Robbie Kruse has become the first player to win both Australia's 2013 Player of the Year award and the PFA Harry Kewell Medal (2011)
Robbie Kruse has become the first player to win both Australia's 2013 Player of the Year award and the PFA Harry Kewell Medal (2011)

Robbie Kruse voted Australia's best in 2013; Rojas honoured

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Munich - 's strong displays this past year have received the highest recognition in his homeland, where the Bayer 04 Leverkusen attacking midfielder has been voted Professional Footballers' Australia Player of the Year for 2013.

Rojas earns Under-23 award

The youngest player ever to receive the award, the 25-year-old lit up the stage for Fortuna Düsseldorf last season, scoring four and laying on nine assists, before earning a move to UEFA Champions League participants Leverkusen last April.

22-year-old VfB Stuttgart and New Zealand midfielder Marco Rojas, meanwhile, picked up the PFA Harry Kewell Medal, awarded to the best professional Under-23 player plying their trade in either Australia’s A-League or overseas.

Rojas was signed by Stuttgart in the summer, having spent two seasons with Melbourne Victory FC, and follows in the footsteps of previous winners such as FSV Frankfurt's Nikita Rukavytsya (2009), Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak (2010) and Kruse (2011) - incidentally the first player to win both Australia's Player of the Year award and the Harry Kewell Medal.