Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alejandro Bedoya, Alexi Lalas, Brek Shea, Carlos Bocanegra, Chris Wondolowski, Clarence Goodson, Claudio Reyna, Clint Dempsey, Cobi Jones, Earnie Stewart, Eddie Pope, Eric Lichaj, Eric Wynalda, Futbol de Primera Player of the Year, Hugo Perez, Jermaine Jones, Jonathan Spector, Jose Torres, Jozy Altidore, Juan Agudelo, Kasey Keller, Kyle Beckerman, Landon Donovan, Marcelo Balboa, Maurice Edu, Michael Bradley, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Oguchi Onyewu, Robbie Rogers, Sacha Kljestan, Steve Cherundolo, Thomas Dooley, Tim Howard, Tim Ream, Timmy Chandler, U.S. National Team
Some 200 journalists from across the nation are submitting ballots to decide which U.S. National Team member will be the 2011 Futbol de Primera Player of the Year.
Sponsored by FDP, the exclusive radio broadcaster of the 2014 World Cup in the United States, the award–the most prestigious annual honor in American soccer–goes to the best player who appeared in at least three matches for the U.S. in the calendar year. Those who qualified are Juan Agudelo, Jozy Altidore, Kyle Beckerman, Alejandro Bedoya, Carlos Bocanegra, Michael Bradley, Timmy Chandler, Steve Cherundolo, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Clarence Goodson, Tim Howard, Jermaine Jones, Sacha Kljestan, Eric Lichaj, Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Tim Ream, Robbie Rogers, Brek Shea, Jonathan Spector, Jose Torres and Chris Wondolowski.
First place selections receive three points, second place two points and third place one.
Past winners of the award, until recently known as the Honda Player of the Year: Hugo Perez, 1991; Eric Wynalda, 1992; Thomas Dooley, 1993; Marcelo Balboa, 1994; Alexi Lalas, 1995; Wynalda, 1996; Eddie Pope, 1997; Cobi Jones, 1998; Kasey Keller, 1999; Claudio Reyna, 2000; Earnie Stewart, 2001; Landon Donovan, 2002; Donovan, 2003; Donovan, 2004; Keller, 2005; Clint Dempsey, 2006; Donovan, 2007; Donovan, 2008; Donovan, 2009; Donovan, 2010. [October 21]
Comment: Who would you vote for? Let us know.
Last year’s vote from here got it wrong. Donovan won, with Bradley the runner-up and Dempsey the third-place finisher. Our ballot went to Donovan, Bradley and Cherundolo. So we need your help before our ballot is submitted in the middle of next week.
Give us a post and list your three top choices, in order. And feel free to do some lobbying if you so choose. Bear in mind that the award is for a player’s body of work for the year, so take into account a candidate’s performance for his club as well as his contributions to the U.S. team.
Update: Dempsey won the award for the second time after being named first choice on nearly half of the ballots submitted by the 202 U.S. journalists who took part. Howard was second and seven-time winner Donovan was third. [November 2]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Big Apple, Bobby Convey, Chris Wondolowski, Commissioner Dan Garber, Juan Agudelo, Juan Pablo Angel, MLS Eastern Conference, New York Cosmos, New York Cosmos LLC, New York Red Bulls, New York Times, North American Soccer League, Pele, Red Bull Arena, San Jose Earthquakes
The San Jose Earthquakes upset the New York Red Bulls, 3-1, before a disappointed sellout crowd of 22,839 at Red Bull Arena, eliminating New York in the MLS Eastern Conference semifinals by a 3-2 aggregate.
The conference champion Red Bulls, 1-0 winners in the first leg in San Jose, had tied the home-and-home series at 2-2 in the 78th minute as captain Juan Pablo Angel, playing what was likely his last match for New York, headed home a Juan Agudelo cross. But the eighth-seeded ‘Quakes quickly replied when Bobby Convey, scorer of San Jose’s first two goals, set up a headed strike by young sensation Chris Wondolowski. [November 4]
Comment: If the MLS founders knew back in 1996 that their league would go 15 seasons without its largest market club winning a championship, their first question would be how their highly vulnerable project could possibly have survived 10 seasons.
Nonetheless, MLS has progressed (survived would be too tepid a description, thrived too strong) despite lacking the Big Apple glamor enjoyed by its predecessor, the North American Soccer League. While the New York Cosmos won five NASL titles over 10 years, the MLS championship has gone to minor markets like Columbus, Kansas City and, yes, San Jose. That’s a decade and a half without the New York Times and other media outlets there giving a good blankety-blank about domestic soccer in the midst of a gridiron football season.
If MLS simply must conquer New York to make a dent in the media capital of the world, it may have found the solution. A group called New York Cosmos LLC, an English-backed group fronted by Pele, is bidding to join MLS, and Commissioner Don Garber has said he would prefer that the league’s 20th club be based in New York.
That’s the ticket: Put enough teams in the Big Apple and, sooner or later, one will win an MLS championship.
