FC Barcelona was adjudged the World Team of the Year by the Laueres Award comittee, in a grand ceremony held in London. This is the first time FC Barcelona is winning the prestigous award, which in some circles is called "The Osacr of Sporting World". Club president Sandro Rosell received the award for Barca.

Dancing Dani Barcelona wing-back Dani Alves seemed to signal the end of Real Madrid's Copa Del Rey challenge with this unbelievable goal on the stroke of half-time during last night's quarter-final second leg. It wasn't quite so clean cut in the end. Despite this wonder goal giving Barca a 4-1 aggregate lead, Real fought back [.

Messi scores another hat trick in victory over Malaga (Photo: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)

An inspired three-goal performance from Lionel Messi saw Barcelona defeat Malaga 4-1 at La Rosaleda, keeping the Catalans within striking distance of Real Madrid in the race for the La Liga title.

By Alan Duffy

Forget the roasting and the racism, the diving and the drinking, sometimes footballers can actually be rather nice. And there seems to be no nicer chap in the world of football right now than Barcelona's Eric Abidal.

The 32-year-old French defender, who recovered from liver cancer himself, recentlyvisited a local hospital in Barcelona and was particularly moved by one patient, 15-year-old Juan Garcia.

Barcelona celebrated Eric Abidal's goal in their 2-1 win over Real Madrid last night. Abidal, who has officially completed his cancer recovery, is certainly an inspiration to all in football! / via Reuters

Tweet This Post

In a game filled with attacking superstars, it was a pair of gritty defenders that decided the latest edition of El Clasico.

Carles Puyol and Eric Abidal turned around a 1-0 halftime deficit as Barcelona defeated eternal rivals Real Madrid, 2-1, at the Estadio Bernabeu in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey Wednesday.

By Chris Wright

"I fart in your general direction!"

Eric Abidal's second goal in over five seasons at the club saw Barcelona come from behind to snatch the victory in last night's Copa del Rey quarter-final first-leg El Clasico in the Bernabeu.

Goals by Carles Puyol and Eric Abidal gave Barcelona a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Copa Del Rey quarter-final clash. The Spanish and European champions came from a goal down to win seal a fine 2-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu leaving Pep Guardiola's men in prime position to [..

Barca fans across the globe were given a very happy news ahead of the first leg of Copa del Rey clasico - King Abidal will be extending his stay at Barca. Abidal's current contract wiould have ended in this June and a lot of Barca fans were quiet worried at the delay in tying up the Frenchman at Camp Nou.

Here we are in the January transfer window, and we are all excited over the new stars that will be coming to the Emirates.

There is talk of this one, and talk of that one. Yet behind all the hype in the press you have Wenger telling us what I am afraid is going to be a very big disappointment for us all, and that is they do not want to spend any money with this financial crisis going to only get worse.

Looks like the 23 year old Argentinian striker/ winger has committed himself to remaining at Anderlecht to help them win the Jupiter League. He has been strongly linked with Arsenal with Wenger tracking him for months since the Europa Cup began. Suarez has scored 14 goals for the Belgian first division side.

AS Lyon Duchère vs. Olympique Lyonnais

Coupe de France, Round of 64

Coupe de France greets us on the other side of the winter break, and OL travels to, well, Lyon. The fourth division team of Lyon Duchère, the youth club of Eric Abidal, hosts Olympique Lyonnais, the big boys this time.

Eric Abidal is a free transfer target for both Liverpool and Manchester City as he approaches the end of his Barcelona contract.
The France international's current deal is scheduled to expire at the end of the season and he is now entitled to speak to other clubs about a summer move.
Barcelona has offered him a two-year contract extension, but with a number of major European clubs interested, the defender has asked for time to think about his future, reports L'Equipe.

Eric Abidal is a free transfer target for both Liverpool and Manchester City as he approaches the end of his Barcelona contract.
The France international's current deal is scheduled to expire at the end of the season and he is now entitled to speak to other clubs about a summer move.
Barcelona has offered him a two-year contract extension, but with a number of major European clubs interested, the defender has asked for time to think about his future, reports L'Equipe.

