By Ollie Irish

Here's the second part of our picture review of the football year (Check out Part 1).

27 June: A Brazil fan needles a Lionel Messi voodoo doll during Argentina's World Cup Round of 16 match against Mexico. Argentina won that one but were soundly thrashed by Germany in the quarter-finals, dashing Diego Maradona's dream of glory.

Xavi's pure brilliance in the midfield has been rewarded as the Spanish playmaker has been honored with the World Soccer Player of the Year for 2010. Xavi received 25.8% of the votes and edged out Lionel Messi for the award. Messi wasn't far behind however as he received 24.1% percent.

As for Barcelona, they were rated the third best team in the world.

Barcelona based Sports Daily "Mundo Deportivo" has elaborated their own survey on which players are the favourites for this year FIFA Golden Ball Award 2010. According to the paper they have interviewed 75 World Football personalities; active players, international Coaches & retired prestigious players, to give an orientation of how things will go before FIFA announces officially the 3

Now its official. FIFA has announced today the three candidates for the 2010 FIFA Golden Ball Award. All three currently play for FC BARCELONA, Andres Iniesta - Xavi Hernandez - Lionel Messi - with the winner to be announced on the 10th of Janaury 2011 in Zurich. Messi, Iniesta & Xavi The big surprise was the non-inclusion of Inter Milan player Wesley Sneijder whos place was taken by Messi.

By Chris Wright

Allow Pies to sum up Barcelona's 5-0 tanking of Real Sociedad at the weekend in concise, 'video essay' format.

A goal apiece from David Villa, Andres Iniesta and Bojan Krkic coupled with a pair of intricate pearlers from Leo Messi ensured that Barca's day contained several elements of 'the sublime' .

In a surprising return (Ok not really), the ‘Special One' Jose Mourinho is back into his old ways boosting his own self-ego. As Moruinho feels that he should be the front-runner for al the major [Individual] accolades for 2010, the Portuguese coach went on to remind the people all he has done for Inter Milan in the 2009-2010 season.

Jonathan Wilson, in the Guardian, looked at The Question: why has 4-4-2 been superseded by 4-2-3-1? in this article from 2008. It came to mind as I watched the U17 International Friendlies on Wednesday, with the US lining up in the formation. Jonathan answered his own question with the comment that the coming of 4-2-3-1 was a natural progression from 4-4-2, and in the last five years nearly all tactical innovations are developments of the formation.

When discussing the best players in the world, the conversation tends to drift toward Barcelona's star-studded squad. When selecting the best player in the world for 2010, the decision will also come down to one of the Spanish champion's many maestros.

Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta are the three finalists for the Ballon d'Or, the newly-revamped award which is a combination of the long-standing Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Nike has released the second incarnation of the popular CTR360 Maestri soccer boot made popular by Spanish internationals Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta. According to a press release from Nike: The Nike CTR360 Maestri II Elite is designed for the player looking to master control on the pitch. Controlling the tempo with accurate passing, dictating the [.

Barcelona 5-0 Real Sociedad ( David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi*2) on December 12, 2010 at the Nou Camp. Barcelona thrashed Real Sociedad 5-0 to remain on top of La Liga. It was another free scoring day for the Catalans, for whom Argentine striker Lionel Messi bagged a brace. Barcelona vs Real Sociedad 1-0 ( [.

That is the question that is being asked on our Barcelona fan site as there have been various reports this week that Manchester City are poised to make a monster bid for Andres Iniesta next month.

Iniesta is expected to be recognized as the best player in the world when the FIFA Ballon d'Or is handed out in Zurich on January 10 and the question is will he be a Barca player or a Man City player?

That is the question that is being asked on our Barcelona fan site as there have been various reports this week that Manchester City are poised to make a monster bid for Andres Iniesta next month.

Iniesta is expected to be recognized as the best player in the world when the FIFA Ballon d'Or is handed out in Zurich on January 10 and the question is will he be a Barca player or a Man City player?

Its a given isn't it - surely Messi, the bookies favourite, is going to take home the Ballon d'Or for the second year running?

