Toronto FC Spanish midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo was named Major League Soccer's (MLS) Most Valuable Player for the 2020 season on Monday.
The 29-year-old from Seville tied for the MLS lead in assists with 10 this season, finished joint eighth in the Golden Boot race with nine goals and showed his durability as the only Toronto player to start every game this year.
"I am honoured to be named MLS MVP," Pozuelo said in a news release issued by the Canadian club.
"I want to thank my team mates and our coaching staff as this individual award shows we had a very good season. I am happy to be able to celebrate this award with my wife, my kids and all my friends here in Spain."
Pozuelo led MLS with five game-winning goals as Toronto finished with the second-best record in the regular season before being upset in the first round of the playoffs by expansion club Nashville.
Pozuelo earned 35.4% of the votes in polling of players, club technical staff and media for the MVP Award. He joins Italian Sebastian Giovinco (2015) as the only Toronto players to win the award.
Los Angeles FC forward Diego Rossi (17.8%) finished second followed by Seattle's Nicolas Lodeiro (10.6%) and Jordan Morris (8.49) and Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake (4.9%).
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; editing by Clare Fallon)
