Tag Archives: Nicolas Lodeiro

Luciano Acosta Named 2023 Major League Soccer MVP

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Luciano Acosta is Major League Soccer’s all-star player of the year…

The 29-year-old Argentine professional footballer and FC Cincinnati midfielder has been named the 2023 MLS MVP, the league has revealed.

Luciano AcostaAcosta received 60.37% of the vote among players, media and technical staff to easily beat LAFC forward Denis Bouanga, who received 14.97%. 

Atlanta United FC‘s Thiago Almada finished third in the voting with 6.46%.

“I’m very proud of this team,” Acosta said in a video produced by the team that was shot when he was told he had won the award. “I think everybody deserves something this year. We deserve more. We have to give it our all. Let’s go.”

He later joked, “I don’t want to go to practice. I won the MVP.”

Acosta, a Buenos Aires, Argentina, native led the league with 31 goal contributions during the regular season, with 17 goals and 14 assists, and helped Cincinnati to their first Supporters Shield.

Cincinnati remains in contention to claim the MLS Cup, as it faces in-state rivals the Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference final this Saturday.

Acosta is just the sixth player in league history to record three or more seasons with at least 10 goals and 10 assists.

Acosta is the ninth South American-born player to earn the honor and first since Josef Martínez won the award with Atlanta United in 2018.

Other Argentines to win the award are Diego Valeri (Portland Timbers, 2015), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew, 2008), and Christian Gómez (D.C. United, 2006).

Acosta has been a prolific attacking player ever since he entered the league in 2016 with D.C. United, scoring 58 goals and adding 78 assists, the most goal contributions by any player in that span.

Only Hany Mukhtar of Nashville SC, last year’s MVP, has made more contributions since Acosta made his Cincinnati debut in 2021.

His 43 regular-season assists since 2021 are the second-most of any MLS player during that time, and only Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Nicolás Lodeiro (80) has more regular-season assists than the Cincinnati playmaker since 2016.

Acosta began his professional career with famed Argentine side Boca Juniors, making his professional debut in 2014.

He spent the 2016 campaign on loan with D.C. United before making the move permanent a year later, and went on to score 25 goals in 137 league and cup appearances.

He spent 15 months with Liga MX side Atlas before joining FC Cincinnati.

Alejandro Pozuelo Named Major League Soccer’s 2020 Most Valuable Player

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Alejandro Pozuelo is the most-est…

The 29-year-old Spanish professional footballer, an attacking midfielder for Toronto FC, has been named Major League Soccer‘s 2020 Most Valuable Player.

Alejandro Pozuelo

Pozuelo had nine goals and 10 assists during the coronavirus-shortened regular season, even while the Reds played part of the year in Connecticut because of travel restrictions in Canada.

“I’m very proud because this means a lot and maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, when I start seeing more news, I will believe that I’ve won this award,” he said. “But I’m very proud to represent Toronto. And I know it’s easy to say that I won the award, but it’s something that takes a lot of work to get here.”

His 10 assists were tied for the league lead with Houston‘s Darwin Quintero and Seattle‘s Nicolas Lodeiro. Pozuelo had four goals and two assists during September, earning MLS Player of the Month honors.

Pozuelo is the second Toronto FC player to win the MVP award, following Sebastian Giovinco in 2015. Hailing from Sevilla, he has been with the Reds for the past two seasons. He had 12 goals and 12 assists last year. He had two goals and an assist in his MLS debut.

Pozuelo finished with 35.35% of the overall vote for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award. Golden Boot winner Diego Rossi of LAFC was runner-up and Lodeiro finished third in the poll of players, technical staffs and select members of the media.

In a conference call with reporters, Pozuelo said he feels he’ll only get better.

“I believe in myself, I know I can play good, and I try to do that,” he said. “But I feel like I played three, four, five years at a very good level and next year I’ll try to do the same.”

Toronto finished the regular season 13-5-5 and second in the Eastern Conference standings. The Reds were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round by upstart Nashville. Toronto coach Greg Vanney announced last week that he’s stepping down and the Reds have started the search for a new coach.

“Vanney is a very good coach and a very good person and he helped me a lot to win this MVP. I want to say thank you to the coach,” he said. “He leaves now, and next year we’ll adapt to another coach. But I want to say thank you because with him I won this trophy.”

Nicolas Lodeiro Leads Seattle Sounders to MLS Cup Final

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Nicolas Lodeiro is celebrating a clutch performance…

The 30-year-old Uruguayan footballer scored a goal and assisted on two more by Raul Ruidiaz to help the Seattle Sounders advance to the MLS Cup final for the third time in four years with a 3-1 victory over Los Angeles FC on Tuesday night.

Nicolas Lodeiro

Ruidiaz and Lodeiro scored four minutes apart in the first half to claim the lead for the Sounders, who upset the Supporters’ Shield-winning top seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a superb big-game performance. Seattle also beat two-year-old LAFCfor the first time in five meetings.

Eduard Atuesta scored in the opening minutes on a free kick for LAFC, which reached the MLS records for points, goals and goal differential during arguably the best regular season in league history. LAFC then beat the crosstown LA Galaxy5-3 last Thursday for its first playoff victory.

But the Sounders have years of playoff experience that LAFC can’t match, and their leaders led them back to the one-game league final. Seattle won the league title in 2016 and lost to Toronto FCin 2017.

Seattle will either host Toronto or visit defending champion Atlanta United for the MLS Cup final next Sunday. The Eastern Conference finalists meet Wednesday night.

Lodeiro followed up his outstanding performance against Real Salt Lakein the conference semifinal with another dominant offensive game. He set up Ruidiaz’s goal and then scored his own in a blistering sequence late in the first half.

Ruidiaz made it 3-1 in the 64th minute when Lodeiro stole an attempted clearance and fed him for a beautiful shot past Tyler Miller, the former Sounders backup goalkeeper. Ruidiaz, the 5ft 7in Peruvian forward, has six goals in just five career MLS postseason games.

Seattle slowed down the most potent offensive team in MLS history with physical defense, sometimes on the edge of legality. The Sounders committed 12 fouls and appeared to get away with two handballs in their box by defender Xavier Arreaga, but they largely kept the ball away from probable MLS MVP Carlos Vela, who followed up his record 34-goal regular season with two goals against the Galaxy last week.

LAFC went ahead in the 17th minute when Atuesta curled a beautiful free kick into the corner from outside the box. The Colombian midfielder’s goal was only his second since July, but his importance to the LAFC’s two-way play was recognized this week when he was named to the Best XI.

But the North End supporters’ section hadn’t even settled back in when the Sounders answered five minutes later. Lodeiro broke down LAFC’s defense and set up a move and a goal by Ruidiaz, who led the Sounders with 11 goals this season.

LAFC then gave too much space in front of goal to Lodeiro, and the Sounders captain slipped a low shot into Miller’s left corner.