There's no denying their place in the pantheon of Portland Timbers' greats, but now Diego Chara and Diego Valeri are among the nominees for some of Major League Soccer's all-time greats.
In continued celebration of its 25th season, Major League Soccer on Friday announced the launch of The 25 Greatest presented by AT&T, a platform that will honor determine and honor the 25 brightest stars in league history. The league also announced the launch of The Greatest Goal presented by AT&T, which will see fans pick from among 25 candidates to name the best goal in MLS history.
Along with Chara and Valeri, five former Timbers – Nat Borchers, Will Johnson, Darlington Nagbe, Troy Perkins and Donovan Ricketts – are among the nominees as well as Timbers assistant coach Carlos Llamosa. Read on for how the voting works and see the full list below.
The 25 Greatest presented by AT&T
To determine The 25 Greatest, a special panel of more than 200 MLS experts from across North America will select the 25 players who have achieved the most on the field, drove the drove the narrative off the field and helped lay the foundation or set the course going forward. The voting panel is comprised of four groups: MLS greats & emeritus (former players, coaches, staff), current MLS club staff, media members and broadcast partners (local and national). MLS invited panelists based on years of experience within MLS, geographic balance, and game expertise.
MLS has nominated 137 of the most decorated and impactful players in league history, prioritizing players who accomplished one or more of the following as an MLS player:
- Received multiple League-wide individual honor such as: Best XI, MVP, Golden Boot, Defender/GK of the Year, All-Star Selections
- Won major team trophies such as: MLS Cup, Supporters Shield, U.S. Open Cup, international club competitions
- Made extraordinary off-field contributions or impact
- Rank among the all-time leaders in key statistical areas.
The 25 Greatest presented by AT&T will be revealed on Dec. 9, three days prior to the 2020 MLS Cup. Given that their achievements vary by type, position, era and circumstance, The 25 Greatest will not be ranked. They are all equally worthy of this prestigious honor.
The 25 Greatest presented by AT&T nominees
(Current Timbers players listed in bold, past Timbers players in italics.)
Busch, Jon (GK)
Campos, Jorge (GK)
Cannon, Joe (GK)
Frei, Stefan (GK)
Friedel, Brad (GK)
Guzan, Brad (GK)
Hamid, Bill (GK)
Hartman, Kevin (GK)
Howard, Tim (GK)
Keller, Kasey (GK)
Meola, Tony (GK)
Onstad, Pat (GK)
Perkins, Troy (GK)
Reis, Matt (GK)
Ricketts, Donovan (GK)
Rimando, Nick (GK)
Robles, Luis (GK)
Thornton, Zach (GK)
Agoos, Jeff (D)
Albright, Chris (D)
Balboa, Marcelo (D)
Barrett, Wade (D)
Besler, Matt (D)
Bocanegra, Carlos (D)
Borchers, Nat (D)
Bornstein, Jonathan (D)
Boswell, Bobby (D)
Califf, Danny (D)
Collin, Aurelien (D)
Conrad, Jimmy (D)
Dooley, Thomas (D)
Doyle, John (D)
Dunivant, Todd (D)
Fraser, Robin (D)
Gonzalez, Omar (D)
Hedges, Matt (D)
Hejduk, Frankie (D)
Kubik, Lubos (D)
Lalas, Alexi (D)
Llamosa, Carlos (D)
Marshall, Chad (D)
Moor, Drew (D)
Olave, Jamison (D)
Opara, Ike (D)
Parkhurst, Michael (D)
Petke, Mike (D)
Pope, Eddie (D)
Robinson, Eddie (D)
Vanney, Greg (D)
Vermes, Peter (D)
Adams, Tyler (M)
Alonso, Osvaldo (M)
Armas, Chris (M)
Barros Schelotto, Guillermo (M)
Beasley, DaMarcus (M)
Beckerman, Kyle (M)
Beckham, David (M)
Bradley, Michael (M)
Carroll, Brian (M)
Chara, Diego (M)
Chung, Mark (M)
Cienfuegos, Mauricio (M)
Clark, Ricardo (M)
Davies, Alphonso (M)
Davis, Brad (M)
De Rosario, Dwayne (M)
Etcheverry, Marco (M)
Ferreira, David (M)
Gaven, Eddie (M)
Gomez, Christian (M)
Guevara, Amado (M)
Harkes, John (M)
Henderson, Chris (M)
Johnson, Will (M)
Jones, Cobi (M)
Joseph, Shalrie (M)
Juninho, (M)
Kaka, (M)
Klein, Chris (M)
Kljestan, Sacha (M)
Larentowicz, Jeff (M)
Mastroeni, Pablo (M)
McCarty, Dax (M)
Morales, Javier (M)
Mulrooney, Richard (M)
Nagbe, Darlington (M)
Nowak, Piotr (M)
O'Brien, Ronnie (M)
Olsen, Ben (M)
Preki, (M)
Ralston, Steve (M)
Ramos, Tab (M)
Rogers, Robbie (M)
Valderrama, Carlos (M)
Valeri, Diego (M)
Williams, Richie (M)
Zavagnin, Kerry (M)
Zusi, Graham (M)
Adu, Freddy (F)
Almiron, Miguel (F)
Altidore, Jozy (F)
Angel, Juan Pablo (F)
Blanco, Cuauhtémoc (F)
Buddle, Edson (F)
Cerritos, Ronald (F)
Ching, Brian (F)
Cunningham, Jeff (F)
Dempsey, Clint (F)
Diaz Arce, Raul (F)
Donovan, Landon (F)
Dos Santos, Giovani (F)
Dwyer, Dom (F)
Emilio, Luciano (F)
Giovinco, Sebastian (F)
Henry, Thierry (F)
Ibrahimovic, Zlatan (F)
John, Stern (F)
Kamara, Kei (F)
Keane, Robbie (F)
Kreis, Jason (F)
Lassiter, Roy (F)
Magee, Mike (F)
Martinez, Josef (F)
Mathis, Clint (F)
McBride, Brian (F)
Moreno, Jaime (F)
Piatti, Ignacio (F)
Pineda Chacon, Alex (F)
Razov, Ante (F)
Rooney, Wayne (F)
Ruiz, Carlos (F)
Twellman, Taylor (F)
Vela, Carlos (F)
Villa, David (F)
Wolff, Josh (F)
Wondolowski, Chris (F)
Wright-Phillips, Bradley (F)
The Greatest Goal presented by AT&T
In order to help determine the Greatest Goal, an initial list of 25 top goals will be determined by MLS. Fans will then rank their choices among these standout plays on MLSsoccer.com to determine The Greatest Goal. The Greatest Goal presented by AT&T voting will launch following MLS Cup from Dec.14-17, with the winner recognized on Dec. 18.
