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Football

01st Jun 2016

Fans can help decide Arsenal’s MLS opponents by playing FIFA 16

An interesting way of doing things.

Tom Victor

The phrase ‘it’s only FIFA 16, it’s not real football’ might soon become invalid.

That’s because one of the squad members for this summer’s MLS All Star Game will be decided by fans playing as Major League Soccer teams on their PlayStation or XBox.

The majority of players for July’s meeting with Arsenal will be selected by a public vote (for which Frank Lampard is among the players to be left off the ballot).

But one of the strikers will be ‘selected’ by fans scoring goals with them on FIFA 16 – with one goal equalling one vote.

S0me 38 forwards are eligible for the FIFA ‘vote’, including Didier Drogba, David Villa and Robbie Keane.

CARSON, CA - DECEMBER 01:  Robbie Keane #7 of Los Angeles Galaxy reacts after scoring on a penalty kick in the second half against the Houston Dynamo in the 2012 MLS Cup at The Home Depot Center on December 1, 2012 in Carson, California.  (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Those with the highest shooting stats on the game also include Seattle Sounders’ Clint Dempsey, Albania Euro 2016 squad member Shkelzen Gashi and last year’s MLS MVP Sebastian Giovinco.

Two English forwards also feature on the list: New York Red Bulls’ Bradley Wright-Phillips and Sporting Kansas City’s Dom Dwyer.

With a deadline of July 4, we may well see a number of FIFA players showing an affinity for MLS stars over the coming weeks.

You can still vote for players on the regular ballot, of course, with two of the 38 joining the player with the most goals on FIFA in the relevant period.

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