The accolades continue for Zack Steffen in what has been a momentous offseason for the Columbus Crew SC goalkeeper, who was named U.S. Soccer’s 2018 Male Player of the Year, it was announced Tuesday.
LA Galaxy academy product Alex Mendez was named 2018 Young Male Player of the Year. The awards were unveiled on ESPN.com.
The 23-year-old Steffen is just the second player in the award’s 35-year history to earn the honor in his debut year with the US men’s national team, following Sporting Kansas City technical director and coach Peter Vermes in 1988. He is the fourth goalkeeper to capture the award — and youngest — after Kasey Keller (1997, 1999, 2005), Tim Howard of the Colorado Rapids (2008, 2014) and New England Revolution coach Brad Friedel (2002).
“It’s an honor to be put with those names that have won before me and to have the respect and confidence from teammates, coaches and staff,” Steffen said in a statement. “I’m thankful for my support system. Without them I couldn’t have done any of this. It gives me motivation and confidence to keep going and do bigger and better things.”
Steffen garnered 44 percent of the vote collected from USMNT coaches, players who have earned at least one cap in 2018, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer Athletes' Council, American soccer league (MLS and USL) head coaches and select media members and former players and administrators.
Former New York Red Bulls midfielder Tyler Adams was second with 38 percent of the vote, while midfielder Weston McKennie rounded out the top three with 16 percent.
Of the 20 players to earn their first caps in 2018, Steffen led all goalkeepers with six appearances, tying him with Keller (1990) and Troy Perkins (2009) for most starts in his debut season with the USMNT.
Steffen, who was also named 2018 MLS Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year, earned clean sheets in 1-0 wins over Paraguay and Mexico and made eight saves in a 1-1 draw in France’s World Cup send-off match in Lyon.
Steffen had 10 clean sheets in 29 matches during the regular season for Crew SC and last week it was announced he would be heading to Manchester City in July after playing the first part of the 2019 season in Columbus. The undisclosed transfer fee is the most ever received by an MLS club for a goalkeeper in the league’s 23-year history.
Mendez, who captained LA Galaxy to the U-18/19 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Championship Final and was named to the Western Conference Best XI, earned 43 percent of the vote, followed by Philadelphia Union defender Mark McKenzie and New York City FC academy midfielder Giovanni Reyna, who each had 18 percent.
Mendez led the U.S. to the Concacaf U-20 Championship title last month, taking home the Golden Ball as the tournament's top player at just 18 years old, as well as finishing second in the tournament's Golden Boot race with eight goals to go along with six assists.
He scored five goals in the Galaxy’s six-game playoff run, including a free kick from outside the penalty area in a deadlocked semifinal against Vancouver Whitecaps FC to send the Galaxy to the final. Mendez also made his professional debut in 2018, appearing in six games for LA Galaxy II of the USL Championship, during which he netted his first professional goal on another free kick on July 1.
In October, the midfielder signed with German club SC Freiburg, where he will be eligible to begin play in January.
"It's a very proud moment," Mendez said in a statement. "First, I want to thank U.S. Soccer for the nomination. I also want to thank my family, my teammates and the U-20 squad that won the Concacaf Championship. Obviously, this is an individual award, but none of this would be possible without them pushing me to be a better player.”
