SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Christian Pulisic was the runaway winner Thursday of soccer’s U.S. Player of the Year, the youngest choice in the award’s 27-year-history.
The 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund midfielder received 81 first-place votes and 254 points in balloting conducted among 104 media by the radio network Futbol de Primera. Jozy Altidore was second with 95 points and captain Michael Bradley third with 75.
Pulisic won the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Male Player of the Year award last month.
A midfielder from Hershey, Pennsylvania, Pulisic had six goals and four assists in nine games for the national team last year and was involved in 13 of the 17 American goals in games he played. The U.S. failed to qualify for the World Cup, ending a streak of seven straight appearances.
Altidore won the 2016 award, when Pulisic was second in the voting and Bradley third. Previously, the youngest winner was Landon Donovan, who was 20 in 2002 when he the first of his record seven awards.
A player receives three points for each first-place vote in the balloting, two points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.
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