LAUDERHILL, Fla. – Maybe it's the fact that he's the ultimate SuperDraft success story. Or maybe he's just plain good.
Sporting Kansas City's Graham Zusi – the No. 23 overall pick in 2009 who is now a US national team regular – won an informal poll of 14 adidas MLS Player Combine participants, who elected him as "the best player in MLS."
But it wasn't nearly unanimous. In fact, the 14 players voted for 10 different MLS players, with Thierry Henry and Landon Donovan the only others to garner multiple votes.
What may come as a surprise is that two of the respondents put new Toronto FC forward Jermain Defoe on the list as well as rumored TFC acquisition Michael Bradley.
Best player in the world? FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi earned the nod of the youngsters (7 votes), one more than Cristiano Ronaldo (6). Liverpool's Luis Suárez also earned a mention.
Best player in MLS? Combine players take Zusi:
3 votes: Graham Zusi (Sporting KC)
2 votes: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls)
1 vote: Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Mike Magee (Chicago Fire), Eddie Johnson (D.C. United), Dom Dwyer (Sporting KC), Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC?), Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy)
