Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who retired from the U.S. national team late last year after winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, was named the 2024 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year.
Known for her unflappable demeanor, the 36-year-old Naeher is just the second goalkeeper to win the annual award after Hope Solo in 2009.
Naeher was previously honored as the FIFA Best Women's Goalkeeper of the Year.
In November, she announced that she was retiring from the national team after 11 years with the team. She played her final matches against England and the Netherlands in Europe.
Naeher was the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. team that won the Women’s World Cup in 2019 and the 2024 Olympics. She’s the only U.S. goalkeeper to earn a shutout in both a World Cup and an Olympic final.
She made a key one-handed save in stoppage time to preserve the Americans’ 1-0 victory over Brazil in the Olympic final in Paris. She had four shutouts over the course of the tournament.
She allowed just 11 goals in 2024, finishing with a 13-1-3 record. For her career, she played in 115 games with 69 clean sheets.
“This is an incredible honor, to cap off what has been a very special year with this team,” Naeher said in a statement Saturday. "This team is made up of a special group of players, coaches and staff and all year you could feel that energy and that we had the opportunity to achieve something great. I was inspired all year long by my incredible teammates; the work we put in, the commitment to the team and our goals, and all of their love and support.”
Naeher made her senior debut with the national team in 2014 and was a backup to Solo at the 2015 World Cup, which the United States won. She became the team’s regular starter following the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
While she's retired from the national team, Naeher will play one more season with her club team, the Chicago Stars, in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Naeher received 40.8% of the final vote total for the award. National team coaches and players, NWSL coaches, U.S. Soccer board and athlete council members, select media members and fans vote for the annual honor.
Defender Naomi Girma, last year's winner, was the runner-up with 32.2% of the votes.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
http://accesswdun.com/article/2025/1/1281764