CHESTER, Pa. (July 12, 2022) – Philadelphia Union today announced that goalkeeper Andre Blake and defender Kai Wagner have been named to the gameday roster for the 2022 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target for the second consecutive year. This is the fourth time in club history the Union has had two players named to the same All-Star team. The MLS All-Stars will face rival league LIGA MX All-Stars once again, in a match up to take place at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota on Wednesday, August 10, 2022. (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN / Univision / TSN / TVA Sports).
Blake has previously been named to the All-Star roster in 2018, 2019, and 2021, becoming the only player in Union history to be named to the roster more than twice. The 2020 Goalkeeper of the Year is currently tied for first in the league in clean sheets with eight and has led the team to have the fewest goals scored against with just 13 in 19 games played. Blake holds the Union all-time records in games played, games started, minutes played, saves and clean sheets, as well as setting the single-season saves record (118 saves, 2018) and single-season wins (14 wins, 2018). He has twice been named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year (2016, 2020) and was named a finalist in 2017, and has been twice nominated for an ESPY award for best Major League Soccer player (2017, 2021).
This is the second time Wagner has been named to the All-Star roster, after receiving his first All-Star nod last year. He is only the second player in Union history to be named to the roster at least twice. Currently in his fourth season with the Union, Wagner has started 94 of his 96 regular season matches and has tallied four goals and 25 assists in that time. His 25 assists rank him fourth on the Union’s all-time assists list. This season, his current eight assists as a defender are tied with his personal season-high and tied with Sheanon Williams’ all-time single-season club record for the Union. Most recently, Wagner’s three assists against D.C. United (July 8) tied the club’s record for most assists in a single game.
This is the second time the rival leagues will match up as the MLS All-Stars take on the top-tier Mexican league All-Stars from Liga MX. MLS All-Stars were voted in by the following criteria: 12 players determined by a combined vote of fan, media, and players; 12 players selected by All-Star Head Coach Adrian Heath; 2 players selected by MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
The complete list of all-time Union All-Stars is as follows:
2010: Sebastien Le Toux
2011: Faryd Mondragon
2012: Michael Farfan, Carlos Valdes
2013: Jack McInerney
2014: Maurice Edu
2016: Andre Blake, Keegan Rosenberry
2019: Andre Blake
2020: *No All-Star Game Held
2021: Andre Blake, Kai Wagner
2022: Andre Blake, Kai Wagner
