![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/nq0misdtwknpp3cl.jpg\")
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SAN JOSE, Calif. – While soccer fans worldwide focus on the final match of the FIFA World Cup this Sunday, a unique pair from the San Jose Earthquakes<\/a> are preparing for a major showcase of their own at the end of the month.<\/p>\n Earthquakes Unified<\/a> team members Quan Nguyen and Amiri Khetrapal have been selected to play in the Major League Soccer Unified All-Star Game on July 29 in North Carolina.<\/p>\n San Jose Earthquakes unified team heading to All-Star Game <\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n Nguyen and Khetrapal two compete as a pair for “Quakes Unified,” a program operating in partnership with the Special Olympics.\u00a0<\/p>\n The initiative pairs athletes who have neurodiverse conditions with “partner athletes” to train and compete together throughout the Major League Soccer season.<\/p>\n While the Quakes Unified squad regularly plays matches against other MLS clubs, Nguyen and Khetrapal will represent the Quakes at the marquee event of the year for the Unifed program<\/p>\n “I feel good,” Nguyen said when asked about the upcoming trip. “I am excited.”<\/p>\n The power of inclusive sports in Major League Soccer <\/p>\n Dig deeper:<\/p>\n Khetrapal, who serves as Nguyen’s partner athlete on the pitch, praised his teammate’s skills and competitive drive.<\/p>\n “He\u2019s great. He scores a lot of goals,” Khetrapal said. “He envisions himself as Ronaldo and plays like it!”<\/p>\n The East-versus-West All-Star Game stands as the premier event for the program, featuring one pair of athletes from each MLS club.<\/p>\n Gerry Iroaga, head coach of Quakes Unified, emphasized that the program creates an environment where athletes with special needs can perform at a very high level.<\/p>\n “It has a tremendous impact on the athlete,” Iroaga said. “First of all, it does build their confidence. It allows them to excel. Sometimes the neurodiverse athletes feel they cannot achieve to a certain level. They see others and they strive to do that as well.”<\/p>\n For the participants, the opportunity extends far beyond the scoreboard.<\/p>\n “It is an honor to represent your club,” Khetrapal added. “You do this not because of the accolades, but because of the joy that it brings you and the community that you are a part of.”<\/p>\n The MLS Unified All-Star Game will take place in North Carolina on July 29.<\/p>\n The Source: Interviews with San Jose Earthquakes Unified players and coaches<\/p>\n San Jose Earthquakes<\/a>Sports<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE, Calif. – While soccer fans worldwide focus on the final match of the FIFA World Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[11203,100,88,90,89,95951,127],"class_list":["post-399326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-mls","tag-news","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-sj-earthquakes","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}