For the first time in 18 years, a defender has been named U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year.
U.S. Soccer has announced that Antonee Robinson has won the 2024 prize, with the star left back becoming the first defender to win the award since Oguchi Onyewu in 2006.
It's the first time Robinson has won the award, having previously been nominated in 2022.
“It’s an incredible honor,” the Fulham left back said in a U.S. Soccer release. “Representing our country isn’t something you do for individual accolades. It’s always about putting the team first and trying to do my best for the boys and for the country, so to be rewarded for that is an amazing feeling.”
Robinson earned 55 percent of the weighted vote total, beating out fellow finalists Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Christian Pulisic and Tim Ream. The votes come from fans, national team coaches, USMNT players who earned a cap in 2024, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer Athletes’ Council, professional league head coaches and sporting directors, select media members and former players and administrators.
The 27-year-old continued to burnish his reputation for club and country in 2024. Robinson was named Fulham's 2023-24 Player of the Year, and is third in the Premier League in the current campaign with seven assists.
Amid a series of strong performances with the Cottagers, Robinson has been mentioned as a potential transfer target for some of the Premier League's biggest sides.
With the USMNT, Robinson started all 11 matches for which he was available, tallying an assist against Jamaica in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals.