Donovan wins Honda Award
And it wasn’t close.
Donovan won the award, which is annually given to the top U.S. men’s national team player, for a record-seeting sixth time. In a vote that included 221 soccer journalists (there are that many in the U.S.?) he tallied 424 points, with goalkeeper Tim Howard coming in second with 267 points. Jozy Altidore was third with 175.
As for how I voted, Howard was my top choice, with Donovan second, and Oguchi Onyewu third. I agree that Donovan was good, but I thought that if not for Howard’s saves during the Confederations Cup, the U.S. wouldn’t have done as well as they did. (Keep in mind that the votes had to be cast by mid-September, so the last two WC qualifiers didn’t factor in the voting.)
That said, I can’t complain too much about Donovan winning. He has definitely stepped up his game, although it will be interesting to see going forward how much Charlie Davies’ injuries impact his effectiveness.
Quakes fans, you may commence strangling your Landon bobblehead dolls, assuming they are still in one piece.
Well, at least he got it for his work with the Nats, not with the Gals. But you have to admit he’s been playing well, and probably deserves it. Not sure he deserved all of the other five though….
And anyone who says that they would not want him back in a Quakes uniform is an absolute idiot!