Castrol Index Releases Latest Major League Soccer Results

Forwards Macoumba Kandji and Kenny Cooper Top Rankings Ahead of the 2012 AT&T MLS All-Star Game

WAYNE, NJ--July 24, 2012: Castrol, the official sponsor of Major League Soccer (MLS), announced the latest rankings for the Castrol Index Weekly Top 20 earlier this week ahead of the 2012 AT&T MLS All-Star Game tomorrow in Philadelphia. The top five ranked players for week 20 of the season are Macoumba Kandji (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (New York Red Bulls), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Calen Carr (Houston Dynamo) and Ryan Johnson (Toronto FC). Of these players, Landon Donovan will play in this week's AT&T All-Star Game.

Topping the list of powerhouse forwards is Houston's Macoumba Kandji who played nearly a flawless game in Saturday's victory (3-0) over Montreal with two goals. While most forwards turnover the ball quite often, Kandji finished off with only two wrong passes, giving him headway over Cooper, Donovan and Carr.

Kenny Cooper of the New York Red Bulls earns the no. 2 spot on this week's Castrol Index with the highest credit in terms of shooting and scoring. Of five goal attempts, Cooper scored two goals and turned three on-target shots, only falling short to Kandji due to a few turnover passes during New York's win (2-0) over Philadelphia.

This week's no. 3 ranked player is LA Galaxy's Landon Donovan followed by Houston Dynamo's Calen Carr at no. 4, both scoring two goals last week. Despite these goals, Donovan and Carr find themselves behind Kandji because of shooting quality and poor passing activity, respectively.

Taking the no. 5 spot is Toronto FC's Ryan Johnson whose strong scoring, shooting and defensive activity statistically placed him ahead of Kandji and Donovan; however, his turnover passes around and within the opposition box brought down his points in comparison to the others.

The MLS All-Stars face Chelsea FC, the European champions, on July 25 at PPL Park in Philadelphia. Ben Olsen, coach of D.C. United, will lead the team.

Castrol Index--a proprietary technology that objectively ranks a player's performance--analyzes and tracks every player's move on the field, providing statistical data and insightful analysis for fans, players and coaches. On the heels of a successful inaugural year with MLS, Castrol announced in April it would be updating the Index rankings on a weekly basis--rather than monthly--to ensure that fans have the most updated statistics to enhance their engagement with the game.