Emmanuel Boateng on shortlist for MLSSocer.com’s 2017 edition of 24 Under 24

24 under 24
LAGalaxy.com

Beginning Monday, Sept. 25, MLSsoccer.com will be revealing the top 24 young players in MLS with the league’s annual 24 Under 24 series. A panel of soccer media members across the U.S. and Canada select the members of this series, and ExtraTime Live driven by Continental, MLSsoccer.com's exclusive show on Facebook Live, will unveil the top 10 on Thursday, Sept. 28, starting at 11 a.m. PT.

Utilizing the same worldwide age limit as the Olympic soccer tournament and the Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year award in England, players who are age 23 and younger before Oct. 22 (the final day of the 2017 MLS regular season) are eligible for this year’s ranking.


LA Galaxy winger Emmanuel Boateng is on the shortlist of 50 players for the award. This is Boateng’s first nomination.

Player rankings will be unveiled beginning with Nos. 21-24 on Monday (Sept. 25), 16-20 on Tuesday (Sept. 26), 11-15 on Wednesday (Sept. 27) and ExtraTime Live's exclusive unveiling of the top 10 ranked players on Thursday (Sept. 28).

Past No. 1-ranked players have included U.S. National Team players Brek Shea (2011), Darlington Nagbe (2013) and DeAndre Yedlin (2014), and Colombian international Fabian Castillo (2015).

For full coverage of 2017 MLS 24 Under 24, visit www.mlssoccer.com/series/24-under-24.

Previous MLSsoccer.com 24 Under 24 winners:


  • 2010: Fredy Montero, Seattle Sounders FC
  • 2011: Brek Shea, FC Dallas
  • 2012: Darren Mattocks, Vancouver Whitecaps FC
  • 2013: Darlington Nagbe, Portland Timbers
  • 2014: DeAndre Yedlin, Seattle Sounders FC
  • 2015: Fabian Castillo, FC Dallas
  • 2016: Cyle Larin, Orlando City SC 


Evaluation Criteria:
All MLS players aged 23 or younger before Oct. 22, 2017, were eligible for consideration. The final list of 24 players was determined by a panel made up of top soccer media members and the MLSsoccer.com editorial staff. The panel ranked the eligible players based on the following criteria:


  • Technical: first touch, dribbling, shooting and heading
  • Soccer IQ: positioning, reading game, situational understanding and tactical awareness
  • Physical Attributes: balance, agility, speed, endurance, strength and vertical leap
  • Personality: attitude, marketability, media savviness, charisma and intangibles
  • Potential: improvability, ceiling, national team potential and potential transfer value


Voting Media Members:

  • Matt Pentz, freelance journalist
  • Alexi Lalas, FOX broadcaster
  • Will Parchman, TopDrawerSoccer.com/MLSsoccer.com
  • Sam Stejskal, MLSsoccer.com contributor
  • Bobby Warshaw, former player/MLSsoccer.com contributor
  • Patrick Leduc, former player/Réseau des sports (RDS)
  • Cole Grossman, former player
  • Kristan Heneage, freelance journalist
  • Steve Davis, FourFourTwo.com
  • Paul Tenorio, FourFourTwo.com
  • Thomas Floyd, Goal.com
  • Kyndra de St. Aubin, Minnesota United FC broadcaster


MLSsoccer.com voters:

  • Andrew Wiebe, Senior Editor
  • Ben Baer, New Media Editor
  • Matt Doyle, Senior Writer
  • David Gass, ExtraTime host
  • Alicia Rodriguez, Contributing Editor
  • Charlie Boehm, Contributing Editor



‘50-Player’ Short List:
Note: The short list was expanded to 51 players to include Paul Arriola who signed with D.C. United on Aug. 10.
(Listed in alphabetical order)
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