Football
9y

New England's Lee Nguyen credits form for MLS MVP nomination

New England Revolution midfielder Lee Nguyen, who on Thursday was named one of the three Major League Soccer 2014 MVP finalists, credited his form with helping him to put up the record numbers and play that led to his nomination.

"I think the main thing was just being a professional and maintaining and being consistent all the way through," said Nguyen, who has scored 18 goals in 32 games this season. "It's a long season for me, it was all about staying positive and waiting for my chance. You play alongside all these pros, you see what they go through to take care of their bodies, how well they train every day and then bring it onto the field on the weekends."

New England begins its Eastern Conference Championship series against New York on Sunday and Nguyen said as the race tightens, he is aware that there is no room for error.

"It is all in the details," said Nguyen, whose 18 goals are the most by a midfielder in MLS since Alex Pineda Chacon had 19 goals for the Miami Fusion in 2001. "Now you don't have 32 games to fix your mistakes. It's a two-legged game now. We've got an Eastern team like New York that we've played against two or three times this season. Lots of tactics. Come the weekend we've got to pull out a result."

Nguyen, who re-joined the Revolution last week after playing for the United States vs. Colombia in London, is tied with Raul Diaz Arce for the second-best goal scoring season in Revolution history. He credited the addition of Jermaine Jones for putting New England in contention.

"He's been huge," Nguyen said. "He came in and he's been the player we've been looking for the past two years. You could tell from last year when we made it to the playoffs how close we were.

"He brings that grit, that muscle in the midfield that we need defensively but he helps spread out the game for us offensively. He can spread a 30-, 40-yard ball in the air or he can slip passes in between the players on the ground. It helps me be able to find those pockets in between the defensive midfield."

Nguyen stressed the importance of remaining focused.

"It's a game, Eastern Conference finals, it's a two-game series," he said. "We can't win it all in the first game but we don't want to lose it. So I think the main thing is keep compact, get a result in New York and be ready for the second leg.

"We don't mind that we've been underdogs all season. At the end of the day, it's one game, the best team that day will take it all."

^ Back to Top ^