December 16 – CONCACAF have announced the winners of their inaugural Confederation awards across six categories. Mexico’s Oribe Peralta and Alex Morgan (pictured) of the United States were named the first-ever CONCACAF Male and Female Players of the Year.
The vote for the awards was equally weighted between three voting sections: member association national team coaches/captains, the media and fans.
The most closely contested vote on the ballot was for the Female Player of the Year where Alex Morgan edged out fellow US international Abby Wambach. Morgan plays for the Portland Thorns, the winners of the inaugural National Women’s Soccer League championship. Morgan top scored for Portland with eight goals from 18 matches and added five assists. She also played in 12 of the United States’ 16 internationals, scoring six goals and assisting on four others.
Wambach is a nominee for the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year where she is up against Marta (Brazil) and Nadine Angerer (Germany).
CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb, reinforcing his personal emphasis on building football in the region for the future, sent a message of “congratulations to all our winners and nominees who have made particularly special contributions to a fantastic year of football in the region. Their performances are an inspiration to the next generations of players, coaches and referees in CONCACAF.
“These awards have generated a fantastic level of enthusiasm across the CONCACAF football community. We had almost 60,000 fans vote and witnessed an impressive level of participation from the media, as well as captains and coaches. Congratulations to Oribe, Alex and all the others on their fully deserved recognition of their outstanding performances this year.”
Mexico’s Oribe Peralta has a magnificent 2013 campaign to beat the US’s Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey to the top award. Peralta scored eight goals in seven World Cup Qualifying appearances, including five of Mexico’s nine goals in the two-legged CONCACAF/Oceania playoff against New Zealand that saw the Tricolor earn their Brazil 2014 qualification. The 29-year-old also scored 19 goals in 27 Liga MX appearances for Santos Laguna, appearing in his second CONCACAF Champions League final – the only black spot on his year being the loss in that final.
The winners will receive their awards at individual ceremonies throughout the year.
MALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Oribe Peralta, Forward (Santos Laguna & Mexico)
Second: Landon Donovan, Forward (LA Galaxy & United States)
Third: Clint Dempsey, Midfielder (Seattle Sounders & United States)
FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Alex Morgan, Forward (Portland Thorns & United States)
Second: Abby Wambach, Forward (Western New York Flash & United States)
Third: Shirley Cruz, Midfielder (Paris Saint Germain/France & Costa Rica)
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Tim Howard (Everton/England & United States)
Second: Raul Gudiño (Guadalajara & Mexico Under-17 National Team)
Third: Keylor Navas (Levante/Spain & Costa Rica)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Winner: Jurgen Klinsmann (United States)
Second: Miguel Herrera (Club America & Mexico)
Third: Luis Fernando Suarez (Honduras)
REFEREE OF THE YEAR
Winner: Marco Antonio Rodriguez (Mexico)
Second: Roberto Garcia (Mexico)
Third: Courtney Campbell (Jamaica)
GOAL OF THE YEAR
Winner: Raul Jimenez, Mexico v Panama, 85th minute (October 11, 2013)
Second: Juan Carlos Garcia, Honduras v United States, 40th minute (February 6, 2013)
Third: Jozy Altidore, USA v Honduras, 73rd minute (June 18, 2013)
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