D.C United defender Kofi Opare is in line for the Major League Soccer Comeback Player of the Year award.
The 27-year-old is among 18-players players named to the ballot for the 2017 Comeback Player of the Year award.
Following a 2016 season in which the United center back made 10 appearances, primarily as a second-choice defender to US national team defender Steve Birnbaum and veteran defenseman Bobby Boswell, Opare took advantage of his opportunity early on in 2017.
After not seeing time in the first five matches of 2017, Opare went on to start in 24 of the next 27, tallying two goals and an assist in the process.
The Ghanaian must fend off competition from the likes of Dillon Serna (Colorado Rapids), Federico Higuain (Columbus Crew), Chris Korb (D.C United), Erick Torres ( Houston Dynamo), Xavier Kouassi (New England Revolution), Quincy Amarikwa ( San Jose Earthquakes) and Clint Dempsey (FSeattle Sounders) amongst others to clinch the individual award.
All players on the Comeback Player of the Year ballot were nominated by their respective club, with a maximum of two nominations permitted per team.