The two Colombians have our vote
Timbers midfielders Diego Chara and Santiago Moreno were nominated for the league's top award for most valuable player, MLS announced today. The two Colombian players have been a major part of the Timbers' recent 5-game unbeaten streak, helping the team surge above the playoff line at just the right time.
Chara and Moreno came to Portland at very different times: Chara arrived just ahead of the 2011 inaugural MLS season, and is the only player on the roster to have been with the team for each of its MLS campaigns. His successes in Portland can be discussed in many ways—his soccer intelligence, his unstoppable motor, the 2015 MLS Cup win to name a few. We were most recently reminded of his legendary status when MLS announced he had one of the top 25 best-selling jerseys in the league... for the fifth year straight.
Moreno, meanwhile, arrived last July as the club's first U22 Initiative signing and quickly established himself as one of the league's most electric and dynamic young players. We'll just leave this clip of his most recent goal earlier this month, an equalizer at the death that rescued a crucial point in Colombus, Ohio and earned him a well-deserved spot on MLS's Team of the Week.
The winner will be chosen by players, coaches, and others involved in the league, with voting to begin this Friday, September 30.
The eligible voters are:
- Current MLS players
- MLS coaches, technical directors/general managers
- Select media members representing local and national outlets who consistently covered the 2022 MLS regular season
That's not all. Aljaz Ivacic, Claudio Bravo, Dario Zuparic, David Ayala, Eryk Williamson and head coach Giovanni Savarese were also nominated for 2022 MLS End of Year Awards. More to come.
Full list of Landon Donovan MLS MVP Nominees
- Acosta, Luciano (CIN)
- Almada, Thiago (ATL)
- Arango, Cristian "Chicho" (LAFC)
- Blake, Andre (PHI)
- Bradley, Michael (TOR)
- Callens, Alexander (NYC)
- Campana, Leonardo (MIA)
- Carrasquilla, Adalberto (HOU)
- Casseres, Jr., Cristian (RBNY)
- Chara, Diego (POR)
- Cifuentes, Jose (LAFC)
- Driussi, Sebastián (ATX)
- Ebobisse, Jeremy (SJ)
- Espinoza, Cristian (SJ)
- Ferreira, Jesús (DAL)
- Fountas, Taxiarchis "Taxi" (DC)
- Gauld, Ryan (VAN)
- Gazdag, Daniel (PHI)
- Gil, Carles (NE)
- Glad, Justen (RSL)
- Hernández, Javier “Chicharito” (LA)
- Higuaín, Gonzalo (MIA)
- Kahlina, Kristijan (CLT)
- Lodeiro, Nico (SEA)
- Mihailovic, Djordje (MTL)
- Moreno, Santiago (POR)
- Morgan, Lewis (RBNY)
- Mukhtar, Hany (NSH)
- Nagbe, Darlington (CLB)
- Osorio, Jonathan (TOR)
- Pereyra, Mauricio (ORL)
- Petrović, Djordje (NE)
- Quioto, Romell (MTL)
- Reynoso, Emanuel (MIN)
- Rodriguez, Santiago (NYC)
- Rubio, Diego (COL)
- Ruidiaz, Raul (SEA)
- Russell, Johnny (SKC)
- Salloi, Daniel (SKC)
- Shaqiri, Xherdan (CHI)
- Swiderski, Karol (CLT)
- Torres, Facundo (ORL)
- Vazquez, Brandon (CIN)
- Zelarayan, Lucas (CLB)
