Futbol MLS announced on Sunday that fans elected Seattle Sounders defender Roman Torres as the 2016 Latino del Año, or Latin American Player of the Year.
The 30-year-old Panamanian received 53 percent of the votes in the final, outlasting New York City FC’s Ronald Matarrita (Costa Rica), LA Galaxy midfielder Giovani dos Santos (Mexico) and Montreal Impact midfielder Ignacio Piatti (Argentina).
Torres missed nearly an entire year while recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in September 2015. He returned to the field as a second-half substitute on Aug. 28 at Providence Park against the Portland Timbers before starting the final eight games of the regular season. He helped shore up the Sounders’ defense, which allowed only seven goals in those eight matches, to secure a seemingly unlikely eighth consecutive postseason berth.
Torres started four of Seattle’s six playoff games en route to its first MLS Cup title. He started in the Knockout Round win over Sporting Kansas City, but missed the two-leg Western Conference Semifinals against FC Dallas while nursing a hamstring injury. He returned in the conference finals and helped the Sounders allow only one goal over their final three games, including holding a potent Toronto FC offense scoreless in the MLS Cup Final. He also scored the game-winning penalty kick in the sixth round of the shootout.
A slew of fans and sports reporters met Torres on Saturday to congratulate him when he arrived home in Panama for the offseason.
Torres joins Fredy Montero (2010) and Marco Pappa (2014) as the third Seattle Sounders player to win the award since its inception in 2010. A full list of the winners is below.
2016: Roman Torres (Seattle Sounders/Panama)
2015: Darwin Ceren (Orlando City SC/El Salvador)
2014: Marco Pappa (Seattle Sounders/Guatemala)
2013: Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake/Costa Rica)
2012: Oscar Boniek Garcia (Houston Dynamo/Honduras)
2011: Omar Bravo (Sporting Kansas City/Mexico)
2010: Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders/Colombia)
