MLS's 'First XI' for match against Chelsea

Major League Soccer has unveiled their 'First XI' for the All-Star match against Chelsea on Aug. 5 in Chicago.

This is not the starting lineup, just the people who got the most votes per position.

GOALKEEPER
Troy Perkins (D.C. United)

DEFENDERS
Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake)

MIDFIELDERS
Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Christian Gomez (D.C. United), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution)

FORWARDS
Ante Razov (Chivas USA), Jaime Moreno (D.C. United)

Just a couple surprises here. I'm a big Eddie Pope fan, but I'm not sure he has done enough for his MLS club this season to justify a top spot and I'm even less sure about Conrad. Conrad has only played in 7 matches and was red carded in one of them. When looking at MLS play, is this good enough to represent the league?

In the midfield, if this vote was finished two-weeks ago, I would have been yelling about Donovan being included. However, since the return from Germany, he has been playing the kind of ball that he should have been playing all along. All the others have earned their spot as well (especially De Rosario). Still, with all the midfield talent at DC, I'm a little surprised to see New England get two of the top spots and not DC.

Up top, they both deserve the nods. Razov has been reborn this year and Moreno just keeps it rolling. Two great originals of MLS, but still I wonder where Brian Ching landed on the list. I don't think he should have been on top of these two, but I hope his play to date was noticed enough to get him a close third.

The full 18-man roster will be announced on Monday. The other seven spots will be decided by Coach Peter Nowak (D.C. United), who gets to pick five players and MLS Commissioner Don Garber who will select the other two.