Lalas Is Voted Player of the Year by Record Margin

Alexi Lalas, perhaps the most recognizable member of the U.S. national soccer team, Wednesday won the 1995 Honda Award as player of the year.

In winning the fifth annual award, Lalas far outstripped his closest opponents, teammates John Harkes and Marcelo Balboa, in voting by 160 U.S. soccer journalists.

The flame-haired, goateed defender, the first American to play in Italy’s first division, polled 209 points and had 52 first-place votes to win by the largest margin ever. Harkes was second with 94 points and Balboa, the 1994 winner, was third with 91.

“I know that some people out there think I got this because of my hair or my guitar or the fact that I can answer questions with some form of intelligence, but that’s OK with me, that’s good,” Lalas said in accepting the award. “It represents the progress that we’ve made in this country in the past few years.”