USA and Manchester City women’s midfielder Samantha Mewis has been named as the 2020 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year.
This is the first U.S. Female Soccer Player of the Year award for Mewis as she became the 17th different WNT player to win the award.
Mewis played in eight of the nine games for the USA, starting six, and scored four goals, all scoring at the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament where she also scored back-to-back against Costa Rica and Mexico. She also put in a strong performance at the NWSL Challenge Cup, playing in all five games for the North Carolina Courage before making a move to England and Manchester City in early August.
She has played over 17 matches for Man City in the league, FA Cup, Continental Cup and UEFA Women’s Champions League. She has shown her capability of being one of the best midfielders in the FA Women’s Super League by scoring six goals across all competitions; three in the league, two in the FA Cup and one in Champions League.
Not only this, but she helped Man City win the FA Cup with a 3-1 victory over Everton in November and in that match at Wembley Stadium, she became the third American, and second American woman, to score in an FA Cup Final, joining Carli Lloyd (2017) and Christian Pulisic (2020). She also scored the match-winner in the first leg of City’s 2-1 Round of 32 UEFA Women’s Champions League match at Göteborg in Sweden. City cleared off Göteborg, 3-0, in the second leg at home to earn a birth into the quarterfinals.
“It’s obviously a huge honor to be a part of the list of players that have won this award in the past,” said Mewis. “It should go without saying that it’s the team that does the work on the field and I just have so much respect for the other nominees this year and all my teammates. I’ve just loved playing with them on the U.S. Team, and with my teammates for the Courage and Man City. It’s still such an honor to even get called into a U.S. camp, to get playing time and to be able to score goals for my country. All that continues to be surreal to me. I owe so much to so many people who have helped me on my journey and any individual award is a credit to them.”
“It’s been a strange year with a lot of hardship for a lot of people, but I’m really grateful for the humanity we’ve seen this year as well,” added Mewis. “I’m just really humbled that I got the opportunity to play for the USA and for two fantastic clubs this year. My family and husband have been so supportive and to even get the opportunity to play soccer this year with everything so uncertain has been a gift.
“I’m grateful for the support of Vlatko and his staff, to the Courage and Paul Riley, who has had a big impact on me, and to all the coaches, staff and players at Man City who welcomed Rose and I with open arms. Looking forward, I’m really excited about the future of the National Team. We have big things coming up and I’m hoping I can continue to be a part of it.”
“I am very happy for Sam,” U.S. women’s coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “Due to her work ethic and mentality to be the best player she can be, her every day dedication to being a professional and her sincere caring for her team-mates and the team as a whole, she’s a true example of what the USWNT stands for.”
