Alex Morgan wins 2017 CONCACAF Female Player of the Year
CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – U.S. Women’s National Team forward Alex Morgan has been named the 2017 CONCACAF Female Player of the Year.
The award was announced tonight at the fourth addition of the Premios Univision Deportes which was held at the Univision Studios in Miami.
In an equally-weighted vote among Men’s and Women’s National Team coaches and captains of all the Member Association, media and fans, Morgan captured the award for the third time. She also won last year and in 2013 when it was given out for the first time. A U.S. player has won the CONCACAF Female Player of the Year award every year since its inception. Abby Wambach won it in 2014 and Carli Lloyd won in 2015.
Morgan spent the first part of 2017 in France playing with European power Olympique Lyon and helped the club to an historic treble, winning the League, French Cup and Champions League titles. She became just the third American to win a UEFA Champions League. Morgan played in 15 matches during her stint in France, seven in the league (5 goals), three in the Cup (7 goals) and five in Champions League. She started the Champions League Final against rival Paris Saint-Germain but was forced to leave in the 23rd minute when she aggravated a hamstring injury.
That injury kept her out of the USA’s June friendlies in Europe, but she returned for the Tournament of Nations and scored in the finale against Japan, starting a streak of seven goals in her final seven WNT games of the year. She scored in both year-ending games against Canada. Those seven scores led the team in 2017 and moved her into sole possession of seventh place on the USA’s all-time goals list with 80 career goals.
She also ended her 2017 NWSL season on a hot streak, scoring nine goals in her last 12 games for the Orlando Pride and finished tied for fifth in the league in goals while helping the Pride to its first playoff berth. She also had four assists in her 13 regular season games and was named to the NWSL Second XI.
The CONCACAF Male Player of the Year winner was goalkeeper Keylor Navas of Real Madrid and Costa Rica. The other CONCACAF Awards will be announced next week.
The CONCACAF Awards are designed to honor the year’s outstanding performers and achievements in confederation-sanctioned competitions involving national teams at all levels and age categories, including FIFA World Cup matches and qualifying for both genders. Performances eligible for recognition also included those achieved in professional club leagues within the CONCACAF Member Associations.
