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Howard, Bradley named to CONCACAF Male Best XI

Tim Howard Everton 46

American internationals Tim Howard and Michael Bradley have been named to the CONCACAF Best XI, the federation announced Friday afternoon in a press release. Additionally, Howard was also awarded Male Goalkeeper of the Year.

The 36-year old Howard is starting in goal for Everton for his 10th straight season. During the current English Premier League campaign, Howard has made 22 Premier League appearances, while only featuring twice for the U.S. Men’s National Team.

Bradley was named to the Best XI after taking the captaincy of the national team in 2015. The Toronto FC midfielder scored three goals for the USMNT, two of which came in the 2015 Gold Cup where the U.S. were knocked out in the semifinal round.

After an impressive 2015 after transferring to Bayer Leverkusen, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez was named CONCACAF Male Player of the Year.

The Mexican international scored three goals in five appearances for El Tri in the 2015 calendar year, but it was his club form toward the end of the year that led to the honor. Hernandez has scored 11 goals in the Bundesliga, while also contributing five Champions League goals in six appearances.

On the women’s side, Carli Lloyd took home CONCACAF Women’s Player of the Year honors, while fellow American teammate Hope Solo was named Goalkeeper of the Year. USWNT head coach Jill Ellis also captured Coach of the Year for her role in the team’s 2015 success.

Here’s a full breakdown of all the CONCACAF awards handed out:

CONCACAF MALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

1. Javier Hernandez (FW/MEX); Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
2. Bryan Ruiz (FW/CRC); Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
3. Andres Guardado (MF/MEX); PSV Eindhoven (NED)

CONCACAF FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

1. Carli Lloyd (MF/USA); Houston Dash (USA)
2. Alex Morgan (FW/USA); Orlando Pride (USA)
3. Shirley Cruz (MF/CRC); Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA)

CONCACAF MALE GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR

1. Tim Howard (GK/USA); Everton FC (ENG)
2. Jaime Penedo (GK/PAN); Deportivo Saprissa (CRC)
3. Guillermo Ochoa (GK/MEX); Malaga FC (ESP)

CONCACAF FEMALE GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR

1. Hope Solo (GK/USA); Seattle Reign FC (USA)
2. Dinnia Diaz (GK/CRC); Moravia (CRC)
3. Cecilia Santiago (GK/MEX); Apollon Limassol (CYP)

CONCACAF MALE COACH OF THE YEAR

1. Hernan Dario Gomez (COL); Panama National Team
2. Caleb Porter (USA); Portland Timbers (USA)
3. Miguel Herrera (MEX); Club Tijuana (MEX)

CONCACAF FEMALE COACH OF THE YEAR

1. Jill Ellis (USA); United States Women’s National Team
2. Amelia Valverde (CRC); Costa Rica Women’s National Team
3. Raiza Gutierrez (PAN); Panama Women’s National Team/Panama Women’s Under-20 National Team

CONCACAF MALE REFEREE OF THE YEAR

1. Joel Aguilar (SLV)
2. Roberto Garcia (MEX)
3. Fernando Guerrero (MEX)

CONCACAF FEMALE REFEREE OF THE YEAR

1. Kimberly Moreira (CRC)
2. Lucila Venegas (MEX)
3. Carol Anne Chenard (CAN)

CONCACAF GOAL OF THE YEAR

1. Carli Lloyd (USA); USA vs. Japan (16′)
2. Paul Aguilar (MEX); Mexico vs. USA (120+2′)
3. Darwin Quintero (COL); Club America vs. Walter Ferretti (13′)

CONCACAF MALE BEST XI

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard (GK/USA); Everton FC (ENG)

Defenders: Roman Torres (DF/PAN), Seattle Sounders FC (USA); Giancarlo Gonzalez (DF/CRC), US Citta di Palermo (ITA); Hector Moreno (DF/MEX), PSV Eindhoven (NED); Miguel Layun (DF/MEX), FC Porto (POR)

Midfielders: Andres Guardado (MF/MEX), PSV Eindhoven (NED); Michael Bradley (MF/USA), Toronto FC (CAN); Joel Campbell (MF/CRC), Arsenal FC (ENG); Jesus Corona (MF/MEX), FC Porto (POR)

Forwards: Javier Hernandez (FW/MEX), Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER); Bryan Ruiz (FW/CRC), Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)

CONCACAF FEMALE BEST XI

Goalkeepers: Hope Solo (GK/USA), Seattle Reign FC (USA)

Defenders: Kenti Robles (DF/MEX), Atletico Madrid (ESP); Becky Sauerbrunn (DF/USA), FC Kansas City FC (USA); Lixy Rodriguez (DF/CRC), UCEM Alajuela (CRC); Diana Saenz (DF/CRC), University of South Florida (USA)

Midfielders: Carli Lloyd (MF/USA), Houston Dash (USA); Shirley Cruz (MF/CRC), Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA); Katherine Alvarado (MF/CRC), Saprissa (CRC); Veronica Perez (MF/MEX), Canberra United FC (AUS)

Forwards: Alex Morgan (FW/USA), Orlando Pride (USA); Raquel Rodriguez (FW/CRC), Penn State University (USA)

What do you think of the awards handed down? Did Hernandez deserve Male Player of the Year? Who was snubbed from the list?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I feel like the language in these awards can be triggering… “Male Best XI” may exclude some men who present as women as well as other non-cisgender individuals.

