Abby Wambach voted CONCACAF Female Player of Year; Keylor Navas wins men’s honour

MIAMI _ American forward Abby Wambach has been voted CONCACAF’s Female Player of the Year and Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas was honoured as Male Player of the Year.

The governing body of soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean said Tuesday that Wambach won after finishing second to U.S. teammate Alex Morgan last year’s inaugural awards. Costa Rican midfielder Shirley Cruz was second and Mexican forward Charlyn Corral third in voting by national team coaches and captains, media and fans.

Navas was followed by Costa Rican forward Bryan Ruiz and American goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Howard won his second straight Goalkeeper of the Year award, and Costa Rica’s Jorge Luis Pinto was Coach of the Year. Ruiz won Goal of the Year for his shot against Italy during the World Cup, and Mark Geiger was Referee of the Year after becoming the first American to referee a knockout-rounds match at the World Cup.

The Associated Press