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Toronto FC's Alejandro Pozuelo up for MLS Newcomer of the Year Award

Toronto FC playmaker Alejandro Pozuelo is a finalist for Major League Soccer's Newcomer of the Year award.

The Spanish attacking midfielder is up against Spanish midfielder Carles Gil of the New England Revolution and Brazilian forward Heber of New York City FC.

The award goes to players with previous professional experience who made their MLS debut in 2019.

The 28-year-old Pozuelo, who joined Toronto in March as a designated player, had a club-leading 12 goals and 12 assists in 30 league appearances.

The Spaniard was a hit right out of the box, scoring two goals and adding an assist in a 4-0 victory over New York City FC in his league debut March 29. Pozuelo was named to the 2019 MLS all-star game.

Gil led the Revs with 10 goals, adding 14 assists. Heber had a team-best 15 goals for NYCFC, with four assists.

The winner will be announced Wednesday.

Canadian midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye of Los Angeles FC is up for Comeback Player of the Year against Seattle's Jordan Morris and Philadelphia's Kacper Przybylko. Kaye's 2018 season was cut short by a fractured ankle.

The winner will be announced Oct. 22.

A trio of goal-scorers are up for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP Award: Zlatan Ibrahimovic of the Los Angeles Galaxy, 2018 winner Josef Martinez of Atlanta United and Carlos Vela of LAFC.

The finalists account for three of the top four single-season goal-scoring performances in MLS history: Vela with an MLS-record 34 goals (plus 15 assists), Ibrahimovic with 30 goals (seven assists), and Martínez with 27 goals (four assists).

The Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year candidates are NYCFC's Domenec Torrent, Philadelphia's Jim Curtin and LAFC's Bob Bradley.

Minnesota United's Ike Opara, the 2017 MLS Defender of the Year, is up for the award again with competition from Miles Robinson of Atlanta United and Walker Zimmerman of LAFC.

D.C. United's Bill Hamid, the 2014 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, is a finalist again this season along with NYCFC's Sean Johnson and Minnesota's Vito Mannone.

The finalists earned the most votes in polling of current MLS players, MLS clubs (coaches, technical directors/GMs) and select media.

 

MLS Awards Finalists

Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player

(to be announced the week of 2019 MLS Cup)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (LA Galaxy)

Josef Martinez (Atlanta United)

Carlos Vela (Los Angeles Football Club)

MLS Defender of the Year

(to be announced Oct. 17)

Ike Opara (Minnesota United FC)

Miles Robinson (Atlanta United)

Walker Zimmerman (Los Angeles Football Club)

Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year

(to be announced Oct. 24)

Bill Hamid (D.C. United)

Sean Johnson (New York City FC)

Vito Mannone (Minnesota United FC)

MLS Newcomer of the Year

(to be announced Oct. 15)

For this award, "newcomer" is defined as a player with previous professional experience who made his MLS debut in 2019

Carles Gil (New England Revolution)

Heber (New York City FC)

Alejandro Pozuelo (Toronto FC)

AT&T MLS Rookie of the Year

(to be announced Oct. 14)

For this award, "rookie" is defined as a player without previous professional experience who made his MLS debut in 2019

Brenden Aaronson (Philadelphia Union)

Hassani Dotson (Minnesota United FC)

Andre Shinyashiki (Colorado Rapids)

Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year

(to be announced Oct. 23)

Bob Bradley (Los Angeles Football Club)

Jim Curtin (Philadelphia Union)

Domenec Torrent (New York City FC)

MLS Comeback Player of the Year

Honours an MLS player who has overcome injuries and/or adversity in order to achieve success during the 2019 regular season

(to be announced Oct. 22)

Mark-Anthony Kaye (Los Angeles Football Club)

Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC)

Kacper Przybylko (Philadelphia Union)

MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year

(TBD announcement date)

Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids)

Matt Lampson (LA Galaxy)

Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls)

MLS Referee of the Year

(to be announced Oct. 15)

Allen Chapman

Jair Marrufo

Rubiel Vazquez

MLS Assistant Referee of the Year

(to be announced Oct. 15)

Logan Brown

Brian Dunn

Brian Poeschel

 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2019.

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press


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