LONDON: Costa Rica’s Sporting Lisbon forward Bryan Ruiz was named CONCACAF’s 2016 player of the year with United States striker Alex Morgan winning the women’s award on Wednesday.

It was the first time Ruiz had picked up the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) award and the second time for Morgan.

Ruiz, 31, helped Sporting finish runners-up in the Portuguese league in 2015/16 and his country reach the final stage of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The 27-year-old Morgan, who won the award in 2013, played for the U.S. at the Olympics, where they lost to Sweden in the quarter-finals, and was their joint top scorer last year.

She won Olympic gold in 2012 and the World Cup in 2015.

Costa Rica’s national teams also swept the manager of the year category, with Oscar Ramirez taking the men’s award and Amelia Valverde lifting the women’s trophy.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2017