Major League Soccer will announce the winner of the Landon Donovan Most Valuable Player Award on Tuesday, Dec. 2. This year’s candidates include Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco, Columbus Crew SC’s Kei Kamara, and Sporting Kansas City’s Benny Feilhaber.
TFC purchased Giovinco from Italian powerhouse Juventus in January, and the small forward submitted arguably the greatest individual season in MLS history. He shattered club and league records across the board, most notably setting the all-time mark for most combined goals and assists (22 goals, 16 assists), also securing both the Audi Golden Boot and Newcomer of the Year. Giovinco’s performance propelled him back onto the Italian national team for the first time in a year. Giovinco was a one-man highlight reel and the man aptly nicknamed the Atomic Ant has garnered superhero status in Toronto.
TFC purchased Giovinco from Italian powerhouse Juventus in January, and the small forward submitted arguably the greatest individual season in MLS history. He shattered club and league records across the board, most notably setting the all-time mark for most combined goals and assists (22 goals, 16 assists), also securing both the Audi Golden Boot and Newcomer of the Year. Giovinco’s performance propelled him back onto the Italian national team for the first time in a year. Giovinco was a one-man highlight reel and the man aptly nicknamed the Atomic Ant has garnered superhero status in Toronto.
Although Kei Kamara didn’t win the Audi Golden Boot (losing on the assists tiebreaker to Giovinco), he turned in one of the greatest pure goal-scoring campaigns in MLS history. Kamara scored all 22 of his tallies from the run of play. Only Stern John (Columbus Crew, 1998, 26 goals) , Mamadou Diallo (Tampa Bay Mutiny, 2000, 26 goals) and Roy Lassiter (1996, 27 goals) have scored more non-penalty goals. In his first season back from stints with Norwich City and Middlesbrough, Kamara powered Crew SC to a fourth-place finish on the league table. In his eight prior MLS seasons, Kamara had never scored more than 11 goals.
At 30 years old, Benny Feilhaber had a career renaissance in 2015. The midfielder more than doubled his previous career-highs in goals (10 / 4) and assists (15 / 6), while also setting new marks in games played (32), minutes (2,731), and shots (48). His 15 assists were only one shy of Giovinco’s league-leading 16 helpers. Feilhaber’s performance propelled Sporting Kansas City to a fourth-place finish in its first season in the Western Conference.
At 30 years old, Benny Feilhaber had a career renaissance in 2015. The midfielder more than doubled his previous career-highs in goals (10 / 4) and assists (15 / 6), while also setting new marks in games played (32), minutes (2,731), and shots (48). His 15 assists were only one shy of Giovinco’s league-leading 16 helpers. Feilhaber’s performance propelled Sporting Kansas City to a fourth-place finish in its first season in the Western Conference.
By: Editor
RSS Feed