Atlanta United figure Thiago Almada was named MLS‘ 2023 Young player of the year award after his nearly impeccable and influential campaign for the Five Stripes.
The crafty 22-year-old midfielder racked up an impressive 11 goals while dishing out a league-best 19 assists, which brought his total goal involvement tally to 30 on the season, just one behind MVP frontrunner Lucho Acosta.
Almada’s 19 assists broke Atlanta’s single-season record, as Miguel Almiron and Julian Gressel previously held the record with 14 each.
The 2022 World Cup winner came out on top in voting against Orlando City’s Duncan McGuire and Columbus Crew’s Aidan Morris, a sign that he’s quickly become one of the league’s top players in such a short amount of time.
Almada was also named a finalist for the MVP award alongside Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga, but Acosta looks certain to take home the trophy given his outstanding play that saw FC Cincinnati capture the Supporters’ Shield as well as leading them to the second round of the playoffs.
Atlanta’s creative midfielder was also nominated for goal of the year after his stunning free kick against Portland Timbers, where the Five Stripes dominated en route to a 5-1 win.
OMG Thiago Almada! 😱
Absolute world-class strike. pic.twitter.com/cxnCYD0Rky
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 19, 2023
The former Velez Sarsfield player kicked-off the season in style vs San Jose Earthquakes. As Atlanta were down 1-0 at home in stoppage time, Almada netted twice in the dying moments via a long-range strike from a corner and a direct free kick to steal all three points on Opening Day in late February.
Atlanta sorely missed Almada in their 2-0 defeat to Columbus Crew in game one, struggling to generate any offense until late on in the contest. Now, back at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on November 7, Almada and the Five Stripes must win in front of their supporters to stay alive in the playoffs and force game three at Lower.com Field.
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