As 2015 draws to a close and athlete of the year awards—like the Heisman Trophy and Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year—are being presented amid some level of debates, there is no debate over the decision to name Carli Lloyd this year’s U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year. The honor was announced Wednesday by U.S. Soccer in advance of the team’s final match of a fantastic year.
Congratulations to @CarliLloyd on her second U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year award: https://t.co/ay3gbKRn6w pic.twitter.com/jsU77o1jTz
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) December 17, 2015
Lloyd becomes the eighth two-time U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year, joining Abby Wambach, Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Kristine Lilly, Carin Jennings-Gabarra, April Heinrichs and Tiffany Milbrett. Lloyd last won the award in 2008, making this seven-year stretch between awards the third-longest between multiple awards by a single player. Lloyd was a pretty obvious choice for the award after scoring the Golden Ball at the 2015 Women’s World Cup, which included a World Cup Final hat-trick and four goals in 16 minutes. Lloyd scored 18 goals this year and added five assists after starting 23 of 25 matches for Team USA.
Sorry I missed you today @drewbrees. Thanks so much for the signed ball. Big fan! Best of luck! pic.twitter.com/jlQkiUcHg8
— Carli Lloyd (@CarliLloyd) December 15, 2015
Who dat? Dat the best soccer player in America, and maybe when FIFA announces their Women’s World Player of the Year on January 11th, dat might be the best player on the planet.
