2011 North American Awards

January sees us take a tour through a lot of the annual awards, beginning with North America (defined very loosely, including parts of the Caribbean and Central America as well).

Players of the Year

Ending a three year run by Tim Howard, Landon Donovan picked up the USA Player of the Year, winning the award for the fifth time. Howard came in second, and Benfica’s Freddy Adu third.

Adu picked up his second consecutive (and third overall) USA Young Player of the Year, beating out DC United’s Percy Jackson and New England’s young defender, Adam Johnson.

North American Ex-Pat XI

A team of players native to North America who play abroad.

GK: Tim Howard (Everton)
D: Ricardo Clark (Standard), Ismael Rodríguez (Racing), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Carlos Bocanegra (Stade Rennais FC)
M: Landon Donovan (Everton), José Contreras (Porto), Michael Bradley (Gladbach), Wilson Palacios (Stoke)
F: Zavon Hines (West Ham), Carlos Costly (Vitesse)

Limited solely to Americans, the USA Ex-Pat XI is similar, with Kevin Goldthwaite (Deportivo) replacing Rodríguez in defense, Matt Hutton (San Luis) and Freddy Adu (Benfica) replacing Contreras and Palacios in midfield, and Chad Barrett (Xerez) and Charlie Davies (FC Sochaux-Montbéliard) taking the two positions up front.

North American Team of the Year

The best eleven players in the North American pyramid, dominated predictably by the New York Red Bulls.

GK: José de Jesús Corona (Cruz Azul)
D: Vitaly Kaleshin (Red Bulls), Jonathan Arias (New England), Marco Antonio Palacios (Pumas UNAM), Néstor Vidrio (Atlas)
M: Juan Carlos Mosqueda (América), Andriy Yarmolenko (Red Bulls), Fran Mérida (Columbus), Alexander Sánchez (Red Bulls)
F: Daniel Montenegro (América), Tomas Necid (Red Bulls)

Under 23 North American Team of the Year

The Red Bulls place three players on the leading youth team as well, trailed by New England and Estudiantes Tecos with two each (counting reserves who are unlisted). Yarmolenko, Mérida, and Necid repeat from the overall team of the year.

GK: Jim Russel (Red Bulls)
D: Angelo Ogbonna (Red Bulls), Adam Johnson (New England), Joaquín García (Estudiantes Tecos), Edmundo Ramírez (Atlante)
M: Chibuzor Okonkwo (New England), Andriy Yarmolenko (Red Bulls), Fran Mérida (Columbus), Ross Brown (Tigres UANL)
F: Percy Jackson (DC United), Tomas Necid (Red Bulls)

Under 20 North American Team of the Year

As we move even younger, DC United fans take heart: three of your players are on the squad, led by forward Percy Jackson.

GK: Jim Russel (Red Bulls)
D: Diego Zamora (Pachuca), Adam Johnson (New England), Joaquín García (Estudiantes Tecos), Edmundo Ramírez (Atlante)
M: Chase Carroll (DC United), José Cortés (DC United), Paulo Sosa (América), Ross Brown (Tigres UANL)
F: Percy Jackson (DC United), Denis Wales (LA Galaxy)

2010 North American Review

Awards were handed out for players based in North America, as well as for those from the USA today. For the third year in a row, Everton’s Tim Howard was the USA Player of the Year, beating out Oguchi Onyewu and Eddie Gaven. The Young Player of the Year was won by Freddy Adu—who also won this award a whopping seven years ago. Adu seems to have revived his career at Benfica, but whether he will ever reach the lofty heights predicted in his teen years is yet to be seen. Hannover’s Sal Zizzo came in second, trailed by Peri Marosevic of the Columbus Crew.

