Former Bull Christiane Endler Named The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper
TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 18, 2022 – Former University of South Florida women's soccer student-athlete Christiane Endler was voted The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper, the organization announced this week.
The Chilean, who was a finalist for the award in 2019 and 2020, claimed the title for the first time with the 2021 award, edging out Canada's Stephanie Labbe and Germany's Ann-Katrin Berger in the voting.
The award is given based on polls of national team coaches and captains, international media and fans on FIFA.com. Endler received 26 points, while Labbe tallied 20 and Berger notched 14.
Endler posted a spectacular season for Paris Saint-Germain, helping the team win its first Division 1 Feminine title with a 20-0-2 record (62 points) and ended Olympique Lyon's 14-season long run of championships.
In total, Endler only allowed four goals in 22 games during the year, helping PSG post a plus-79 goal differential. Endler tallied 19 clean sheets during the league's season and was named D1 Feminine's Goalkeeper of the Year by the National Union of Professional Football Players and FFF D1 Arkema.
In 2021, Endler also served as team captain for Chile's Olympic team at the Tokyo Games. Chile earned a spot in the tournament after winning the CAN-CONMEBOL Playoffs and finished in the group stage.
Endler was a member of USF's women's soccer team in 2012 and 2013. During her two seasons with the program, she was a six-time conference player of the week and was a second-team all-conference selection in 2013.
In total, Endler played in 38 games for South Florida, posting a 0.825 save percentage and a 0.904 goals-against average, which rank first and second on the program's all-time lists, respectively. She also posted 15 shutouts in her 3582:44 minutes in net.
About USF Women's Soccer
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The USF women's soccer team has posted ten consecutive seasons of 10-plus wins under head coach Denise Schilte-Brown. The Bulls made their first NCAA tournament appearance in 2010 and returned in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. South Florida has five consecutive seasons with a conference championship, earning the tournament title in 2017, 2019 and 2020 as well as the regular-season title in 2018, 2020 and 2021. The program had its first draft pick and second-highest pick in USF Athletics history with Evelyne Viens being taken with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NWSL Draft by Sky Blue FC, now Gotham FC.
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