Thursday , March 28 2024

Hirving Lozano & Alex Morgan Named 2018 CONCACAF Players of the Year!

The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) today announced the winners of the 2018 CONCACAF Awards. Hirving Lozano (MEX) and Alex Morgan (USA) won the 2018 Male and Female Players of the Year, respectively.

The annual awards, which began in 2013 and are being presented for the sixth time, recognize players, coaches and referees at all age levels, who have excelled in CONCACAF and FIFA-sanctioned tournaments involving the Confederation’s national teams and clubs.

In an equally-weighted vote among national team head coaches, national team captains, experts from the media and millions of fans, Lozano captured the award for the first time, while this is the third straight and fourth overall for Morgan.

Lozano’s year was highlighted by an exceptional performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. While the Mexican striker had previously earned plenty of attention around the region for his play in both World Cup Qualifying and Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, it was in 2018 that the rest of the world met the 23-year-old PSV Eindhoven forward.

Morgan led the United States Women’s National Team to a sparkling year, which included a 5W-0D-0L record at the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship. The 29-year-old played a major part in her team’s qualification for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, by scoring seven goals and winning the tournament’s Golden Boot.

The winners in all the categories are:
Male Player of the Year
1. Hirving Lozano (MEX) – PSV Eindhoven/NED
2. Keylor Navas (CRC) – Real Madrid CF/ESP
3. Sebastian Giovinco (ITA) – Toronto FC/CAN

Female Player of the Year
1. Alex Morgan (USA) – Orlando Pride/USA
2. Khadija Shaw (JAM) – University of Tennessee/USA
3. Lindsey Horan (USA) – Portland Thorns FC/USA

Male Goalkeeper of the Year
1. Keylor Navas (CRC) – Real Madrid CF/ESP
2. Guillermo Ochoa (MEX) – Standard Liège/BEL
3. Cody Laurendi (PUR) – Oklahoma City Energy/USA

Female Goalkeeper of the Year
1. Alyssa Naeher (USA) – Chicago Red Starts/USA
2. Yenith Bailey (PAN) – Sporting SM/PAN
3. Stephanie Labbe (CAN) – Linköpings FC/SWE

Men’s Football Coach of the Year
1. Matias Almeyda (ARG) – San Jose Earthquakes/USA (Formerly CD Guadalajara/MEX)
2. Remko Bicentini (CUW) – Curacao National Team
3. Juan Carlos Osorio (COL) – Paraguay National Team (Formerly Mexico National Team)

Women’s Football Coach of the Year
1. Hue Menzies (JAM) – Jamaica Women’s National Team/Florida Kraze Krush/USA
2. Jill Ellis (USA) – United States Women’s National Team
3. Monica Vergara (MEX) – Mexico U-17 Women’s National Team

Male Referee of the Year
1. Cesar Arturo Ramos (MEX)
2. Mark Geiger (USA)
3. Joel Aguilar (SLV)

Female Referee of the Year
1. Lucila Venegas (MEX)
2. Crystal Sobers (TRI)
3. Carol Anne Chenard (CAN)

Goal of the Year
1. Joe Corona (MEX) – SCCL: Club America (MEX) vs Tauro FC (PAN), 19′
2. Alan Pulido (MEX) – SCCL: CD Guadalajara (MEX) vs Toronto FC (CAN), 72′
3. Khadija Shaw (JAM) – CWC: Jamaica vs Cuba, 2′

Outstanding Performance Award
Jamaica Women’s National Team

Male Best XI
GK – Keylor Navas (CRC) – Real Madrid CF/ESP
DF – Hugo Ayala (MEX) – Tigres UANL/MEX
DF – Edson Alvarez (MEX) – Club America/MEX
DF – Cuco Martina (CUW) – Stoke City FC/ENG
DF – Francisco Calvo (CRC) – Minnesota United FC/USA
MF – Hector Herrera (MEX) – Porto FC/POR
MF – Michael Bradley (USA) – Toronto FC/CAN
MF – Andres Guardado (MEX) – Real Betis/ESP
FW – Hirving Lozano (MEX) – PSV Eindhoven/NED
FW – Bradley Wright-Phillips (ENG) – New York Red Bulls/USA
FW – Sebastian Giovinco (ITA) – Toronto FC/CAN

Female Best XI
GK – Alyssa Naeher (USA) – Chicago Red Starts/USA
DF – Kadeisha Buchanan (CAN) – Olympique Lyonnais/FRA
DF – Crystal Dunn (USA) – NC Courage/USA
DF – Tanna Sanchez (MEX U-17) – Tecnologico de Monterrey Campus Puebla/MEX
DF – Becky Sauerbrunn (USA) – Utah Royals FC/USA
MF – Lindsey Horan (USA) – Portland Thorns/USA
MF – Khadija Shaw (JAM) – University of Tennessee/USA
MF – Nicole Perez (MEX U-17) – CD Guadalajara/MEX
FW – Alex Morgan (USA) – Orlando Pride/USA
FW – Christine Sinclair (CAN) – Portland Thorns/USA
FW – Jody Brown (JAM) – AS Roma/ITA

About Arunava Chaudhuri

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