge strides once again as he claimed an extra 1% of the votes over the past week. In doing so, he has passed Seattle Sounders Stefan Frei. Melia is currently 4-1-2 as a starter and has allowed only five goals through seven goals. The New York native is currently third in voting among MLS goalkeepers, falling just behind DC United's Bill Hamid and World Cup veteran Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake).
The leaders for the defender position have remained relatively stable throughout the voting as Sporting's captain Matt Besler has further secured his position. Last year's USMNT World Cup defender still leads the pack with 7.73% of the votes, 1.43% ahead of World Cup teammate Omar Gonzalez. Matt Besler is having a strong season for Sporting KC and has captained a defense that has allowed the fewest amount of shots in the MLS. His backline mate Jalil Anibaba is also in the running for the MLS All-Star Fan XI and has made a huge impact for Sporting KC on both sides of the ball. Anibaba has four assists on the year - second most among all defenders - and has played a large role on a defense that has posted seven shutouts this season. The California native currently sits in seventh place among all defenders, just behind former Sporting KC All-Star Aurelien Collin.
For the second consecutive week, Graham Zusi and Benny Feilhaber flipped their positions in the midfielder voting. This week, it's Zusi who grabs the third spot in the Fan XI, with Feilhaber dropping right below him - but ahead of Real Salt Lake midfielder Kyle Beckerman. Zusi enters the final stretch of voting with two goals and two assists in his last four games, in all competitions. He scored the game-winning goal in Sporting KC's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup win over St. Louis FC and was recently named to the U.S. Men's National Team's roster for this summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup. Feilhaber - who is currently second in MLS in assists - is 0.5% ahead of Beckerman for the final spot in the Fan XI. The 2010 World Cup veteran is having a career season with five goals and eight assists through 15 games.
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Sporting KC's strike partnership of Dom Dwyer and Krisztian Nemeth remain in the hunt for both the voting Fan XI as well as for the EA Sports FIFA 15 voting. Dwyer is currently sixth in voting, slightly behind former teammate Kei Kamara (Columbus Crew) and Sounders striker Obafemi Martins. Nemeth - who recently returned from a successful two games with the Hungarian national team - is one spot behind Dwyer in the voting.
MLS All-Star voting runs until July 3 at 2 p.m. CT. Fans can vote at MLSsoccer.com or via social media. A Twitter/Facebook/Instagram vote counts when the user uses the player's full name (or social media handle) with #MLSAllStar.
