Carli Lloyd has won her second FIFA Women's Player of the Year award in as many years. It's a tremendous accomplishment, despite the fact that the award appeared to have been chosen by folks who don't follow/watch a whole lot of women's soccer.
Lloyd is certainly one of the best and most recognizable players in the world. However, there are other, less-recognizable players who maybe deserved the award more.
Given she didn't finish in the top five in goals or assists in the NWSL or at the Olympics, it's hard to see Lloyd's award as more than FIFA handing the trophy to the most famous player, which makes it even more egregious than the men's award, which Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm (captain of Germany's World Cup-winning team) called a "popularity contest for attacking players."
This is not a dig at Lloyd, who will be in contention for this award for years to come and will probably win it at least one more time. It's not her fault the committee chose her. But someone on that committee should have paid a bit more attention to women's soccer this year.
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