The United States Sports Academy will honor Spain soccerplayer David Villa and Spain's national soccer team with prestigious sportsawards as a result of their 2010 World Cup Championship performance.
Spain soccer sensation David Villa earned the United States Sports Academy's2010 Male Athlete of the Year, while the Spanish national team was named the2010 Men's Team of the Year.
Both awards will be presented to Villa and the Spanish team at 7:30 p.m. ESTFriday, June 3 at Foxborough's Gillette Stadium, following the team's finalpractice in preparation for a friendly game against the U.S. national teamat 4:30 p.m. EST Saturday, June 4, which will be televised by ESPN andUnivision. Academy Board of Trustee Tom Cafaro will present the Athlete ofthe Year and Team of the Year awards during a short ceremony.
The two champions were selected through an online worldwide ballot that sawthe public casting votes at a rate of nearly 12 per second, thanks to theAcademy and its voting partners-*NBC Sports* and *USA Today.*
Spain is currently the reigning World and European champion. It emerged as apowerhouse in soccer in 2008 and solidified that position in 2010 as theFIFA World Cup Champion. In addition to winning the World Cup, Spaincaptured the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship. In July 2008, Spainrose to the top of the FIFA World Rankings for the first time in the team'shistory, becoming the first nation to top the ranking without previouslyhaving won the World Cup.
Between November 2006 and June 2009, Spain went undefeated for a 35consecutive matches, a record shared with Brazil. This feat included arecord 15-game winning streak and earned the team third place in the FIFAConfederations Cup.
Spain was led during that span by David Villa, who is the all-time leadingscorer for the national team. Villa scored 44 goals in 70 internationalgames. Villa earned the Academy's Male Athlete of the Year award by scoringfive goals in the 2010 World Cup. He took 32 shots on goal and scored thewinning goals in the first and second rounds of the playoffs. Villa scoredboth goals in a critical 2-0 win over Honduras.
The Athlete of the Year ballot is the culmination of the yearlong Athlete ofthe Month program, which recognizes the accomplishments of men and women insports around the globe. The Athlete of the Month is selected by aninternational voting committee comprised of media members andrepresentatives of sports organizations and governing bodies.
The United States Sports Academy is an independent, nonprofit, accredited,special mission sports university created to serve the nation and the worldwith programs in instruction, research and service. The role of the Academyis to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports.
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