Argentine striker Guillermo Barros Schelotto was named Major League Soccer's top player on Thursday after helping Columbus Crew reach the league's one-off championship match.

The 35-year-old, who played 196 games over 12 seasons for Boca Juniors before joining the North American league last year, was honored in a vote of MLS players, coaches, executives and members of the media.

Schelotto received more than 54 per cent of the vote with American Landon Donovan, a Los Angeles Galaxy forward now on loan to Germany's Bayern Munich, second on 19 perc ent and Mexico's Cuauhtemoc Blanco of Chicago Fire third.

Schelotto led the Crew to a league-best 17 wins with seven losses and six draws and Columbus will face the New York Red Bulls on Sunday in LA in the MLS Cup league final. Schelotto scored seven times this season for the Ohio-based side.