Kasey Keller wins US soccer award

Los Angeles:

It was a double celebration this week for Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper Kasey Keller. Not only did he celebrate his 36th birthday on Tuesday, but the following day he was crowned the Honda Player of the Year, an award given to the best player in the US national team. Landon Donovan of the Los Angeles Galaxy and PSV Eindhoven's DaMarcus Beasley were the other finalists. Keller received 344 points in voting by 206 sports journalists across the country, while Donovan got 329 and Beasley 270. Keller played in a career-high 14 games for the American team this year, setting goalkeeping records with nine wins and eight clean sheets. Keller, who plays for Borussia Moenchengladbach of Germany's Bundesliga, flew to Los Angeles to receive his award in a ceremony at a downtown hotel. One of the first people to congratulate the goalkeeper was Donovan, who had won the award the past three years. Keller joins Eric Wynalda (1992, 1996) and Donovan as the only multiple winners of the award. He also won it in 1999. (AP)