    Just kidding. The best players in CONCACAF are all men; no woman could make the practice squad of the worst pro team. The intentionally-redundant wording is stupid and… offensive.

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  2. Considering that he won the Golden Boot at the Gold Cup for most goals scored, I don’t see how they can leave off Dempsey. I know they included club play, but no way that Ruiz was better than Dempsey. Hell, Ruiz never made an impact when he was at Fulham while Dempsey was their all time leading scorer and Ruiz has not done as much for his national team as Dempsey has done with the US. Ridiculous.

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    • Gary, you can make a close argument between the two (Dempsey/Ruiz), and between other players, but it is not “ridiculous” at all like you say it is. This is a yearly award, so it emphasizes last year. Player of the YEAR. Team of the YEAR. Why are you bringing up Fulham? Dempsey did not play for Fulham in 2015. Bringing up players’ histories before 2015 is irrelevant to this award. You must not follow the Costa Rican national team except for games when they play against the U.S. If you did you would understand his selection. In soccer, its not always about looking up stats to see how many goals a player scored. You have to watch how they affect a match with their play.

      Oh and Ruiz did make an impact at Fulham. Dempsey was there longer, probably close to 2 years longer considering Ruiz’ loan time, and put up better numbers than Ruiz, but that doesn’t mean Ruiz didn’t make an impact.

      Ruiz: 3.5 seasons at Fulham; Appearances 97; Goals 12. How is that not making an impact??

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      • From the Bryan Ruiz website:In 2015 Bryan Ruiz had a scoring streak, especially during the second half of the year when he arrived in Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon last August. Throughout this year, Bryan scored 10 times for Sporting, the Costa Rican national team, and English club Fulham.

        With Fulham he scored once in the Championship. Wearing his national squad’s jersey he scored three times: in a friendly , in the Gold Cup and in the Hexagonal. Meanwhile, he scored 6 goals with Sporting: 1 in the Portuguese league, 3 in Europa League, 1 in Taça de Portugal and another in the league Cup. (my note–most of his goals for Sporting weren’t even in league play but in probably lesser competition).

        In 2015 Dempsey scored 9 goals for the national team and 12 goals for the Sounders .http://www.espnfc.us/player/39928/clint-dempsey And you think maybe Dempsey would have scored if he had played in the first round of CONCACAF qualifying? The T &T coach thought so and was glad he wasn’t playing.

        Now, which is better–21 goals or 10 goals? I mentioned Fulham because that showed a head to head comparison since they were for a time on the same team at the same time. And one goal in 8 games is not very good for an attacking player. Sometimes I think you argue with me just to argue.

      • Gary like I said, goals scored can’t be the only determining factor, there is more to it. By that metric then Iniesta and Xavi would have never received much credit, since they don’t score much even though they are attacking players.

        Now that i think about it, the more interesting question is does Concacaf also view playing in MLS as inferior to playing in Europe like most others do? I would guess yes, even though the Bradley selection says otherwise.

      • UCLA–Pay attention to the article. Bryan Ruiz is listed as a forward in the Best XI. Ask any forward what the most important thing is for them and they will tell you it is scoring goals. Probably almost every coach and fan will say the same thing. That is what a striker is there for. If scoring goals isn’t all that important, please tell us what Ruiz did last year in another category that he did so much better than Dempsey. Defense? Assists? Importance to his team? Anything?

      • Gary you are telling me to pay attention when you were the guy using performance from past years to make a case for a 2015 award? Yea OK buddy. Bottom line Ruiz played better. Simple as that. This isn’t baseball, where stats can paint you the whole picture. Do you know anything about soccer? Soccer is the worst sport to use statistics to measure a players performance. You can look at stats and say “wow beckerman completed a high percentage of his passes, he must have been great” but then you watch the game and see he was useless, only making passes backward to his defenders for them to clear. You can put a good striker on a good team and he scores a bunch of goals, put him on a bad team and he scores way less, but he is still the same player. Also you have to take the leagues into account (Portugal vs MLS). The people that vote for these awards know soccer and watch it way more than you, and they thought Ruiz was better. Get over it.

        You say, “And you think maybe Dempsey would have scored if he had played in the first round of CONCACAF qualifying?” Well I’m sure you do. You are so convinced. We should just add a few more goals to Dempsey’s tally then. We get it, you’re a huge Dempsey fan. I am a fan too, but I don’t become blinded by my fandom like you do.

      • One last thing, don’t get hung up on the position listings. They are irrelevant for these team of the year/week/awards. They just try to make the best players fit on the team. Remember how Dempsey used to play both midfield and forward for Fulham? That is Ruiz’ current situation with both Sportin and Costa Rica. Campbell is listed as a midfielder even though he also plays forward sometimes for Arsenal and alot for Costa Rica. So your “pay attention… he is listed as a forward…goals blah blah” isn’t on point, as usual.

  3. KLINSI not even mentioned in the top 3 Men’s coaches? Mexico, Panama,..Jamaica,..TnT,…& CRC sure received a lot more mileage on a whole hell of a lot less GAS ($). Have we been bamboozled?

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    • and Bradley over Herrera? I mean, one is Porto’s captain and the other looks average in MLS. The only player that could be on a list of the best players in CONCACAF is Johnson.

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    • Navas is clearly the best GK in Concacaf by a mile (top 3 or 5 in the world easily), but since he did not play in any regional tournament or with their nat squad, silly skunkcacaf don’t include him.

      Reply

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