The world's best player� ensured Barca avenged the Coppa del Rey exit at the hands of Sevilla� when he scored two goals in the 4-0 rout of the Rojiblancos. Lionel Messi not only helped the Catalan club thump Sevilla but also made sure the lead over Real Madrid got extended to a comfortable five points.

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Leo gives us his 'I'm ridiculous' face. Sending out nominees is the cool thing to do this time of year. UEFA did it yesterday and the Ballon d'Or is so cool they got the final award out of the way back in November. Which means it's time for more and FIFA are next up. Because FIFA always [...] Click to continue reading...

Ascoli and Reggina give a lesson in fair play......after a small brawl and red cards. * The defender, injured, tried to kick the ball out of play in order to be substituted. Ascoli, through either mischievousness or ignorance, would have none of this and begun galloping to goal. Ascoli then got fair played into a [. Click to continue reading...

Doesn't The Messiah look all forlorn and contemplative in that photo? And haven't we seen that familiar look before.... on a Mime's face somewhere? Il est un acteur beau! UEFA should commission an opera about football and call it Le Grande Affair.

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Barcelona's star Lionel Messi has capped his great week with two goals to lead the Catalan side to a 3-1 victory over Deportivo La Coruna. Several days ago he was named the Ballon d'Or winner after a stunning year during which he led Barca to three titles- Champions League, la Liga and Copa del Rey.

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Die Wahl ist entschieden! Nicht die Bundestagswahl, die haben wir schon Ende September hinter uns gebracht, dieses Mal jedoch geht es um eine sportliche Entscheidung! Der Ballon d'or 2009, für uns umgangssprachlich auch unter der Bezeichnung „Europas Fussballer des Jahres 2009″� bekannt, hat seinen diesjährigen Meister gefunden. Click to continue reading...

This week's main report looks at the newly-crowned Ballon D'or winner, Leo Messi. The transcript can be found below, while vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Listen to the report here

Recently I was involved in a discussion with some friends over whether Brazilian star Kaka was a better player than his Real Madrid team mate Ronaldo.

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The Ballon D'Or winner was announced and 2009's number one player was Lionel Messi, Argentinean phenomenon currently playing for Barcelona.
Here is the order of players

1. Lionel Messi - 473 points
2. Cristiano Ronaldo - 233 points
3. Xavi - 170 points
4. Andres Iniesta - 149 points
5. Samuel Eto'o - 75 points
6. Kaka - 58 points
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 50 points
8. Wayne Rooney - 35 points
9. Didier Drogba - 33 points
10. Steven Gerrard - 32 points

Messi is the first Argentinean to win the famed trophy, and he won it by a landslide, last years winner Cristiano Ronaldo had no chance after Messi won the treble with Barcelona last year. Click to continue reading...

Yep, it was him. As predicted Lionel Messi took France Football's Ballon D'Or award. He is the first Argentinian to ever take it and one of the youngest ones ever to take home the Golden Ball. Messi had 473 votes against 233 to C. Ron and 170 to Xavi Hernandez. Kaká was 6th with 58 votes.

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As expected Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d'Or 2009 by a substantial margin.� The Barcelona and Argentina star succeeds Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the trophy last year after helping Manchester United to glory in the 2008 Champions League. Ronaldo finished runner-up this time around. Messi won an unprecedented treble last season as the Catalan side [. Click to continue reading...

As expected Lionel Messi succeeded Cristiano Ronaldo as the winner of the Ballon d'Or award. The Barcelona star comfortably won the prize but he� admitted� his� surprise at the margin of victory as he received 240 points more than Cristiano Ronaldo who finished second.

Messi� was quite close to winning all 480 points � possible as he finished with a near perfect 473 points while Real Madrid's Ronaldo got 233 points which is less than half of Messi's total!

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Was it really ever in doubt? All the big boys are reporting it, so it must be true. Lionel Messi, the Barcelona mastermind, is the Ballon d'Or winner by the largest margin in voting history and, incredibly, as the very first Argentine. In fact the manner of his win is just staggering: The award's 96 jurors gave [. Click to continue reading...

There used to be 30... now the contestants for the Ballon D'Or, France Football Magazine annual award, are down to 10. The winner (as well as the 10 player shortlist) is selected by many European journalists and will be announced tomorrow, December 1st. Cristiano Ronaldo took it last year and I find it hard he will get it again but you never know.

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The Ballon d'Or shortlist just got shorter. There were originally 30 players in contention, but the various European journalists have voted and now we're down to a list of 10 players. Those players are: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United and Real Madrid) Didier Drogba (Côte d'Ivoire, Chelsea) Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, Barcelona and Inter Milan) Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool) Zlatan Ibrahimovic [. Click to continue reading...

The full list of nominations for the 2009 Ballon d'Or has now been shortlisted down to ten and the winner will be announced on Tuesday 1st December.� The Ballon d'Or is voted for by journalists and organised by France Football magazine. It's gotta be Messi's this year though right? The final ten are: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) Didier Drogba [. Click to continue reading...

The final ten nominees for the 2009 Ballon D'Or have been released, and Barcelona dominates the list with Messi favored to win the trophy.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United-Real Madrid)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea)
Samuel Eto'o (Camerun, Barcelona-Inter Milan)
Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Inter Milan-Barcelona)
Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona)
Kaka (Brazil, AC Milan-Real Madrid)
Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona)
Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United)
Xavi (Spain, Barcelona)
The winner of the Ballon D'Or is considered the best player in European football for that year, the winner is decided by a poll of football journalists compiled by France Football, the winner should be revealed Tuesday. Click to continue reading...

