Sporting KC’s Alan Pulido awarded MLS Comeback Player of the Year
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sporting Kansas City’s comeback season just got sweeter on Wednesday.
Forward Alan Pulido has been named the MLS Comeback Player of the Year.
– 15 goals and six assists in all competitions
– Second in MLS with four multi-goal matches
– The first player in MLS history to score 10 goals after missing his team's entire previous season
Your 2023 @MLS Comeback Player of the Year: @alanpulido https://t.co/0ZFb5PFkNf pic.twitter.com/faHFyeHqtl— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) November 15, 2023
He entered the 2023 season coming off a season-ending knee injury that kept him out of the entire 2022 schedule.
Pulido played his first game in April, about 16 months after his previous appearance.
Less than a month after that the 32-year-old Mexican found his first goal of the season against Tulsa Athletic. Interestingly enough, that was also SKC’s first win of the year, coming two months after the 2023 MLS season kicked off.
Sporting KC to face Houston in MLS Cup Playoffs Semifinals
In the MLS Cup playoffs he’s already matched his regular season total with three postseason assists so far.
Pulido signed with Sporting Kansas City in 2020 when the club offered a record $9.5 million contract to acquire him from Chivas of Liga MX.
In 61 total matches in KC, Pulida started 52 times, scored 28 goals and delivered 11 assists.
His return from injury has been a key to Sportings’ success this season with his MLS career-high 14 goals.
Pulido will look to continue his excellence later this month when SKC takes on the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Western Conference Semi-Finals.
It took the Dynamo three games until they finally took care of Real Salt Lake in penalty shootouts.
His path back to the field was no easy feat, but alongside his teammates and family: the staff in this room kept Alan afloat.
No better group to tell him the 2023 Comeback Player of the Year news 💙 pic.twitter.com/neTChAth9C— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) November 15, 2023
Sporting however is coming off a clean sweep over the top-seeded St. Louis City SC to get to the club’s fourth conference semifinal appearance since 2018, which is tied for the most over the last six MLS seasons.
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This is all made to look even more impressive considering the depths this soccer team was at in 2023. They began the year 0-3-6 before finally getting a 3-0 win over Tulsa, in part thanks to Pulido’s efforts.
The KC club went on to clinch an 8-seed with a 12-14-8 record before beating San Jose in the Wildcard to solidify their place in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Now they have a shot to get back to their first MLS title game since 2013.
