Mamadou Diallo is MLS Player of the Week

New York, NY (Monday, May 14, 2001) - Tampa Bay Mutiny forward Mamadou Diallo has been selected by PSRA as MLS' Player of the Week for the week ending May 13, 2001. The 2000 Budweiser Scoring champion recorded all four Mutiny goals in a 4-4 tie versus the red-hot Los Angeles Galaxy last Wednesday and the lone Tampa Bay goal in a 2-1 loss at Colorado on Saturday. Diallo's goal scoring outburst marks the fifth time in MLS history that a player has notched more than three goals in a single game.

Diallo, who is second in MLS' scoring race (6g, 2a, 14 points), set several Mutiny scoring records with his four-goal performance vs. the Galaxy including most goals in a game, most career hat tricks (three), fastest hat trick (37 minutes) and fastest consecutive goals in Mutiny history (1:16). Diallo's hat trick marked the first time an individual player had scored three goals against the Los Angeles Galaxy defense.

After scoring in the 15th, 16th and 37th minutes, the 29-year-old Senegalese native put Tampa Bay in position to win the game with his 78th minute tally. A Galaxy flurry, however, produced the game-tying score in stoppage time, before the teams played to a scoreless overtime.

The 6-foot-3-inch striker netted Tampa Bay's lone goal in Saturday's tough 2-1 loss at Colorado. Diallo was hauled down in the box by Rapids' defender Chris Martinez after he received a pass from Steve Ralston and attempted to turn on goal. Diallo hammered the resulting penalty kick past Colorado 'keeper Adin Brown.

Diallo, the MVP of last summer's All-Star Game, had a stellar 2000 season, leading MLS in scoring (26 g, 4a, 56 pts.) and finishing one goal shy of the all-time single season goal scoring mark held by Kansas City's Roy Lassiter (27).

Diallo outdistanced San Jose's Manny Lagos, D.C. United's Abdul Thompson Conteh and Dallas' Ariel Graziani for the league's weekly honors. In his second MLS season, this is the third time that the star forward has captured the MLS' Player of the Week honors. Diallo was selected as Player of the Week for weeks nine and 12 during the 2000 campaign. The MLS Player of the Week is selected by a panel of journalists from the Professional Soccer Reporters Association (PSRA).

2001 MLS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Week	Player	Team	Note
6	Mamadou Diallo	Tampa Bay Mutiny	Scored four goals in 4-4 tie with L.A. and added a goal in 2-1 loss to Rapids
5	Clint Mathis	MetroStars	Registered four goals and an assist in wins over Kansas City and D.C.
4	Cobi Jones	Los Angeles Galaxy	Netted two goals in 3-2 road victory over the Colorado Rapids
3	Chris Brown	Kansas City Wizards	Two goals and one assist in week three triumphs over Miami and Columbus
2	Chris Klein	Kansas City Wizards	Goal and assist in Wizards home-opening 2-1 triumph over L.A.
1	Alex Pineda Chacon	Miami Fusion	Two goals in Fusion's 2-1 come back win over Colorado