Santos - FC Barcelona0:4 (0:3)
FechaSede / EstadioHoraAsistencia
18 diciembre 2011 Yokohama / International Stadium Yokohama19:3068166Goles marcadosLionel MESSI (BAR) 17', XAVI (BAR) 24', Cesc FABREGAS (BAR) 45', Lionel MESSI (BAR) 82'Santos
[1] RAFAEL CABRAL (GK) [2] EDU DRACENA (C) [3] LEO [4] DANILO (-31') [5] AROUCA [6] DURVAL [7] HENRIQUE [9] BORGES (-79') [10] GANSO (-83') [11] NEYMAR [14] BRUNO RODRIGO En el banquillo [12] ARANHA (GK) [23] VLADIMIR (GK) [8] ELANO (+31') [13] BRUNO AGUIAR [15] ANDERSON CARVALHO [16] VINICIUS [17] FELIPE ANDERSON [18] IBSON (+83') [19] ALAN KARDEC (+79') [20] Wason RENTERIA [21] PARA [22] DIOGO Entrenador Muricy RAMALHO (BRA)
FC Barcelona[1] Victor VALDES (GK) [2] DANI ALVES [3] Gerard PIQUE (-56') [4] Cesc FABREGAS [5] Carles PUYOL (C) (-85') [6] XAVI [8] Andres INIESTA [10] Lionel MESSI [11] THIAGO (-79') [16] Sergio BUSQUETS [22] Eric ABIDAL
En el banquillo [13] PINTO (GK) [25] Oier OLAZABAL (GK) [7] David VILLA [A] [9] Alexis SANCHEZ [14] Javier MASCHERANO (+56') [15] Seydou KEITA [17] PEDRO (+79') [18] Jonathan DOS SANTOS [19] MAXWELL [21] ADRIANO [24] Andreu FONTAS (+85') [27] Isaac CUENCA Entrenador Pep GUARDIOLA (ESP)
Amonestaciones
Gerard PIQUE (BAR) 39'
, Javier MASCHERANO (BAR) 71'
, GANSO (SAN) 73'
, EDU DRACENA (SAN) 74'
Expulsiones
Cuerpo arbitral del partido
ÁrbitroRavshan IRMATOV (UZB) Assistant Referee 1Abdukhamidullo RASULOV (UZB) Cuarto ÁrbitroYuichi NISHIMURA (JPN) Assistant Referee 2Bakhadyr KOCHKAROV (KGZ) Quinto ÁrbitroToru SAGARA (JPN)
Santos (BRA )EstadísticasFC Barcelona (ESP)8Disparos163Remates a puerta90Goles413Faltas cometidas1311Faltas recibidas132Saques de esquina41Tiros libres ejecutados (al arco)10 / 0Lanzamientos penales (Goles/Remates)0 / 00Fueras de juego60Goles en propia meta02Tarjetas amarillas20Segunda tarjeta amarilla y tarjeta roja00Tarjetas rojas018Tiempo real de juego4529%Posesión del balón71% Gracias por tu visita Estadísticas de Fútbol

photo credit: prettyfriendshipThanks to Cesc Fabregas, Xavi and, of course, Lionel Messi Barcelona won the World Club Cup at a canter. Santos, arguably the best team in South America at the moment, were disposed of as though they were an irritant to Barcelona. This Barcelona side take no prisoners.

It's nearly the end of 2011 (already!), which means its time for leagues and/or associations to bestow some shiny medal to a few of footy's fiercest faces and bodies. Personally, we can't say we have a storied past of winning things and thus, know how it feels since most of the plaques stored beneath our desks say "Dirty Tackle" on them, but we (like most girls) have practised our beauty queen waves all the same.

A finely chiselled and beautifully honed conductor of electricity and heat. And the LFP Award for best goalkeeper. Image via totalbarca.

After a busy week that saw Cesc Fabregas crumble under the intense pressure of our whining, a reveal of the strange bathing predilections of the Portuguese NT and a few choice players sharing what they don't want for Christmas, we are pleased to finally be able to bring you some proper football news.

By Alan Duffy

Turning their attention away from silly little issues like racism, the international footballing authorities have announced their 55-man shortlist for the FIFPRO World XI 2011. (FIFPRO is the Federation Internationale des Associations de Footballers Professionnels, by the way)

Six players from good old Blighty have made the list, with Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale worthy of their places in the elite list.

