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IN HER FINAL YEAR ON THE U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM, GOALKEEPER ALYSSA NAEHER VOTED THE 2024 U.S. SOCCER FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Naeher Retired from the USWNT at the End of 2024 After Helping Lead USA to Gold in France; She is First Goalkeeper to Earn a Shutout in a Women’s World Cup Final and an Olympic Gold Medal Game CHICAGO (Jan. 18, 2025) - Following a year in which she once again left an indelible mark on U.S Women’s National Team history, goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher has been voted the 2024 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year. Naeher is just the second goalkeeper to win the award in the 40 years it has been given out. Hope Solo won in 2009, defensive midfielder Julie Ertz won in 2017 and 2019 and center back Naomi Girma won last year, but all the other winners have been attacking-minded midfielders or forwards. Naeher, who was also voted The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year for 2024 and was selected to The Best FIFA Best Women’s 11, becomes the 21st different player to win this award. “This is an incredible honor, to cap off what has been a very special year with this team,” said Naeher, who announced her international retirement on Nov. 25 and played her final two games for the USWNT on Nov. 30 vs. England in London and Dec. 3 vs. the Netherlands in The Hague. “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 played every minute of the 2024 Olympics, allowed just two goals and made crucial saves in all of the knockout round games on the way to the gold medal. The USA won all three knockout games at the Olympics by 1-0 scores – two of which went into overtime – and with her shutout of Brazil in the gold medal game, she became the first goalkeeper in women’s soccer history to keep clean sheets in a World Cup Final and an Olympic Final. Her outrageous kick-save in the waning minutes of overtime in the Olympic semifinal win over Germany will go down as one of the most memorable moments in U.S. history. During the year, she became just the third U.S. goalkeeper to hit 100 caps and played a huge role in the USA winning two penalty kick shootouts against Canada. In the Concacaf W Gold Cup semifinal on March 6, Naeher became the first U.S. ‘keeper to make three saves in a penalty kick shootout and converted the USA’s third kick herself. Her save on Canada captain Jessie Fleming won the game. On April 9 in the SheBelieves Cup championship game against Canada, she remarkably saved three more penalty kicks in a shootout that went seven rounds and once again made her kick, converting the USA’s third attempt. Appropriately, she had a fantastic match in her final game in a U.S. uniform, helping the USA to a 2-1 win over the Netherlands. She made six saves to help the Americans hold off a talented Dutch side. She ended 2024 with 18 starts, 1,170 minutes played, a 13W-1L-3D record and a 0.50 GAA while allowing just 11 goals. Naeher will continue her professional club career with the Chicago Stars during this upcoming NWSL season. For the third time, fans were able to vote for the U.S. Soccer Player of the Year Award with those votes weighted at 15% of the total. Of the five finalists for the Female Player of the Year Award, Naeher garnered 40.8% percent of the weighted vote, followed by defender Naomi Girma (32.2%). Votes for U.S. Soccer Female Player are collected from respective National Team coaches, National Team players who earned a cap in 2024, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer Athletes’ Council, National Women’s Soccer League head coaches and select media members and administrators. The U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year has been awarded since 1985, when midfielder Sharon Remer earned the first Female Player of the Year honor. Abby Wambach won it six times, the most of any player. Mia Hamm won it five times. The all-time winners are below. |
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