The final four winners of the 2007 "Best of U.S. Soccer" awards were announced on Wednesday on ussoccer.com, with Studio 90 presenting the fan's choices for Best Soccer Bar, Best Blog, Best Goal (Men) and Best Performance (Player).
Fans can watch a special presentation of all 11 winners on ussoccer.com's Studio 90, which has already showcased the first seven award winners, including Best Assist, Best all_access Video, Best Fan Atmosphere, Best Goal (Women), Best Performance (Team), Best Photo and Best Store.
The sixth annual installment of the awards was presented this year by Soccer America, the No. 1 soccer magazine in the United States, and fans had a chance to vote from Nov. 14 to Dec. 7 for all 11 categories.
On Thursday, Dec. 20, U.S. Soccer will announce the winners of the 2007 Athlete of the Year Awards, which include Male, Female, Young Male and Young Female. As the oldest and most prestigious awards of their kind, U.S. Soccer's Athlete of the Year Awards date back to 1984 for the men and 1985 for the women. As in years past, online votes for the annual award were tallied and equivalent to 50 percent of the total votes, while the other 50 percent was compiled from members of the national media and U.S. Soccer representatives, including National Team coaches and the National Board of Directors.
Best Blog may have been the newest category, but the eventual winner is one of the most experienced writers in the soccer business as Steven Goff's Soccer Insider took home the inaugural victory with 26.7 percent of the vote. Soccer by Ives finished in second place, while ussoccer.com's own WNT Blog finished in third.
For the fifth straight year, a Chicago establishment earned the title as Best Soccer Bar, but this time around it was not Ginger's Ale House, winner of the award for the past four years. For the first-time ever, The Globe Pub secured the most votes to take the top spot, out-muscling Ginger's by just one percent. Three Lions Pub finished a close third for the second time in a row as the bar - located in Blackbaud Stadium - also took home the bronze in 2006.
For the second straight year, Best Performance (Player) was the tightest race with a WNT, MNT and YNT player all in the running. Each player had the lead at one point during the voting process, but in the end it was Abby Wambach's two-goal performance against Sweden in the FIFA Women's World Cup that finished at the top with, squeaking past Freddy Adu vs. Poland by less than 10 votes and Landon Donovan vs. Ecuador.
Benny Feilhaber's stunning game-winning strike to give the U.S. the Gold Cup title was the only nominee in any category to earn more than half the votes, earning 57.4 percent of the vote to win Best Goal (Men), presented by Sierra Mist. The volley was the most voted nominee in any category, outdistancing Freddy Adu's spinning goal against Poland in the U-20 World Cup (16.8) and Clint Dempsey's tally against Brazil (7.5).
2007 Best of U.S. Soccer Results - Bar, Blog, Goal (Men) and Performance (Player)
Best Bar
1. The Globe Pub (Chicago, Ill.) 21.2 %
2. Ginger's Ale House (Chicago, Ill.) 20.2 %
3. Three Lions Pub (Charleston, S.C.) 19.3 %
Best Blog
1. Soccer Insider 26.7 %
2. Soccer by Ives 15.6 %
3. WNT Blog 14.2%
Best Goal (Men) - presented by Sierra Mist
1. Benny Feilhaber vs. Mexico (June 24) 57.4 %
2. Freddy Adu vs. Poland (July 3) 16.8 %
3. Clint Dempsey vs. Brazil (Sept. 9) 7.5 %
Best Performance (Player)
1. Abby Wambach vs. Sweden (Sept. 14) 16.9 %
2. Freddy Adu vs. Poland (July
3) 16.6 %
3. Landon Donovan vs. Ecuador (March 25) 15.8 %
