MLS adds Yannick Bright to All-Star roster, excuses Messi and De Paul from festivities | OneFootball

Bright earns well-deserved All-Star nod

Yannick Bright, 24, is a standout central midfielder playing in his third year at Inter Miami; as of this weekend, he can add MLS All-Star to his resume.

Major League Soccer announced Saturday that four players selected to Wednesday's MLS All-Star Game -- Inter Miami's Rodrigo De Paul and Lionel Messi and Chicago's Hugo Cuypers and Mbekezeli Mbokazi -- will not participate. Bright is one of the players selected to replace them, along with Vancouver Whitecaps FC midfielder Andrés Cubas, Houston Dynamo FC forward Guilherme and Chicago Fire FC forward Philip Zinckernagel.

While I'm not a fan of all-star games in general or the MLS All-Star Game in particular, I am glad to see Bright get this recognition from the league. He's earned my respect and become one of my favorite players in his time with Las Garzas, and I believe he'll continue to improve.

His selection means more to me than any of the team's previous five All-Star picks (DeAndre Yedlin, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Rodrigo De Paul) because I've watched him develop into an All-Star. The others were accomplished players before they signed with the Herons.

Messi has been selected to the All-Star Game in each of the seasons he was eligible but has never participated. His absence was excused in 2024 because he was injured, but last year Messi and Jordi Alba each served a one-match suspension for skipping the mid-season showcase, choosing to rest because of the team's grueling schedule instead (Inter Miami played a record 58 matches in all competitions last year: MLS, MLS Cup playoffs, CONCACAF Champions Cup, Leagues Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup). De Paul and Messi won't be punished for missing this week's activities, MLS said, because of an agreement between the league and the MLS Players Association that clubs would determine when players who participated in this summer's World Cup would return to training and competition.

Messi and De Paul helped Argentina reach its second straight World Cup final, where it lost 1-0 to Spain. It's unclear when they'll return to training with the Herons; FIFA has agreed with the international players' union FIFPRO that players returning from the World Cup should receive at least 21 days to rest and recover. The Cup final was July 19, so Messi and De Paul could stay out through Aug. 9. The pair has missed Inter Miami's first two post-World Cup matches, league wins against Chicago and Montréal, but they could miss as many as three more games, home contests against league rival Columbus on Saturday and Leagues Cup group stage matches against Mexican sides Atlético de San Luis (Aug. 5) and Monterrey (Aug. 8).

Raised in Italy, Bright played at the University of New Hampshire. Inter Miami selected him 15th overall in the 2024 MLS Super Draft, and he worked his way into a prominent role for former coach Tata Martino as a rookie, starting 19 matches and playing almost 2,000 minutes across all first team competitions for a Herons side that won the Supporters' Shield with an MLS single season record 74 points. He added 22 starts and played 2,036 minutes for last year's MLS Cup champions under former coach Javiar Masherano, who replaced Martino after the 2024 season. This year, for interim coach Guillermo Hoyos (who took over after Mascherano resigned unexpectedly in March), Bright has started 15 of 17 matches, missing two games because of a red card suspension.

Bright has two goals and an assist in his three seasons at Miami, but he isn't expected to rack up goal contributions. Bright is a defensive specialist who reads the game well, gets excellent position, is strong in one-on-one duels, and is fast enough in recovery to help snuff out counter attacks. His reliability has allowed De Paul and one or both wing backs to join the Herons' offense.