U.S. Male Soccer Player of the Year Christian Pulisic (white jersey) is a rising star in CONCACAF and Europe. (Photo: Mexsport/isiphotos.com/John Dorton)
CHICAGO -- Christian Pulisic has been voted the 2017 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year, it was announced Thursday. The 19-year-old midfielder is the youngest player to earn the honor in the award's 34-year history, surpassing Landon Donovan who won it for the first time at age 21 in 2003.
Receiving a comprehensive 94 percent of the tabulated votes, Pulisic was outstanding for the U.S. this year with six goals and four assists in nine matches. He was either directly (goal or assist) or indirectly (earning a free kick, rebound on a shot) involved in 13 of the 17 goals scored during matches in which he played this year.
At the club level, Pulisic recorded three goals and three assists in 25 matches across all competitions for Germany’s Borussia Dortmund.
Pulisic becomes the 24th different player to be named U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year since it was first awarded to midfielder Rick Davis in 1984.
Votes were collected from U.S. men’s national team players who earned a cap in 2017, men's national team and youth men's national team coaches, Major League Soccer, North American Soccer League and United Soccer League head coaches, as well as select former players, administrators and media members.
U.S. SOCCER MALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
All-Time Honorees
1984: Rick Davis
1985: Perry Van der Beck
1986: Paul Caligiuri
1987: Brent Goulet
1988: Peter Vermes
1989: Mike Windischmann
1990: Tab Ramos
1991: Hugo Perez
1992: Marcelo Balboa
1993: Thomas Dooley
1994: Marcelo Balboa
1995: Alexi Lalas
1996: Eric Wynalda
1997: Kasey Keller
1998: Cobi Jones
1999: Kasey Keller
2000: Chris Armas
2001: Earnie Stewart
2002: Brad Friedel
2003: Landon Donovan
2004: Landon Donovan
2005: Kasey Keller
2006: Oguchi Onyewu
2007: Clint Dempsey
2008: Tim Howard
2009: Landon Donovan
2010: Landon Donovan
2011: Clint Dempsey
2012: Clint Dempsey
2013: Jozy Altidore
2014: Tim Howard
2015: Michael Bradley
2016: Jozy Altidore
2017: Christian Pulisic
