NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was named the 2024 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, the sport’s national governing body said on Saturday, becoming only the second goalie in 40 years to claim the honour.
Naeher helped the United States to win their fifth Olympic gold in a sensational Paris campaign, playing every minute of the tournament and letting in only two goals.
With their 1-0 win over Brazil in the championship match, Naeher became the first goalkeeper in women’s soccer to keep clean sheets in a World Cup Final and an Olympic Final.
“This is an incredible honour, to cap off what has been a very special year with this team,” said Naeher, who was also named Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year .
“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.”
The timing of the honour was bittersweet for the 36-year-old Naeher, who in November announced her retirement from international soccer. She still plans to play her 2025 club season for NWSL side Chicago Stars.
The steely-nerved Naeher is the second goalkeeper to win Female Player of the Year in the four decades that it has been awarded, after Hope Solo won in 2009.
The honour was determined through a vote of fans, coaches, players, the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors and select members of the media.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
