Vancouver Whitecaps' Camilo Sanvezzo, of Brazil has been named Major League Soccer player of the month for July. (file photo)DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Vancouver striker Camilo Sanvezzo has been named the MLS player of the month for July, becoming the first player in Whitecaps history to win the accolade.
Camilo scored four goals in five matches last month, including a two-goal game against the Chicago Fire on July 14.
The Brazilian moved to the top of the league's goal-scoring charts, currently sitting in a tie for the league lead with 13 goals with Chicago's Mike Magee.
MLS awarded Camilo with the league's player of the week award twice in July, and the 25-year-old received the player of the month honours after a near unanimous ballot from the North American Soccer Reporters.
"I think he's had a couple of good months," said Whitecaps coach Martin Rennie. "I think he's been consistently scoring, creating chances, and I think he's continued that on and off all year. (He can) go into the next month now and have an even better one."
Rennie said Camilo's honour is a reflection of the whole team's strong performance.
"The whole team's been playing well and the results have been great, and we find ourselves up near the top of the table because of that," said Rennie, whose team has earned points in 10 of its 11 home games and had gone six overall games without a loss before dropping the last two in succession.
"When the team does well, then individuals get more accolades. It's a team award, but I'm sure Camilo would be the first to say it's a team award and he'll be happy to pick it up on behalf of the team."
Camilo missed practice Thursday as he was returning from Kanas City after playing for the MLS All-Stars against Italy's AS Roma the night before. He earned an assist on the MLS squad's loan goal in a 3-1 loss and became just the second player to represent the Whitecaps in the game.
Vancouver plays a Cascadia Cup road match against the Portland Timbers this Saturday.