Crystal Dunn, Alphonso Davies named 2021 CONCACAF Players of the Year

CONCACAF announced on Monday, April 4 that Crystal Dunn and Alphonso Davies have been named 2021 CONCACAF Women’s and Men’s Players of the Year, respectively.

CONCACAF said Dunn and Davies were selected based on a football (soccer) first voting system, which included the participation of coaches and players from CONCACAF 41 member-associations, as well as media members from the region and fans.

“Crystal Dunn was a key member of the USA Women’s National Team that won the Bronze Medal at the 2020 Olympics (played in 2021) in Tokyo, starting all six matches and playing 554 minutes and earning a place in the tournament’s Best XI,” CONCACAF said.

It said the 29-year-old started two games for the US at the 2021 SheBelieves Cup, including the 1-0 win over Canada and the 2-0 victory over Brazil, “helping the US to their fourth SheBelieves title.”

As a member of the Portland Thorns, CONCACAF said Dunn helped her side win the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup.

Dunn featured in 15 NWSL matches with the Thorns in 2021, 12 as a starter, scoring one goal in 1,071 minutes played, CONCACAF said.

“Alphonso Davies enjoyed another top year with Bayern Munich,” it said. “He played a key role over the course of the 2020-21 season as Bayern won yet another Bundesliga title, Davies’ third with the German giants.

“With the Canada Men’s National Team, no player played more matches in the 2021 rounds of the CONCACAF Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup (WCQ) than Davies,” CONCACAF added.

It said the former Vancouver Whitecap scored five goals and recorded eight assists in 13 matches in WCQ in 2021, “as Canada owned a 9W-4D-0L record in matches in which Davies appeared.”