With injuries to Atiba Hutchinson and a lack of early season production from Simeon Jackson, the race for Canadian Soccer News’ 2011 Player of the Year came down to two people.
“People” being a key word here – as opposed to “men.”
Clearly, Christine Sinclair had to be in the discussion. Although the World Cup was a disaster, you can’t really hang that on Sinclair. She was a beast – literally, almost – and if she had not broken her nose against
Germany, he output might have been even more impressive.
As it was she scored the CSN Goal of the Year.
After the World Cup, Sinclair took a ragtag and depressed group to Mexico and only bet Brazil to win the Pan American gold medal. Yes, the Pan Ams are a second tier event, but it was badly needed for the program after what happened in Germany.
Sinclair’s club accomplishments were as impressive. She had 10 goals with Western New York and was the WPS championship game MVP. She had a goal scorers goal in that championship game as well.
So, is Sinclair our player?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
No.
Dwayne De Rosario is. It’s not a dig on Sinclair, but there was something exceptional about DeRo’s season. In capturing the league MVP for the first time, he became the first Canadian to lay claim to that honour.
A golden boot was added, also a first for the player and the country.
Although he has his critics at the national team level, he was perfect from the spot in 2011 and is now a goal away from becoming the all time Canadian goal scoring leader.
That’s impressive and important no matter how you look at it.
DeRo makes headlines, of that there is no doubt. But, he’s also gifted and, in some ways, that outspoken manner is good for the sport too. He’s become the face of the game in Eastern Canada (arguably the whole country, but we’ll leave it at that for now) and you cannot ignore the added media responsibility he takes on.
Forget the cheque signing, or the (delusional) allegations of him not giving a full effort for the Nats. DeRo is a worthy winner of the 2011 Player of the Year.
(With a serious hat tip to Sinclair, who would have likely claimed it in any other year).