Premios Univision Deportes 2014 Winners & Recap: Landon Donovan Apologizes for His Spanish, Julian Gil Reveals Soccer Obssession

By Yara Simon First Posted: Dec 19, 2014 10:04 AM EST

The first ever Premios Univision Deportes was a much more mellow night than the network's other award shows.

Wisin kicked off the Thursday night show by performing "Adrenalina," but he wasn't joined by Ricky Martin or Jennifer Lopez on stage. The venue also appeared to be more intimate, and people just stood as he and his backup dancers moved around the stage.

Hosts Jacky Bracamontes and Alan Tacher followed the performance, and the show switched from being focused on the stage to showing what was going on behind-the-scenes.

"La Gata" star Maite Perroni and "Hasta El Fin Del Mundo" actor Julian Gil were backstage talking about their love for soccer.

Perroni called herself a "soccer fanatic" and said she always supported Mexico.

Gil proved that he was a very loyal supporter. When asked if he had truly flown to Spain and then immediately back to work when the match was over, Gil admitted that he has done this a few times.

Landon Donovan was one of the night's biggest winners. Before he went on stage, he was asked about his Spanish-speaking skills and said he was only so-so. When the retired athlete went up on stage to accept his Lifetime Achievement Award, however, he spoke entirely in Spanish.

"Thank you," he said. "Forgive me if I can't [communicate in Spanish too well]. I was talking to my girlfriend the last few days about my career, and now after being retired for 10 days, I've been thinking of what all the Latinos did for me. ... They taught me a lot about soccer and words, which I later learned weren't good words."

He also spoke about visiting Ecuador and Peru and working with orphanages and meeting more Latino people. Before he was awarded, a video played which showed little kids in different parts of the United States calling him their hero and Captain America.

Antonio Mohamed, who was named the Best Liga MX Coach, also had a touching speech. He talked about how his son was watching him from up above.

The award didn't just honor professional athletes and coaches.

Julio Gutierrez was awarded the Chespirito Award, which was given to someone who demonstrated dedication to sports. Gutierrez is a soccer coach who works with children and buys his team uniforms and water. The job takes him away from his family, but his wife said that it was this reason that she believed she had to nominate him for the award.

Other performers on the show included Natalia Jimenez, who sang "Quedate Con Ella," and Nico & Vinz, who sang "Am I Wrong."

The show was two hours long.

Here's a full list of winners from Premios Univision Deportes:

Athlete Post on Social Media: Neymar da Silva Santos Jr. (Twitter)

Best Artistic Performance by an Athlete: Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama

Best Baseball Player of the Year: Nelson Cruz

Best Basketball Player of the Year: Manu Ginobili

Best Car Racing Performance: Carlos Muñoz

Best Boxer of the Year: Miguel Cotto

Best Hispanic Performance in Europe: Angel di Maria

Best Liga MX Coach: Antonio Mohamed

Best Liga MX Player of the Year: Alfredo Talavera