Dwayne De Rosario and Christine Sinclair have been named Canadian players of the year for 2006 by the country's soccer association.

The Canadian Soccer Association announced the choices Friday, the results of a vote by members of the media and online fans. Both players won the honour last year, as well.

Christine Sinclair, right, after scoring a goal against Italy in Peace Queen Cup play in October. Sinclair and Dwayne De Rosario were again named top players by the CSA on Friday.
(Ahn Young-joon/Associated Press)

De Rosario, 28, was the most valuable player at the Major League Soccer all-star game and was also pivotal in helping his Houston Dynamo to the league's championship.

Although a key player for Houston, De Rosario admitted he could see himself some play for his hometown team, Toronto FC.

"I definitely feel one day I will be wearing a Toronto FC uniform, and I would be proud to represent the city in which I was born and raised," De Rosario told reporters on a conference call.

De Rosario, who is entering the third year of a four-year contract with Houston, didn't rule out the possibility of coming to Toronto in the not-too-distant future.

"I don't want to take my respect away from Houston and the coaching staff and the fans here. I think at the end of the day, I just do whatever I can on the field and let my agents and people outside take care of the business side of it.

"But of course, it's no big secret that I'm from Toronto and it's fitting that Toronto would want one of the top players to represent Toronto's team in the league," he added. "I definitely in the future would like to represent Toronto and help make it a successful team, and win a championship."

For her part, Sinclair scored 11 times in 17 appearances with Canada's senior team in 2006. Her two-goal effort against Jamaica helped ensure a Canadian berth in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, scheduled for September.

The 23-year-old was also on a championship team, as the Vancouver Whitecaps took the W-league title.

Atiba Hutchinson, meanwhile, was named the inaugural CanadaSoccer.com Fan’s Choice winner.

Hutchinson, 23, became just the second Canadian player to score in a UEFA Champions League game, following in the footsteps of Tomasz Radzinski. He is currently playing for FC Copenhagen in Denmark.

On Thursday, teenagers David Edgar and Jodi-Ann Robinson were named by the association as Canadian youth players of the year.