MLS announces end of season awards

Nov 22, 2008 - 10:50 PM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Major League Soccer on Saturday announced its annual year-end awards on the eve of the MLS Cup, unveiling the "Best XI" and the Comeback Player of the Year.

The Best XI recognizes the best player in the MLS at each position, with one goalkeeper, three defenders, five midfielders and a pair of forwards taking home hardware.

FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper walked away with a pair of awards, taking the Comeback Player of the Year honor and making the Best XI. Cooper, who spent the past four seasons in England on the Manchester United Reserves, was twice named MLS Player of the Week and finished the season with 18 goals.

Joining Cooper on the Best XI front line is Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, who won the Golden Boot Award en route to becoming the sixth player in MLS history to score 20 or more goals in a season. He had six multi-goal games and finished with 20 tallies.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco of the Chicago Fire, Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Robbie Rogers of the Columbus Crew, Shalrie Joseph of the New England Revolution and Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA comprised the quintet of midfielders.

Schelotto led the league with 19 assists, tied for second-most in a single season in MLS history, while adding seven goals. He allowed Rogers to move freely in the Columbus midfield, resulting in six goals for the 21-year-old.

Blanco was fourth in the league with 11 assists, Kljestan posted a career-high five goals and added seven assists in 21 games while Joseph was named to his third Best XI.

Jimmy Conrad of the Kansas City Wizards, Bakary Soumare of the Fire and Chad Marshall of the Crew were the three defenders chosen.

Conrad was one of only six players to play all 2,700 minutes during the regular season, finishing with a career-high six goals.

Soumare was part of a Chicago defense that allowed only 33 goals in 30 games and Marshall helped lead the Crew to the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Jon Busch of the Fire was named as the Best XI goalkeeper after tying for the league-lead among in shutouts (10). He tied for second with 13 wins and was second in goals against average (1.10).