Most would agree that the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards are the two biggest individual honours a footballer can win. Bigger even than my Netherton Colts East U-14 Manager's Player of the Year Runner-Up trophy (pictured?). But which award is really the one to win? The Ballon d'Or has the [. Click to continue reading...

Something to read while you enjoy the Top 30 A-League Goals of All Time (so far)... English football 1991-92 season in review (EPL Talk) FM2010: Digital Sunderland is the new digital Newcastle (Football Manager Offside) End of an era at Pro Vercelli (Run of Play) Ten players who played into their 40s (Podcast Offside) An alternative take on the Ballon [. Click to continue reading...

Something to read while you enjoy the Top 30 A-League Goals of All Time (so far)... English football 1991-92 season in review (EPL Talk) FM2010: Digital Sunderland is the new digital Newcastle (Football Manager Offside) End of an era at Pro Vercelli (Run of Play) Ten players who played into their 40s (Podcast Offside) An alternative take on the Ballon [. Click to continue reading...

FIFA has announced its shortlist of 23 players for the Men's World Player of the Year award, and 10 players for the Women's World Player of the Year Award. National team captains and coaches will now vote (but not for players from their own country) and this final five will be revealed in early December, with the winners announced at FIFA's World Player bash in Zurich on December 21st.

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Argentine ace and Barcelona star Lionel Messi has had quite a year.� After leading Barcelona to an unprecedented treble in the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Ray he is now up for both the Ballon d'Or (European footballer of the year) and the equally prestigious FIFA World Player of the Year.

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At the Euro 2008 Semi Final, I love this picture! Thanks to whoever who took it.

Two of Arsenal's holy trinity have been nominated for this prestigious award. The third component of this trinity,� Robin� van Persie � curiously has been ignored.� Since November 2008,� Robin has� been the most consistent Gooner full stop.

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Europa sucht wieder einmal, sucht nach dem Ballon d'Or, dem besten Fussballer 2009. Wie jedes Jahr geht die Wahl von der französischen Sportzeitung „France Football" aus und wie jedes Jahr gibt es im Vorfeld der Wahl eine Liste der Nominierten. Deutsche Spieler sind dieses Jahr nicht mit dabei, dafür aber zwei aktuelle Bundesligaspieler. Click to continue reading...

Who deserves the plaudits?

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Veteran Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs is one of five British footballers nominated for the 2009 European Player of the Year award.

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France Football magazine has announced the following 30 nominees for their 2009 Golden Ball (Ballon D'Or) Award:
Andrei Arshavin (Russia and Arsenal)
Karim Benzema (France and OL/Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Spain and Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal and Manchester United/Real Madrid)
Diego (Brazil and Werder Bremen/Juventus)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast and Chelsea)
Edin Dzeko (Bosnia and Wolfsburg)
Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon and Barcelona/Inter Milan)
Cesc Fabregas (Spain and Arsenal)
Fernando Torres (Spain and Liverpool)
Diego Forlan (Uruguay and Atletico Madrid)
Steven Gerrard (England and Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Wales and Manchester United)
Yoann Gourcuff (France and Bordeaux)
Thierry Henry (France and Barcelona)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden and Inter Milan/Barcelona)
Andres Iniesta (Spain and Barcelona)
Julio Cesar (Brazil and Inter Milan)
Kaka' (Brazil and AC Milan/Real Madrid)
Frank Lampard (England and Chelsea)
Maicon (Brazil and Inter Milan)
Lionel Messi (Argentina and Barcelona)
Luis Fabiano (Brazil and FC Seville)
Franck Ribery (France and Bayern Munich)
Wayne Rooney (England and Manchester United)
John Terry (England and Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Serbia and Manchester United)
David Villa (Spain and Valencia)
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The nominations are out for this year's Ballon d'Or, last years winner Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the favourites to win. The European champions Spain are the best represented nation with six players listed, whilst the La Liga boasts the most players from a single league with twelve. The Premier League is next best with ten [. Click to continue reading...

Why does the Premier League produce so few Ballon d'Or winners? This year's edition of the Champions League has followed the script so far, and unless a major upset occurs in the quarter-finals, then at least one English team will be in the finals for the fifth straight year. One oft-cited reason for this dominance is that [. Click to continue reading...

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, FIFA World Footballer of the Year 2008. Already crowned European Footballer of the Year 2008, Ronaldo added to his trophy collection with the ultimate accolade for any footballer. Born in 1985 in Funchal, Madeira, Ronaldo has reached the peak of his profession in just a few short years. Click to continue reading...

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, FIFA World Footballer of the Year 2008. Already crowned European Footballer of the Year 2008, Ronaldo added to his trophy collection with the ultimate accolade for any footballer. Born in 1985 in Funchal, Madeira, Ronaldo has reached the peak of his profession in just a few short years. Click to continue reading...

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, FIFA World Footballer of the Year 2008. Already crowned European Footballer of the Year 2008, Ronaldo added to his trophy collection with the ultimate accolade for any footballer. Born in 1985 in Funchal, Madeira, Ronaldo has reached the peak of his profession in just a few short years. Click to continue reading...