SECAUCUS, NJ -
Major League Soccer announced today that New York Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel and midfielder Dane Richards are among the finalists for its 2007 year-end awards. Angel is a finalist in two categories - the Honda Most Valuable Player award and the Newcomer of the Year award and Richards is up for the Gatorade Rookie of the Year. Winners for each award will be announced in the coming weeks. The Gatorade Rookie of the Year will be announced on Wednesday, November 7. The Honda MLS Most Valuable Player will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 15 at the ESPN Zone in Washington, D.C.
The 2007 awards announcements culminate on Saturday, Nov. 17 with the unveiling of the Best XI and MLS Newcomer of the Year, which will both be announced at the MLS Awards Gala.
Ever since he joined the Red Bulls from English Premiership side, Aston Villa, in April, Angel has been one of the League's best players, scoring a team-record 19 goals and five assists in 24 regular season games. Among his accolades, the Colombian forward won MLS Player of the Month honors in May and June, was a two-time MLS Player of the Week and earned the MLS All-Star Game Most Valuable Player award in a 2-0 win over Scottish Champion, Celtic FC. Throughout the months of May and June, Angel scored goals in six consecutive games - tops in 2007 and just one game shy of the League record.
Richards has played a major part in the Red Bulls' 2007 campaign. After being drafted by New York in the second round (19th overall) in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft, the speedy former Clemson University midfielder has played in 28 games (27 starts), scoring two goals and six assists - good for second on the team. Of those assists, three of them led to game-winning goals.
The finalists, listed in alphabetical order below for each award, earned the most votes in polling of MLS players, general managers, coaches, referees and members of the media. The U.S. Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year will be determined by the U.S. Soccer Foundation, Major League Soccer and MLS club representatives and will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 1.
Awards Finalists:
Panasonic Goalkeeper of the Year Finalists
Brad Guzan - Chivas USA
Pat Onstad - Houston Dynamo
Matt Reis - New England Revolution
Fair Play Finalists - Individual
Cobi Jones - LA Galaxy
Michael Parkhurst - New England Revolution
Eddie Pope - Real Salt Lake
MLS Comeback Player of the Year Finalists
Frankie Hejduk - Columbus Crew
Eddie Johnson - Kansas City Wizards
Pat Noonan - New England Revolution
Visa Defender of the Year Finalists
Michael Parkhurst - New England Revolution
Eddie Robinson - Houston Dynamo
Claudio Suarez - Chivas USA
OSI Referee of the Year Finalists
Brian Hall
Jair Marrufo
Alex Prus
Gatorade Rookie of the Year Finalists
Adam Cristman - New England Revolution
Maurice Edu - Toronto FC
Dane Richards - New York Red Bulls
MLS Coach of the Year Finalists
Dominic Kinnear - Houston Dynamo
Preki - Chivas USA
Tom Soehn - D.C. United
Honda MLS Most Valuable Player Finalists
Juan Pablo Angel - New York Red Bulls
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chicago Fire
Luciano Emilio - D.C. United
Newcomer of the Year
Juan Pablo Angel - New York Red Bulls
Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chicago Fire
Luciano Emilio - D.C. United
Schedule of Awards Announcements:
Wednesday, October 31
Goalkeeper of the Year
Fair Play Award Individual & Team
Thursday, November 1
U.S. Soccer Foundation Humanitarian of the Year
U.S. Soccer Foundation Team Humanitarian of the Year
Sierra Mist Goal of the Year Top Ten
Monday, November 5
Comeback Player of the Year
Defender of the Year
OSI Referee of the Year
Wednesday, November 7
Gatorade Rookie of the Year
MLS Coach of the Year
Thursday, November 8
Sierra Mist Goal of the Year Five Finalists
Thursday, November 15
Honda MLS Most Valuable Player
Friday, November 16
Sierra Mist Goal of the Year
Saturday, November 17
Best XI
Newcomer of the Year