• As this video shows, he scored three hat tricks in a week (10 in total)
• Last season he scored 47 goals in 53 games
• This season he has already scored 27 goals in 23 games (17 in 14 just in the League)
• He has scored 55 goals in the 2010 alone
• He broke his own record this season by scoring in 10 consecutive games
• The record ended when Barca bear Real Madrid 5-0.

Although Lionel Messi is most likely the front-runner for the Ballon d'Or in the eyes of many fans, the Argentinian believes that it is Xavi or Iniesta that deserve the prestigious award. The fact that Xavi and Iniesta not only performed in Club level but also for the Spain National, in which they took home the World Cup, Messi feels that these two are more deserving than him for the Ballon d'Or award.

Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina has rated Steven Gerrard as one of the greatest players he has been able to call a team-mate.
Captain Gerrard is set to return to lead his side against Wolves on Wednesday night after recovering from the hamstring injury sustained in England's defeat to France in November.

UEFA's annual popularity contest, the UEFA.com Team of the Year 2010, is up and running for your perusal and vote, and they apparently did a solid job this year. Of course maybe it's the lack of coffee so far, but there doesn't seem to be a terrible snub popping off the page at the moment.

David Villa scored a double assisted twice by MessiGoing into El Clasico both Barcelona and Real Madrid looked dangerous and confident as they swept through La Liga with few difficulties. To say the truth, Real Madrid was the team which was full of momentum going into El Clasico, especially considering that they'd won their last seven matches and hadn't lost in La Liga yet before they travelled to the Camp Nou.

Last Friday I posted ( see below ) news from Barcelona Sports paper "Mundo Deportivo" that mentioned that FC Barcelona midfielder XAVI HERNANDEZ would be the winner of the 2010 FIFA Golden Ball Award according to a survey done to 75 Football personalities. The second place was for team-mates Andres Iniesta & third place for Lionel Messi.

Last Friday I posted ( see below ) news from Barcelona Sports paper "Mundo Deportivo" that mentioned that FC Barcelona midfielder XAVI HERNANDEZ would be the winner of the 2010 FIFA Golden Ball Award according to a survey done to 75 Football personalities. The second place was for team-mates Andres Iniesta & third place for Lionel Messi.

For the first time since 1989, one single club can boast the honour of employing all three players named on FIFA's 2010 Ballon d'Or shortlist.

21 years ago, AC Milan achieved the feat when legendary triumvirate Franco Baresi, Frank Rijkaard and eventual winner Marco Van Basten were whittled down from the preliminary long list, but this time round it is Catalan powerhouse Barcelona who are now guaranteed to see one of their number crowned as the best player in world football come January 10th.

Although many people feel that the Ballon D'Or should go to either Messi, Xavi or Andres Iniesta, there is one man who went on to say that none of these three players are worthy of winning this prestigious award.

After all three players were called out as the last three runners for the Ballon D'Or, Inter Milan president, Massimo Moratti, went on to make his feelings known.

As you heard this morning, the Barcelona trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi were named the finalists for the prestigious Ballon d'Or given the World Player of the Year. As tough as it is to argue with any of those three selections, I can't help but wonder who most SBI readers would pick for 2010 World Player of the Year.

So short it's got an average height of 169.33 cm. That's almost a real person.

And it's decidedly Barcelona heavy. Actually, they might as well just hold the ceremony at the Camp Nou in their training tracksuits during a lull in cone work, with Pep making speeches scratched on scrap paper next to tactical notes whilst everyone's sucking on orange slices.

So short it's got an average height of 169.33 cm. That's almost a real person.

And it's decidedly Barcelona heavy. Actually, they might as well just hold the ceremony at the Camp Nou in their training tracksuits during a lull in cone work, with Pep making speeches scratched on scrap paper next to tactical notes whilst everyone's sucking on orange slices.

Barcelona stars Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi have been shortlisted for the FIFA Ballon d'Or. The winner will be announced in Zurich on January 10.

It's a remarkable feat for Barca to have three players nominated. The last time a club boasted all the players in the Ballon D'Or top three voting was in 1989 when Milan's Marco Van Basten, Franco Baresi and Frank Rijkaard were on the podium.

