Guillermo Barros Schelotto MVP 2008
Columbus Crew midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto received Major League Soccer's top individual award when he was named the Volkswagen Most Valuable Player on Thursday afternoon.
Schelotto, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, led the Crew to a League best 17-7-6 record and 57 points capturing the Supporters' Shield trophy and the number one seed in the 2008 MLS Cup playoffs. The midfield maestro led the League with 19 assists, tied for the second highest single season total in League history, and scored seven goals. Only Carlos Valderrama's single season record of 26 assists in 2000 eclipses Schelotto's 2008 total.
Schelotto helped lead the charge in turning a team that finished 9-11-10 with 37 points in 2007 into one with the League's best record and its first MLS Cup appearance in club history. The Crew's offense ranked second in the League in 2008 with 50 goals. His field vision and ball striking ability were second to none this season.
His five game-winning assists speak to his uncanny ability to find an open teammate in timely and dangerous attacking situations. Heading into MLS Cup, Schelotto has three assists in three playoff games and has contributed on all but two of the Crew's postseason goals. Schelotto was the MLS Player of the Week three times in 2008 and was named Player of the Month for August. He was a member of the 2007 Best XI team and becomes the second Argentine player to win the League's Most Valuable Player award (Christian Gomez, 2006).
Schelotto signed with Columbus on April 19, 2007 after starring for a decade with storied club Argentine club Boca Juniors. Revered for his big-game presence, he scored more than 60 goals and won 16 domestic and international titles with the Argentine power house from 1996-2007. Nicknamed "El Mellizo", the twin, Schelotto began his career with his twin brother Gustavo for their hometown side Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata and played together for a short period at Boca Juniors.
The Los Angeles Galaxy's Landon Donovan and the Chicago Fire's Cuauhtémoc Blanco were finalists for the 2008 Volkswagen Most Valuable Player Award. Donovan won the Budweiser Golden Boot Award leading the league with 20 goals, becoming only the sixth player all-time to score 20 goals in a single season. Blanco led the Chicago Fire to the Eastern Conference Final game, falling 2-1 to Schelotto's Columbus Crew.
The 2008 Volkswagen Most Valuable Player earned the most votes in polling of MLS players, general managers, coaches, and members of the media.
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