Canada Soccer honoured in annual CONCACAF awards

Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team and head coach John Herdman have been honoured with the CONCACAF Outstanding Performance Award after a return to the podium in back-to-back Olympic Football Tournaments from 2012 to 2016.

Five other Canadians were also honoured across the 2016 CONCACAF Awards, with notably Carol Anne Chénard winning CONCACAF Female Referee of the Year honours. Atiba Hutchinson was named to the CONCACAF Male Best XI while Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence, and Christine Sinclair were also named to the CONCACAF Female Best XI for 2016.

“The rise of our Women’s National Team in 2016 shows that our investments in technical leadership and the guidance of our Women’s Head Coach John Herdman give us the opportunity to compete with any nation in the world,” said Canada Soccer General Secretary Peter Montopoli. “We are incredibly proud of each and every one of the players who achieved Olympic bronze in Rio and of our staff for the dedication and commitment to the game. This award is a welcome recognition of that effort and success.”

Coach Herdman, who also helped Canada set a national record with 15 international wins and jump to fourth overall on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking, led Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team to a bronze medal finish at the Rio 2016 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. Canada won five of six matches in Brazil, beating confederation champions Australia, Germany, and host Brazil along the way. In reaching the podium, they were the first Canadian team to reach the podium in back-to-back summer games in more than 100 years.

In all, 23 Canadians were nominated across the 12 categories, including Stephanie Labbé who finished as runner up for CONCACAF Female Goalkeeper of the Year and Joe Fletcher who finished as runner up for CONCACAF Male Referee of the Year.

The CONCACAF Awards are designed to honour the year’s outstanding performers and achievements in confederation-sanctioned competitions involving national teams at all levels and age categories, including FIFA World Cup matches and qualifying for both genders. Performances also eligible for recognition included those achieved in professional club football leagues within the CONCACAF Member Associations, as well as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League.

CONCACAF Male Player of the Year
1. Bryan Ruiz (MF/FW) | Costa Rica; Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
2. Hirving Lozano (FW/MF) | Mexico; C.F. Pachuca (MEX)
3. Keylor Navas (GK) | Costa Rica; Real Madrid C. F. (ESP)

CONCACAF Female Player of the Year
1. Alex Morgan (FW) | USA; Orlando Pride (USA)
2. Tobin Heath (MF) | USA; Portland Thorns FC (USA)
3. Crystal Dunn (FW) | USA; Washington Spirit (USA)

CONCACAF Male Goalkeeper of the Year
1. Keylor Navas | Costa Rica; Real Madrid C. F. (ESP)
2. Alfredo Talavera | Mexico; Deportivo Toluca F.C. (MEX)
3. Nahuel Guzmán | Argentina; Tigres UANL (MEX)

CONCACAF Female Goalkeeper of the Year
1. Ashlyn Harris | USA; Orlando Pride (USA)
2. Stephanie Labbé | Canada; Washington Spirit (USA)
3. Yoselin Franco | Guatemala; UNIFUT (GUA)

CONCACAF Male Coach of the Year
1. Óscar Ramírez | Costa Rica National Team
2. Ricardo Ferretti | Tigres UANL (MEX)
3. Diego Alonso | C.F. Pachuca (MEX)

CONCACAF Female Coach of the Year
1. Amelia Valverde | Costa Rica National Team
2. Jill Ellis | USA National Team
3. Michelle French | USA National U-20 Team

CONCACAF Male Referee of the Year
1. César Arturo Ramos | Mexico
2. Joe Fletcher | Canada (Assistant Referee)
3. Joel Aguilar | El Salvador

CONCACAF Female Referee of the Year
1. Carol Anne Chénard | Canada
2. Quetzalli Alvarado | Mexico
3. Kimberly Moreira | Costa Rica (Assistant Referee)

CONCACAF Goal of the Year
1. Jesús Corona | MEXICO v Venezuela, 80′
2. Eduardo Herrera | PUMAS UNAM v CD Honduras Progreso, 66′
3. Alexander Larín | ALIANZA FC (SLV) v New York Red Bulls (USA), 54′

CONCACAF Male Best XI
GK: Keylor Navas | Costa Rica; Real Madrid C. F. (ESP)

DF: Miguel Layún | Mexico; FC Porto (POR), Rafael Márquez | Mexico; Club Atlas (MEX), Ronald Matarrita | Costa Rica; New York City FC (USA), Wes Morgan | Jamaica; Leicester City FC (ENG).

MF: Christian Bolaños | Costa Rica; Vancouver Whitecaps FC (CAN), Andrés Guardado | Mexico; PSV Eindhoven (NED), Atiba Hutchinson | Canada; Besiktas JK (TUR), Hirving Lozano | Mexico; CF Pachuca (MEX).

FW: André-Pierre Gignac | France; Tigres UANL (MEX), Bryan Ruiz | Costa Rica; Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)

CONCACAF Female Best XI
GK: Ashlyn Harris | USA; Orlando Pride (USA)

DF: Kadeisha Buchanan | Canada; West Virginia University (USA), Ali Kreiger | USA; Washington Spirit (USA), Ashley Lawrence | Canada; West Virginia University (USA), Becky Sauerbrunn | USA; FC Kansas City (USA).

MF: Shirley Cruz | Costa Rica; Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Tobin Heath | USA; Portland Thorns FC (USA), Carli Lloyd | USA; Houston Dash (USA), Gloriana Villalobos | Costa Rica; Deportivo Saprissa (CRC).

FW: Alex Morgan | USA; Orlando Pride (USA), Christine Sinclair | Canada; Portland Thorns (USA)

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