The three nominees for FIFA's top award, the Ballon d'Or, have been announced and all come from the same team. Barcelona players Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi have been nominated for this world player of the year award because of the success they have had on the field. Xavi and Iniesta helped Spain [.

STARTERS
Monterrey has won the 2010 Mexican Apertura championship! Mas cerveza, por favor!
dN
The 3 finalists for the FIFA Ballon d'Or are Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.
-That fact that Wesley Sneijder is not on this list again shows the incompetence of FIFA.

The trio of finalistsFIFA have finally announced the three players which will be competing for this year's Ballon d'Or! While I have always believed that Wesley Sneijder would win this award, it seems like FIFA has decided that the Dutch player shouldn't even be amongst the finalists.
It's nice to see that FIFA have finally given recognition to Xavi and Iniesta, two very underrated players which create ridiculous amounts of goals for their club and country.

So now we know. In the world according to FIFA, the three best players on the planet in 2010 are the Barcelona trio of Xavi Hernández, Andres Iniesta & Lionel Messi. Over this past weekend Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport first broke the news, which was then confirmed on Monday by France Football, that Inter & Holland talisman Wesley Sneijder would not be on the three man.

I may be in the minority here, but I feel that the shortlist for the new FIFA Ballon d'Or actually got it (almost) right. Messi, Xavi and Iniesta deserve this recognition. My argument is quite simple: since there are already so many awards -- UEFA Club Player of the Year, World Cup Golden Ball, etc.

Italian Sports daily "La Gazzetta dello Sport" picked beforehand & rightly the three candidates of the FIFA Golden Ball (Iniesta, Xavi & Messi) announcing that Wesley Sneijder would be left out. They have even published that due to "inside" information the winner of the 2010 FIFA Golden Ball would be Andres Iniesta.

Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez Creus and Andres Iniesta were the three players shortlisted for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award that goes to the best footballer in the world for 2010. The award is a joint effort from both the FIFA World Cup and the Champions League and domestic league competition from 2010.

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona will sell advertising on its shirts for the first time next season after reaching a five-year, 150 million euro ($200 million) deal with the Qatar Foundation. Barcelona will receive 30 million euro ($40 million) per season from 2011-12 from the nonprofit organization, located in the tiny gulf state where the 2022 [.

I must add my voice to the choir of critics of the chosen finalists for the 2010 Golden Boot: three Barcelona players, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi and Lionel Messi are the contenders for this year's title as the world's best player.Barcelona are indeed a powerful team that plays the most entertaining football in the world, and these three players are indeed the spinal chord of the team.

Defending champions FC Barcelona continued their recent fine run of form with a 5-0 defeat of Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou on Sunday. The win sees Barca maintain their two point lead over challengers Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish La Liga. David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and substitute Bojan Krkic all [.

Lionel Messi scored two more goals as Barcelona cruised to an impressive 5-0 win over Real Sociedad at the Nou Camp on Sunday evening.

David Villa kept up his good scoring record against Real as he netted his seventh goal in nine games against the Basques with only eight minutes on the clock.

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona produced another magical display of attacking football to sweep aside Real Sociedad 5-0 and return to the La Liga summit on Sunday. Following Real Madrid's 3-1 victory over Real Zaragoza, the onus was on Barcelona to maintain their two-point advantage and they took the game to their opponents from the start.

Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta are the the final three shortlisted for the award. If it wasn't for the women's award, the ceremony will probably be held at Nou Camp to save the traveling cost.

The last time a non-World Cup winning player to win the Ballon d'Or in a World Cup year was in 1994 and the player was Hristo Stoichkov while he was playing for Barcelona.

The news that January's Ballon d'Or will be handed to one of the three musketeers, Andres Iniesta, Leo Messi or Xavi Hernandez, is significant in various ways.

The Ghost gets a new housemate You just don't get adverts of this calibre on British TV, especially not starring the country's best footballers. The basic message is that you need to buy Gol TV if you want to watch La Liga matches but along the way Andres Iniesta injures a bear, allows the bear [...]