Three MLS players are among the five in the running for the 2016 Male US Player of the Year award, US Soccer announced on Monday.
Toronto FC duo Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley are nominated, as is Seattle Sounders' Clint Dempsey.
Altidore scored six goals in 10 appearances for the US national team in 2016, including four goals in World Cup qualifying.
Bradley served as the USMNT captain in 2016, starting all 17 of his appearances, including at the Copa America Centenario, where the US finished fourth in the special edition of South America's regional championship.
Dempsey scored four goals and four assists in 10 appearances this year for the US, leading his team in scoring at the Copa America Centenario with three goals and three assists, before being sidelined this fall for the rest of 2016 with a heart issue. Dempsey has won this award three times previously (2007, 2011, 2012).
The trio join Stoke City's Geoff Cameron and Hamburg's Bobby Wood as the players in the running for the honor.
In addition to the three MLSers up for the men's senior team award, two other MLS players, Seattle Sounders forward Jordan Morris and Atlanta United forward Andrew Carleton, have been nominated for the 2016 Young Male Player of the Year award. Morris played for both the senior national team and U-23s in 2016, while earning MLS Rookie of the Year honors his first pro season.
Carleton signed his first professional contract as an Atlanta United Homegrown player in June at the age of 15 and became the youngest American to play in USL after making his pro debut for Atlanta's affiliate Charleston Battery during the 2016 season. Carleton has scored 14 goals in 25 appearances for the US U-17s in 2016.
Borussia Dortmund's Christian Pulisic, Tottenham Hotspur's Cameron Carter-Vickers and St. Louis Scott Gallagher academy's Josh Sargent are also nominated for 2016 Young Male Player of the Year.
The Men's and Young Male Player of the Year awards will be announced on Friday during the MLS Cup preview show on FS1 (10 pm ET).
