August 5th, 2009 . 12:22 pm . By: Buzz Carrick

FCD’s Cunningham, not shockingly, eaned this week’s MLS Player of the week award for his four goal outburst.  Cunningham has scored seven of the lats ten FCD goals, all in the last three games. He now sits tied for third in goals in MLS and has taken over the FCD scoring lead.

Here’s the PR on it his award.

Cunningham earns week’s best nod

FC Dallas forward no surprise choice after massive outburst FC Dallas forward Jeff Cunningham was the unanimous winner in Major League Soccer’s Player of the Week voting for Week 20 of the 2009 season. Cunningham exploded for four goals and led FC Dallas to a 6-0 victory over the Kansas City Wizards. Cunningham’s career-high four-goal performance gives him 112 career goals, eclipsing former Dallas forward and current Real Salt Lake manager Jason Kreis for third on the all-time MLS goal scoring chart.
FC Dallas controlled the play from the opening whistle, creating a number of early chances before capitalizing in the 39th minute. FC Dallas forward David Ferreira played a precise ball through the Kansas City defense to FC Dallas midfielder Atiba Harris, who ran up the right flank and crossed the ball towards the back post where Cunningham sprinted in and fired the ball home for his first goal of the night. Ferreira tallied in the 42nd minute to give FC Dallas a two-goal cushion heading into halftime.

Cunningham and FC Dallas continued to push at the start of the second half. In the 66th minute Cunningham earned a penalty after being taken down on the right side of the box by Kansas City Wizards defender Raushawn McKenzie. He stepped to the spot and fired the ball into the right side of the goal to give FC Dallas a commanding three-goal lead.

Cunningham would complete the hat trick in the 76th minute when he was on the receiving end of Brek Shea’s cross. Shea received the ball on the left wing and sent a 40-yard, left-footed pass over the Wizards defense. Cunningham ran onto the pass and sent a right-footed volley, in stride, past Kansas City Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. Cunningham did not stop at three goals and added his fourth goal in the 89th minute. The 12-year MLS veteran received a pass from Harris in the penalty area, and he slotted a low shot just under Hartman to become only the ninth player in MLS history to record four goals in a single game.

This is Cunningham’s 11th MLS Player of the Week Award and second of the season. No player in MLS history has earned Player of the Week honors more times than the 2006 Budweiser Golden Boot winner. Only MLS Originals Ante Razov (114) and Jaime Moreno (128) have scored more goals in MLS history than Cunningham.

Cunningham was drafted ninth overall by the Columbus Crew in the 1998 MLS SuperDraft. After a seven-year stretch with the Columbus Crew, the Jamaica-born forward was traded to Colorado ahead of the 2005 season. Since then Cunningham has had stints with Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC before landing with FC Dallas in August 2008. Cunningham is tied with four other players for third place in the Budweiser Golden Boot Race with eight goals and sits behind only Fredy Montero (9) and Guillermo Barros Schelotto (10).

The Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected each week of the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from The North American Soccer Reporters (NASR). The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership information can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com.

Categories: News.

No Comments

No comments yet.

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI

Leave a comment