Los Angeles -- The Columbus Crew's Guillermo Barros Schelotto, a midfield wizard who was a longtime star in his native Argentina, won the MLS Most Valuable Player award Thursday.

The 35-year-old Schelotto had 19 assists and seven goals as the Crew bounced back from a 9-11-10 record the previous year to finish with an MLS-best 17-7-6 mark.

He and his teammates face the New York Red Bulls on Sunday afternoon in Carson for the MLS Cup.