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Andre Blake earns ESPY nomination
June 23, 2021
National goalkeeper and captain Andre Blake has been nominated for an ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) award for best Major League Soccer player.
Blake, 30, who plays for the Philadelphia Union will be competing for the honour against three other competitors - Los Angeles Football Club's Diego Rossi, Toronto FC's Alejandro Pozuelo and Columbus Crew's Lucas Zelarayan.
The four candidates have taken at least one of the MLS's top individual honours for the 2020 season. Blake won last season's Goalkeeper of the Year award after a season in which he finished with the league's best save percentage (0.778) and goals allowed average for goalkeepers with at least 20 appearances. Rossi won the Golden Boot with 14 league goals in a campaign that was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pozuelo was named the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP), while Zelarayan was named Newcomer of the Year. Additionally, Zelarayan was named MLS Cup MVP for his two-goal performance which helped the Crew win their second MLS Cup title.
Regular-season title
Blake helped the Philadelphia Union capture the regular-season title (Supporter's Shield) last year, the first piece of silverware in franchise history
It is Blake's second ESPY nomination as he was among the finalists for the award in 2017 along with Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei, FC Dallas defender Matt Hedges, New York Red Bulls striker Bradley Wright Phillips and New York City FC's David Villa who won the award that year.
The winner of the award will be determined by the fans who are being encouraged to vote at ESPYS.com for the full list of individual awards for all sports by July 9. The winners will be announced on the live broadcast of the event on July 10 on ABC.
Meanwhile, Blake played the full 90 minutes for the Union in their 2-2 draw against Atlanta United on Sunday. A Kacper Przybylko own goal and an Anton Walkes header gave Atlanta the lead but national striker Cory Burke reduced the deficit to one in the 84th minute and Jakob Glesnes equalised in the third minute of stoppage time to steal a point on the road.