By Chris Wright

Don't know if you heard, but Kevin-Prince Boateng scored a bit of a belter at the San Siro last night, exploding past Eric Abidal with a couple of brilliant touches before cracking a shot past Victor Valdes at his near post.

His celebration wasn't particularly shabby either.

Arsenal and Liverpool are amongst the teams ready to try and sign Eric Abidal, according to the Mirror.
The agent of the French left-back has claimed that it is more and more likely Abidal could leave the Nou Camp with his contract out at the end of the season.
Both Arsenal and Liverpool invested in new full-backs over the summer in the form of Andre Santos and Jose Enrique but appear to be keen on adding Abidal.

SPANISH SPORTS daily "AS" has published that FC BARCELONA Coach Guardiola sent over to London a "confidant" to watch TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS & Welsh International GARETH BALE do his stuff down the left flank in his last Premier League game. Gareth Bale Barça Coach Guardiola likes the ways of Bale & sees the 22 year old as a possible substitute for Frenchmen Eric Abidal who is currently negotiating

The United States is set to face its biggest test of the Klinsmann era with a visit to France on Friday in an international friendly. This is just the third meeting between the two teams with France winning the previous two games 6-0 and 3-0 in 1979.

France
France has already qualified for Euro 2012 so expect France coach Laurent Blanc to give some younger players much needed experience.

This will not be an Arsenal related post. It's the Interlull and while there's been sufficient topic of discussion to go about, I felt it would be nice to take a break and write about other things for a change. Was suggested this wonderful site by WengerBoy1 on twitter and there's some wonderful statistics on there.

France has shuffled its roster ahead of the game on Friday with the U.S. MNT. Samir Nasri will miss the game due to a knee injury. Manager Laurent Blanc has not elected to call up a replacement but there are a few other injury doubts for Les Bleus ahead of Friday's game. Both Yohan Cabaye and Florent Malouda have fitness concerns.

Via US Soccer:

Will it be Chandler's forehead vs. Ribery's....face?

France head coach Laurent Blanc has named a 22-man roster for the upcoming match against the U.S. Men's National Team on Nov. 11. Blanc calls in a formidable squad for the countries' first meeting since 1979, with Ballon d'Or nominees Eric Abidal and Karim Benzema among the headliners.

GK: Cédric Carrasso (Bordeaux), Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille) DEF: Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Matthieu Debuchy (Lille), Jérémy Mathieu (Valencia), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Adil Rami (Valencia), Anthony Réveillère (Lyon), Mamadou Sakho (PSG) MID: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle), Alou Diarra (Marseille), Florent Malouda (Chelsea) Yann M'Vila (Rennes), Marvin Martin, (Sochaux), Samir Nasri (Manchester City) FOR: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kevin Gameiro (PSG), Jérémy Ménez (PSG), Loïc Rémy (Marseille), Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier)

France head coach Laurent Blanc has named a 22-man roster for the upcoming match against the U.S. Men's National Team on Nov. 11. Blanc calls in a formidable squad for the countries' first meeting since 1979, with Ballon d'Or nominees Eric Abidal and Karim Benzema among the headliners. The U.S. Men's National Team will release its roster on Thursday.

France national team head coach Laurent Blanc has released his roster for the upcoming friendly against the U.S. men's national team, and as expected, the team is stacked.

Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Hugo Lloris headline a 22-man roster that will face the United States and Belgium on November 11 and 15, respectively.

Take a look for yourselves, courtesy of the mugshots on FFF.fr. And that's without Gourcuff.

I'll update later, but here's the squad to face the USA and Belgium:

Goalkeepers
Cedric Carrasso (Girondins Bordeaux)
Hugo Lloris (Olympique Lyon)
Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille)

Defenders
Eric Abidal (Barcelona)
Matthieu Debuchy (Lille)
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)
Adil Rami (Valencia)
Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)
Jeremy Mathieu (Valencia)
Mamadou Sakho (Paris St Germain)

Midfielders
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United)
Alou Diarra (Marseille)
Yann M'Vila (Stade Rennes)
Marvin Martin (Sochaux)

Attacking Midfielders
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
Jeremy Menez (PSG)
Samir Nasri (Manchester City)
Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

Forwards
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Kevin Gameiro (PSG)
Olivier Giroud (Montpellier)
Loic Remy (Marseille)

Wayne Rooney is the only British player to make the Ballon d'Or World Footballer of the Year shortlist. In addition to Rooney, there are three other Premier League stars nominated: Nani (Man Utd), Luis Suarez (Liverpool) and Sergio Aguero (Man City).

