New York, 13 November (H.S.):

Argentine football legend Lionel Messi has been named a finalist for Major League Soccer’s (MLS) prestigious Landon Donovan Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the third consecutive year. The league announced the finalists for eight individual honours at the end of the regular season on Thursday, with 17-year-old rising star Cavan Sullivan also featuring among the contenders for the top individual award.

Messi, who plays for Inter Miami, has won the MVP award in each of the last two seasons and is once again considered a strong contender. He enjoyed an outstanding regular season, finishing as the league’s leading scorer with 26 goals. He also registered 17 assists, the second-highest tally in the competition.

Besides Messi and Sullivan, the other finalists for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award are Evander of FC Cincinnati, Guilherme of Houston Dynamo FC and Hany Mukhtar of Nashville SC.

The finalists for the Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year award are B.J. Callaghan of Nashville SC, Yoann Damet of St. Louis CITY SC and Jesper Sørensen of Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Under Callaghan’s leadership, Nashville enjoyed a remarkable campaign, securing the Supporters’ Shield with 77 points from 23 victories, three defeats and eight draws.

Nashville SC also dominated the shortlist for the Defender of the Year award, with all three finalists coming from the club: Andy Najar, Jeisson Palacios and Maxwell Woledzi.

The Goalkeeper of the Year award finalists are Brian Schwake of Nashville SC, Roman Bürki of St. Louis CITY SC and Matt Turner of New England Revolution.

For the Comeback Player of the Year award, the shortlisted candidates are Ryan Gauld of Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Nick Hagglund of FC Cincinnati and Eduard Löwen of San Jose Earthquakes.

The Newcomer of the Year award will be contested by Guilherme of Houston Dynamo FC, Antoine Griezmann of Orlando City SC and André Luiz of Sporting Kansas City.

Sullivan has also been named a finalist for the Young Player of the Year award following an impressive season with Philadelphia Union. The 17-year-old recorded nine goals and 14 assists in 29 appearances, starting 21 matches. Julian Hall and Adri Mehmeti, both of Red Bull New York, are the other contenders for the honour.

The finalists for the Humanitarian of the Year award are Paul Arriola of Seattle Sounders FC, Andrew Farrell of New England Revolution, Telasco Segovia of Inter Miami CF, Mason Stajduhar of Real Salt Lake and Brad Stuver of Austin FC.

The winners in all eight categories will be announced during the upcoming MLS Cup Playoffs. The league will also reveal its MLS Best XI at a later date. Online voting for the Goal of the Year and Save of the Year awards will remain open on the official MLS website until Monday, November 16.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar