MONTREAL – Major League Soccer announced on Monday that Montreal Impact midfielder Ignacio Piatti has been named to the MLS Best XI.
After being named Impact Most Valuable Player for a second consecutive season, Piatti becomes the third player in Impact history to be selected to the MLS Best XI after striker Marco Di Vaio in 2013 and defender Laurent Ciman in 2015.
In his third season with the Impact, Piatti helped the team reach the MLS Cup Playoffs for a second year in a row and finished the regular season tied for third in MLS with 17 goals and five game-winning goals in 32 games, 31 of which he started, and 2,818 minutes of play. He recorded three multi-goal games and scored three goals from the penalty spot.
Piatti was named the MLS Player of the Week for Week 10 and was selected eight times to the MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week. He also won the AT&T Goal of the Week five times while being nominated another four times. He was selected eight times as the Videotron Mobile player of the game by the fans and three times as the Members’ Player of the Month. He also won the Members’ Goal of the Month five times throughout the season.
The Argentine Designated Player appeared in his first career AT&T MLS All-Star Game on July 28 against English club Arsenal.
He then helped the Impact reach the Eastern Conference Championship, tallying four goals and two assists in five starts during the MLS Cup Playoffs.
The Best XI members received the most votes from the media, MLS players and MLS coaches and general managers.
2016 MLS Best XI
Goalkeeper: Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union)
Defenders: Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Axel Sjoberg (Colorado Rapids), Jelle Van Damme (LA Galaxy)
Midfielders: Mauro Diaz (FC Dallas), Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls), Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact)
Forwards: Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC), David Villa (New York City FC), Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls)