Teams were named by the continental federation both for players who have remained in North America and those who play overseas, as well as two teams for emerging young talent. Finally, an annual USA expatriate team is named comprised solely of American nationals playing abroad:

• North American Team of the Year. Leandro Augusto (Pumas UNAM), Darío Bottinelli (Atlas), Édgar Castillo (Tigres UANL), José de Jesús Corona (Cruz Azul), Gastón Fernández (Tigres UANL), Salvador Flores (Pumas UNAM), Gaven, Daniel Montenegro (América), Aquivaldo Mosquera (América), Marco Antonio Palacios (Pumas UNAM), Antonio Pérez (Atlas), Cirilo Saucedo (Tigres UANL), Santiago Solari (Atlante), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Erik Torres (América), Luis David Velázquez (Atlante), Emanuel Villa (Cruz Azul), Pablo Zeballos (Cruz Azul).
• North American ExPat XI. Michael Bradley (Gladbach), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Everton), Marc-Antoine Fortuné (Celtic), Manuel Franco (Porto), Rob Friend (Gladbach), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Howard, Atiba Hutchinson (FC Købernhavn), Rafael Márquez (Barcelona), Wilson Palacios (Tottenham), Jason Roberts (Wigan), Bryan Ruíz (FC Twente), Luton Shelton (Valerenga), Frank Simek (Sheffield Wed), Guillermo Salinas (Benfica), Édgar Iván Solís (Celta), Carlos Vela (Wolfsburg).
• Under 23 North American Team of the Year. Christian Abundis (Santos Laguna), Alberto Acosta (Tigres UANL), Fernando Ávila (San Luis), Chase Carroll (DC United), Emmanuel Cerda (Tigres UANL), Flores, Carlos Galeana (Toluca FC), Omar Gonzalez (Houston Dynamo), Javier Hernández (Chivas), Arturo Ledesma (Atlante), Marosevic, Fredy Montero (Seattle), Édgar Iván Pacheco (Atlas), Pérez, Darwin Quintero (Santos Laguna), Ángel Reyna (San Luis), Torres, Allan Van Rankin (Atlante).
• Under 20 North American Team of the Year. Abundis, Uriel Álvarez (Santos Laguna), Ávila, Rafael Blanco (Toluca FC), Ricardo Brangman (Devonshire), Carroll, Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo), Nate Fisher (Columbus), Flores, Filiberto González (San Luis), Evan Hattrell (Toronto FC), Ledesma, Pacheco, Mario Peña (Chivas), Luis Ramírez (Pumas UNAM), Reyna, Torres, Sergio Villarreal (Toluca FC).
• USA ExPat XI. Wade Barrett (FC Midtjylland), Bradley, Édgar Castillo (Tigres UANL), Kenny Cooper (1860 München), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Dempsey, Donovan, Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (AGF), Floyd Franks (Blokhus FC), Guzan, Marc Heider (Kiel), Howard, Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjælland), Chris Rolfe (AaB), Simek, Jonathan Spector (West Ham), Matt Taylor (FSV Frankfurt).

May Awards

June 1, 2010

The three active teams all received individual accolades in May. First Marco Zentil and Isma were both named to the Italian Serie C2/A Team of the Week in May. Additionally, Nicola Dal Bosco had the second best goal of the month in the league.

In England, Team of the Week honors were granted to José Boswinga (twice), Alex, and Nicolas Anelka. And, in Ethiopia, Saint George were back to dominating the league honors, as Liban Elmi, Eshetu Mohammed, Samson Mulugeta (twice), Mohammed Abera, Bereket Addisu, and Fitsum Kebede (twice) were all named to the Team of the Week during the month.

Note that none of these were listed in the larger monthly awards: in Ethiopia, the Player of the Month hardware was swept by Awassa City, with Behailu Assefa winning the award, closely followed by Birhamu Worku and Yared Tizazu. Another Awassa player, Teshager Alemu, won the Youngster of the Month. Awassa is expected to meet Saint George in the championship game in June: we’ll see if these players can carry their club to a shock upset.

England handed out its end of season hardware, with Wayne Rooney picking up the Footballer of the Year, Steven Gerrard being hailed as the Players’ Player of the Year, and Everton’s James Vaughn being declared the Young Player of the Year. Rooney and Gerrard were joined by Tim Howard (GK, Everton), Yury Zhirkov (D, Chelsea), Johan Djourou (D, Arsenal), Nemanja Vidic (D, Manchester United), Micah Richards (D, Manchester City), Andrey Arshavin (M, Arsenal), Wilson Palacios (M, Tottenham), Ji-Sung Park (M, Manchester United), and Emmanuel Adebayor (F, Manchester City) in the Select XI of the Premier Division.