HARRISON, NJ – With one of his two selections, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber has selected New York Red Bulls forward Juan Agudelo as a 2011 AT&T MLS All-Star. The MLS All-Stars will take on reigning English Premier League champions Manchester United on July 27, 2011 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2, Galavisión, TSN2).
Agudelo joins Red Bulls teammates Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez and Tim Ream, who were all voted to the MLS First XI on July 10, on the squad led by New York and All-Star head coach Hans Backe. Backe will pick the rest of the team on Monday, July 18. Garber picked Sporting Kansas City’s Omar Bravo with his other selection.
Agudelo, 18, burst on to the scene at the end of the 2010 MLS season after signing as a Homegrown Player from the Red Bulls Academy. Since then, he has established himself as one of the most exciting young forwards in the league. A native of Colombia who moved to New Jersey at age eight and joined the Red Bulls Academy in 2007, he was the first graduate of the Academy in the club’s history to make a first-team appearance.
“Juan Agudelo is one of the bright young stars in Major League Soccer and a prime example of the benefits of the MLS Homegrown player initiative and our focus on MLS club academies,” Garber said. “Juan also is one of the most promising young U.S. national team players and competing against one of the best clubs in the world is an important part of his development.”
The first MLS Homegrown player named to an MLS All-Star team, Agudelo has received significant playing time for the Red Bulls this season, scoring four goals in 14 appearances for the league’s highest-scoring team. He has also earned 10 caps with the U.S. National Team and scored two goals since making his international debut in Nov. 17, 2010.
