The USMNT and Chelsea star becomes the fourth player to win the award at least three times, shining brightest in the biggest games for club and country.
Historic high points and clutch performances overshadowed his injury issues and were enough to propel Christian Pulisic to a third U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year award. The 23-year-old Chelsea forward became the first American man to play in and win the UEFA Champions League final and, while on U.S. duty, scored the winning goal in two competitive victories over Mexico.
Pulisic previously won American soccer’s most prestigious annual honor in 2017 and ’19. He’s now only the fourth man to claim it at least three times, joining Landon Donovan (four), Clint Dempsey (three) and Kasey Keller (three).
FC Dallas striker Ricardo Pepi, 18, won U.S. Soccer’s Young Male Player of the Year award, which was also announced Saturday evening.
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Both winners beat out deserving finalists. Pulisic garnered 31% of the total vote conducted by national team coaches and players, members of the U.S. Soccer board and Athletes Council, MLS and USL head coaches, media members (including Sports Illustrated), select former players and administrators and, for the first time, fans. New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner was the runner-up with 21% and Red Bull Salzburg’s Brenden Aaronson came third with 15%.
Pepi earned 60% of the Young Male Player vote, well ahead of Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah (23%) and Venezia midfielder Gianluca Busio (11%).
Pulisic’s year was marked by indelible memories forged under the brightest of lights. He overcome some fitness issues at the end of 2020 and started regularly for Chelsea during the last couple months of the Premier League campaign as the Blues finished 5-2-1 and claimed the fourth and final 2021-22 Champions League spot by a single point.
But it was in Europe where Pulisic made a lasting impact. After ousting Atlético Madrid and Porto, Chelsea faced 13-time winner Real Madrid in the Champions League semis. In the first leg in Spain, Pulisic gave Chelsea an early advantage after comfortably dancing past Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and shooting through two defenders.
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Chelsea was ahead, 2–1, on aggregate toward the end of the second leg in London when Pulisic helped seal his side’s passage to the final with a composed cross to Mason Mount. Pulisic then played 24 minutes of Chelsea’s 1–0 win over Manchester City in Porto and nearly scored after running onto a through ball from Kai Havertz.
Pulisic’s national team contributions also were timely and significant. He appeared in eight of the U.S.’s 22 matches in 2021, sitting out the Concacaf Gold Cup along with most of the rest of the program’s European contingent and then missing four of eight World Cup qualifiers with coronavirus and an ankle injury. But when he was there, he mattered.
In June’s Concacaf Nations League final in Denver, Pulisic captained the team and helped end a nearly eight-year competitive winless run against Mexico by drawing and then converting the trophy-winning penalty kick in extra time. His shirtless ‘hush’ celebration immediately became one of the year’s iconic images.
Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire/Imago Images
He then produced another in the second half of November’s qualifier against El Tri. Pulisic entered the scoreless match in Cincinnati in the 69th minute and five minutes later he scored with his first touch of the ball, nodding home a cross from Timothy Weah. Pulisic’s ‘MAN IN THE MIRROR’ undershirt, revealed as a retort to comments made by Mexico goalie Guillermo Ochoa, represented a milestone in the rivalry. Last month’s 2–0 win was the third straight competitive triumph by this young American generation over Mexico in quick succession. El Tri is now chasing the U.S., and Pulisic played a massive role in lifting it into the lead.
Here are the past U.S. Soccer male players of the year:
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 Pérez
1992 - Marcelo Balboa
1993 - Thomas Dooley
1994 - Marcelo Balboa (2nd)
1995 - Alexi Lalas
1996 - Eric Wynalda
1997 - Kasey Keller
1998 - Cobi Jones
1999 - Kasey Keller (2nd)
2000 - Chris Armas
2001 - Earnie Stewart
2002 - Brad Friedel
2003 - Landon Donovan
2004 - Landon Donovan (2nd)
2005 - Kasey Keller (3rd)
2006 - Oguchi Onyewu
2007 - Clint Dempsey
2008 - Tim Howard
2009 - Landon Donovan (3rd)
2010 - Landon Donovan (4th)
2011 - Clint Dempsey (2nd)
2012 - Clint Dempsey (3rd)
2013 - Jozy Altidore
2014 - Tim Howard (2nd)
2015 - Michael Bradley
2016 - Jozy Altidore (2nd)
2017 - Christian Pulisic
2018 - Zack Steffen
2019 - Christian Pulisic (2nd)
2020 - Weston McKennie
2021 - Christian Pulisic (3rd)
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