CONCACAF Player of the Week: Keylor Navas

CONCACAF Player of the Week

Keylor Navas
AGE	27
POSITION	Goalkeeper
TEAM	Levante
WEEK IN NUMBERS
APPS (GOALS SCORED)	1 (0)
TIME ON PITCH	90
PREVIOUS WINS	0

Levante

1-1

Barcelona

"We have our virtues, and we can win," a confident Keylor Navas said before his side took on Barcelona, an odd posture to take after seeing seven goals go past him in the opening match of the season against the Blaugrana. Levante couldn't quite get all three points, but Navas did his best. He made a series of remarkable saves to keep the Liga champions to only one goal and secure a 1-1 draw for Levante.

Navas put together four saves including an excellent double save on Lionel Messi and Cristian Tello with some help from defender Juanfran, who also had a stunning match keeping Messi and Barca at bay.

The Costa Rican was Marca's top-rated player in the match with an 8.5 out of 10, while our Goal colleagues in Spain rated the performance a 4.5 out of 5. There was some question this time last year about whether he'd be the Ticos starter before qualifying, but Navas' play the past year has secured a spot as one of CONCACAF's best keepers - no easy feat in a region known for producing quality shot stoppers.

Congratulations to Keylor Navas, Goal's 6th CONCACAF Player of the Week winner!

The Shortlist

Andy Najar - Anderlecht The Honduran midfielder got on the board early, scoring in the second minute for his first league goal in Belgium. Unfortunately for him and U.S. international Sacha Kljestan, the Purple & White couldn't hold the lead, falling 2-1 to Mechelen, but Najar is beginning to show the form that could make him a key contributor for the Catrachos at the World Cup.
Javier Hernandez - Man United Manchester United had a pretty horrible day Sunday, getting crushed 3-1 by Chelsea, but Chicharito had a solid outing. He came on as a substitute and slid onto the end of a Phil Jones cross for United's only goal. He nearly had a second, challenging Petr Cech in a rare sloppy moment. David Moyes continues not to lean on the striker, but he might be wise to give him a bit more time.
Aron Johannsson - AZ The break in the Eredivisie hasn't slowed the Iceman's scoring pace. He was on the mark again, scoring the middle goal in a 3-0 victory against NAC Breda, his 12th league goal of the campaign. Jurgen Klinsmann will be pleased to see a layoff hasn't slowed the forward down.
Carlos Vela - Real Sociedad The best player in Spain in December hasn't slowed down, dishing out two assists to Imanol Agirretxe for Real Sociedad in a 2-2 draw at Getafe in horrible conditions. Like the U.S. Postal Service, it doesn't seem rain or sleet can stop the Mexican forward. We'll soon find if Miguel Herrera can rely on him as well.