Nguyen’s statement game earns him MLS POTW honours By Steven Sandor Posted on May 14, 2012 Comments Off on Nguyen’s statement game earns him MLS POTW honours 0 629 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Lee Nguyen, before the Whitecaps let him go. Lee Nguyen never got a chance to play a game for the Vancouver Whitecaps. And, on Monday, he was named MLS Player of the Week for showing up the Whitecaps. Nguyen scored his first two MLS goals and set up another as the New England Revolution beat the Whitecaps 4-1 on Saturday. That effort earned him the most POTW votes from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters. Nguyen’s first goal was the product of being in the right place at the right time, as he banged a shot home after a goalmouth scramble. But his second was a thing of beauty, a 25-yard volley after a throw-in. It will be hard to see anyone beating that for Goal of Week. Nguyen, who played in Vietnam last season, came into MLS via a weighted lottery. The Whitecaps, who had the most balls in the hopper because of their poor league record in 2011, decided to opt in to the draw, knowing that if they won, they’d be ineligible to enter a draw for any other player coming into MLS via the lottery system in 2012. It was a gamble, and the Whitecaps indeed won Nguyen’s rights. But, he didn’t survive training camp. How The 11 voted: Nguyen. Yes, there’s a caveat to that whole game. The Whitecaps were resting players ahead of Wednesday’s home leg of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, and the central defence pairing of Alain Rochat and Carlyle Mitchell struggled. Still, the storyline of a player coming back to haunt his old club is too good to ignore. And, we writers are in the business of telling stories… so is it any surprise Nguyen got the votes?