It is no surprise that Barcelona lead all teams with eight players on the list, including Lionel Messi, who has won the award for the past two seasons.

Last year three Barcelona players shared the stage at the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala and that remarkable scene could be repeated this year as eight Barcelona players have made the 23-man Ballon d'Or shortlist, with Lionel Messi odds on favourite to win the award for the third year in succession.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo lead a stacked field of finalists for the Ballon d'Or, French publication France Football announced on Tuesday.

A total of 23 finalists were revealed for the award, which Lionel Messi is considered the favorite to win for the third straight year.

Just four players from the Premier League have been included in the short list for this year's Ballon d'Or, two of them from Manchester United, Nani and Rooney.

Interestingly enough, Rooney is the only Englishman mentioned.

Eric Abidal (France), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).

Este martes 25 de Octubre se dio a conocer la primer lista de nomiados al mejor jugador o el premio mejor conocido como balón de oro 2011. En esta primera entrega para beneplacito de los aficionados mexicanos se encuentra Javier Chicharito Hernandez delantero estrella del Manchester United.
La lista definitiva con los 23 jugadores será publicada el 1 de Noviembre, donde se conocerá si el jugador mexicano figura entre los futbolistas más votados por la Comisión de Fútbol, que más adelante, el cinco de diciembre para ser exactos, nombrara a los tres finalistas que buscan el reconocimiento del mejor jugador que se otorgará el próximo nueve de enero del 2012.

Image via Sport.es.

Lordy! Someone is growing up to be quite a scrumptious scruff master!

If you aren't already familiar, then it gives us great pleasure to introduce our contingency of readers to Barcelona's centre back, Andreu Fontas, who just renewed his contract with the club through 2015.

It has to be said, Taye Taiwo's start to his Milan career has been much like the team's start to the Serie A season, disappointing to say the least. The Nigerian has started just one match to date and it was not one that showed much promise. Rather, he was a nervous wreck and it [...]

With Barcelona linked with a surprise move for Chelsea star Ashley Cole, it may seem that the time may be right for Roman Abramovich to cash in on his controversial left back and reinvest the profit in his team.

Cole's time at Stamford Bridge has been extremely successful, but with the former Arsenal player turning 31 just before Christmas, and out of contract in 2013, the financial benefits of a move should not be lost on the Chelsea board.

Euro Qualifier on Friday.

Fifa.com has a post about Cisse and Gomis being called up as replacements to injured players who include:

Benzema;
Ribery; and
Sagna.

That's 3 starters, plus Abidal reportedly has "fitness concerns."

Mexes is still out, right? We should get an updated roster:

From AFP "one day ago":

Revised France squad

Goalkeepers
Hugo Lloris (Lyon)
Steve Mandanda (Marseille)
Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux)

Defenders
Eric Abidal (Barcelona/ESP)
Mathieu Debuchy (Lille)
Adil Rami (Valencia/ESP)
Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ENG)
Anthony Reveillere (Lyon)
Younes Kaboul (Tottenham/ENG)
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/ENG)
Jeremy Mathieu (Valencia/ESP)

Midfielders
Alou Diarra (Marseille)
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle/ENG)
Yann Mvila (Rennes)
Florent Malouda (Chelsea/ENG)
Jeremy Menez (Paris SG)
Samir Nasri (Manchester City/ENG)
Marvin Martin (Sochaux)
Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)

Forwards
Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon)
Kevin Gameiro (Paris SG)
Loic Remy (Marseille)
Djibril Cisse (Lazio/ITA)

Just a brief reminder that if France do not win against Albania, we're probably screwed (i.

The international break provides FC Barcelona time for Iniesta and Fabregas to recover (Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)

FIFA's infamous international breaks are dreaded by most club soccer fans, who think that they kill the momentum of the league season and add extra weight on the legs of key players.