Major League Soccer announced today that Amado Guevara was named the 2004 MLS Honda MVP. The announcement was made at a press conference at ESPNZone in Anaheim, CA, which was shown live nationally on ESPNews. With the announcement, Guevara, who rounded out his second season in Major League Soccer in 2004, becomes the first MetroStar to win the honor of MLS MVP in the league's nine seasons.
Guevara had a stellar season for the MetroStars in 2004 leading the squad in assists with 10 (tied for second in MLS), and tying John Wolyniec at 10 for the team lead in goals (tied for third in MLS). These numbers gave him 30 total points, which secured him a tie with New England's Pat Noonan for the 2004 MLS Budweiser Scoring Champion. These numbers are even more impressive given that Guevara missed five games due to National Team call-ups and one as a result of suspension.
This marks the first time since 1992 that a professional athlete in the New York Metropolitan Area has been named MVP of a Major League. The most recent was Mark Messier in 1992 for his play for the New York Rangers (NHL) during the 1991-1992 season. In the National Football League, Lawrence Taylor was the most recent player from the NYC area to capture the award when he did so for the Giants in 1986. In Major League Baseball Don Mattingly of the Yankees was named the MVP in 1985, and Willis Reed was named MVP of the NBA for his play during the 1969-1970 seasons.
The award rounds out a year full of accolades and honors for Guevara, as he has also been named the 2004 Honda MLS All-Star Game MVP, the 2004 MetroStars Honda MVP, the 2004 MetroStars.com Player of the Year, 2004 Budweiser MetroStars Scoring Champion and the 2004 Budweiser MLS Scoring Co-Champion (tied with Pat Noonan - New England Revolution).
Besides Guevara, Joe Cannon (GK - Colorado Rapids) and Jaime Moreno (F - D.C. United) were also named finalists for the award.
