December 12, 2019
Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports Images
Christian Pulisic, the 21-year-old soccer wunderkind from Pennsylvania, earned his second nod this week as U.S. Soccer's Male Athlete of the Year.
Christian Pulisic, the 21-year-old soccer wunderkind from Pennsylvania, earned his second nod this week as U.S. Soccer's Male Athlete of the Year.
Pulisic, who hails from Hershey, first won the award in 2017, becoming the youngest player to ever win the award at the time. Pulisic is now the youngest player ever to win the award multiple times, beating U.S. Soccer legend Landon Donovan by one year and 208 days, according to ESPN.
The 2019 vote was a close one: Pulisic, who plays for the Premier League's Chelsea FC, nabbed 38% of the vote to 35% from Seattle Sounders midfielder Jordan Morris.
The award is voted on by national team coaches; national team players with at least one appearance in 2019; members of the U.S. soccer board of directors; the U.S. Soccer Athletes' Council; head coaches from the MLS and USL; and select media members, former players, and administrators, per ESPN.
Only Donovan (four), Clint Dempsey (three), and Kasey Keller (three) have won the award more times than Pulisic, who joined Jozy Altidore, Marcelo Balboa, and Tim Howard as multi-award winners.
NEWS: For the second time, Christian Pulisic has been voted as your @ussoccer Male Player of the Year.
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) December 12, 2019
👏👏 Congrats, @cpulisic_10! 🏆🏆
Pulisic has scored six goals and added five assists in 20 appearances with Chelsea since joining the elite English club over the summer. He scored five goals and added three assists in 11 appearances with the U.S. Men's National Team in 2019.
Before latching on to some of the biggest squads in the world, Pulisic spent time playing for Manheim-based Pennsylvania Classics, and Harrisburg-based Harrisburg City Islanders, now called Penn FC.
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