BOCANEGRA, DONOVAN & HOWARD: 2007 HONDA PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS

Winner to be Announced on October 5 in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES (September 5, 2007) – Carlos Bocanegra, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard have been selected by 203 sports journalists from across the nation as the three finalists for the 2007 Honda Player of the Year Award, widely recognized as the most prestigious award a U.S. National Team player can receive.

The winner will be announced during the special award luncheon celebrating the 17th Honda Player of the Year Award on Friday, October 5 at The Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The award luncheon is open to all media and will begin at 11:30am. The winner of the Honda Player of the Year Award will receive a new Honda Ridgeline automobile.

Carlos Bocanegra, a finalist for the Honda Player of the Year Award for the third time in five years, has been one of the U.S. National Team’s principal defenders since his debut in 2001, with 50 caps. This year, Bocanegra was chosen as team captain for several games, including the CONCACAF Gold Cup match against Panama where he scored his 6th career goal for the National Team and the team’s final game against Mexico to win the 2007 Gold Cup title. After receiving the Rookie of the Year award in 2000 and the MLS Defender of the Year in both 2002 and 2003, Bocanegra transferred to Fulham of the English Premier League in 2004 where he regularly starts.

Landon Donovan, the only player to win the Honda Player of the Year Award three times, and consecutively, is a finalist for the fifth time with this year’s nomination. Donovan currently leads the National Team in goals scored in 2007 including a hat-trick against Ecuador and a goal against Mexico in the win at the CONCACAF Gold Cup final this summer, tying him with Eric Wynalda as the top scorer in U.S. National Team history with 34 goals. Prior to joining his current team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, in 2005, Donovan played four seasons for the San Jose Earthquakes and spent time with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany.

Tim Howard, a first-time finalist, was one of the instrumental players in the U.S. National Team’s victory over Mexico at this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. Since debuting in 2002, the goalkeeper boasts 10 shutouts in his 24 games with the team. Howard began his professional career in 1998 with the MetroStars then transferred to Manchester United in 2003. The following year, with Howard as the starting goalkeeper, the team won the FA Cup Final, making him the first American to win one of the world’s oldest soccer tournaments. He is currently the starting goalkeeper for Everton of the English Premier League.

The previous winners of the Honda Player of the Year Award are: Clint Dempsey (2006), Kasey Keller (2005, 1999), Landon Donovan (2004, 2003 and 2002), Earnie Stewart (2001), Claudio Reyna (2000), Cobi Jones (1998), Eddie Pope (1997), Eric Wynalda (1996, 1992), Alexi Lalas (1995), Marcelo Balboa (1994), Thomas Dooley (1993)and Hugo Perez (1991). In 2000, Eric Wynalda was named the Honda Player of the Decade.

For more than a decade, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. has supported soccer programs and played a part in the growth of this exciting sport in America. Honda’s current support includes 17 years as a sponsor of the Honda Player of the Year Award and 10 years as a sponsor of the Honda Symposium.

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