Photo by ISIPhotos.com
In a year that saw the U.S. Women’s National team win Olympic gold and re-establish itself as the top team in the world, no player enjoyed as impressive a year as Alex Morgan.
The 23-year-old forward compiled jaw-dropping stats this year, recording 28 goals and 19 assists to help her be named U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year.
Morgan wins the award for the first time, snapping a two-year run by Abby Wambach, who has won the honor five times.
U.S. Soccer also named Under-20 national team defender Julie Johnson Young Female Athlete of the Year, edging out Under-20 teammate Kealia Ohai. Both players were key figures on the U.S. Under-20 World Cup winning team.
What do you think of these honors? Who finished second on your Female Athlete of the Year ballot? Which U-20 player do you think should have taken Young Female Athlete of the Year.
Sinclair is most likely not on this list because of that explosion in the media post-Olympics. Having the gall to complain about officiating when one of your teammates was not punished for stomping on someone’s head is… well it is what it is.
Morgan definitely deserves this award…monster year. Wambach has to be #2 with 23 goals and the leading US scorer in the Olympics. Then, I would argue that Rapinoe is #3 with some HUGE goals, 10 assists and a whole lotta individual artistry on the pitch.
FIFA POY will be interesting to see if Morgan takes that award as well. Should be Morgan v. Wambach again. It is a mystery to me why Marta was nominated for POY with 2 international goals in 7 matches with the 2 goals coming against the 50th ranked team in the world. Yes, Marta had a nice season at Tyeso, but in an Olympic year, the club season has less weight than the play for one’s country. That 3rd nominee for POY belonged to Sinclair.
Agreed. Sinclair got the shaft.
Sinclair deserved nomination for her play on the field, but gave herself the shaft for her poorly-worded post-game comments.
Young female athlete should be Crystal Dunn. She is biggest impact player of her generation, she proves it every game she plays.
Couldn’t argue with that. I saw some of the U-20 games and she really stood out. Not to make the top three is surprising.
Morgan Brian should have been in the top three for young female athlete as well as Dunn. Morgan Brian > DiBernardo
I hope they (US Soccer) don’t take her too far down the s3x marketing path. I’m speaking in regards to a recent video posted showing her in all sorts of yoga poses…
Obviously she gets a lot of guys to watch the games, but part of her allure is the mystery and imagination.
Well the SI body paint swimsuit pretty much eliminated most of that.
I have different feelings about the body paint. I actually see that as more of an artistic celebration of the athletic body–they do it for both men and women and both genders are equally fascinating.
You mean fapinating, right?
I’m sure there are people who do that, but that’s not really my thing–depredating the non-artistic aspects for that.
The human form can be pretty incredible–there’s no need to turn an artistic expression that is fascinating into a grotesque s3xual exploitation.
::yawn::
I don’t think she has anything to worry about.
So you’re against her being marketed as a sex symbol but make a statement like, “but part of her allure is the mystery and imagination.”
Huh?
Her marketing ability is what I’m discussing. I said I hope they don’t go too far with it.