09.01.2012 - De final anunciado, la celebración y entrega del Premio Balón de Oro (2011) coronó a Lionel Messi como el mejor jugador del mundo (por tercera vez consecutiva).
Con 55 goles en 57 partidos y 5 títulos con Barcelona (Liga de España , Champions League , Mundial de Clubes, Supercopa de España y Supercopa de Europa, el año de Messi volvió a romper récords y felicitaciones.

Lionel Messi si aggiudica, come nelle previsioni della vigilia, il Pallone d'Oro 2011-2012. Il fuoriclasse argentino del Barcellona, gi vincitore delle ultime due edizioni dello speciale riconoscimento (premio calcistico istituito nel 1956 dalla rivista sportiva transalpina France Football), incassa il terzo si consecutivo.

Gerard Houllier has managed some exceptional players during his career but in a recent interview, Liverpool's treble-winning boss reserved special praise for former Man United player David Beckham.Speaking to France Football, Houllier had nothing but good things to say about Beckham, who could be on the verge of a move to Paris St.

By Chris Wright

FIFA have announced their three-man Ballon d'Or shortlist this morning, and it's crushingly predictable fare: Lionel Messi (the 5th time he's made the 'final three' in five years), Xavi (3rd time in 3 years) and Cristiano Ronaldo (4th time in five years).

France Football & FIFA has named public the last 3 finalists for this years GOLDEN BALL AWARD. They are CRISTIANO RONALDO ( Real Madrid ) , LIONEL MESSI & XAVI HERNANDEZ ( FC Barcelona ). This way SPANISH FOOTBALL gets prized for having in its League the 3 Best Players in World Football. The winner will be announced the 9th of January 2012 at the ceremony held at Zurich (Switzerland) Ronaldo

France Football & FIFA has named public the last 3 finalists for this years GOLDEN BALL AWARD. They are CRISTIANO RONALDO ( Real Madrid ) , LIONEL MESSI & XAVI HERNANDEZ ( FC Barcelona ). This way SPANISH FOOTBALL gets prized for having in its League the 3 Best Players in World Football. The winner will be announced the 9th of January 2012 at the ceremony held at Zurich (Switzerland) Ronaldo

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has voiced his 'huge pride' at emulating former club legends by wearing the number seven jersey at Anfield.
The Uruguay international has followed in the footsteps of Reds heroes such as manager Kenny Dalglish and ex-frontman Kevin Keegan by donning the revered shirt.

FIFA hands every year, along with the Golden Ball Award, it "Best Goal of the Season" prize that is officially named "FIFA Puskas Award". FERENC PUSKAS was the legendary Hungarian forward who became World famous with the REAL MADRID team of the 60s & notching up an incredible 680 goals in his career.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS
The Senior team is in France, while the Olympic team is in Germany
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Brian Straus of Sporting News does a Q & A with head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated examines today's France-USA game.

He may be only 20 years old and only just emerging into Arsène Wenger's first team, but Francis Coquelin has accused Arsenal of treating him unfairly in not giving him enough playing time. Speaking to France Football, the midfielder said, ""I thought I had a shot to play so I decided to stay at Arsenal.

So, you'll know already that the Arseblog book – So Paddy Got Up – is in the offing.

Today, I'm delighted to announce details of the contributors to the book and of the official launch which will take place in London on Dec 7th. Everyone is very welcome but to get an idea of numbers I've added it as a Facebook event here.

Welcome to another TGIF, which because of my work commitments is now written between Friday evening and Saturday morning. I still feel that this feature is worth producing. It gives me a chance to round up the issues of the week and comment about anything which is exercising Gooners over their pints of beer.

02.11.2011 - La Comisión del Fútbol, la Comisión Técnica y de Desarrollo y un grupo de expertos de (la revista) France Football, elaboraron las listas de candidatos preseleccionados que comprenden 23 jugadores y 10 entrenadores.
El 5 de diciembre (2011), la FIFA y France Football anunciarán (en París) las ternas definitivas para la 56º entrega del Balón de Oro.

Lionel Messi is on course to equal Barcelon'a all time leading Goal scoring record of 235 set by Cesar Rodriguez during his 16 year stint with the club from 1939-1955.

Messi has scored an impressive 120 plus goals in the past two seasons and no matter how much people may try and hate on him, he is by far the world's best player at the moment.

Lionel Messi is on course to equal Barcelon'a all time leading Goal scoring record of 235 set by Cesar Rodriguez during his 16 year stint with the club from 1939-1955.

Messi has scored an impressive 120 plus goals in the past two seasons and no matter how much people may try and hate on him, he is by far the world's best player at the moment.

La FIFA y la revista 'France Football' anunciaron este martes los nombres de los diez candidatos a 'Entrenador Mundial 2011', entre los que se encuentran los finalistas que optaron al premio el año pasado y que recayó en el entrenador del Real Madrid, José Mourinho.
Junto a él, estuvieron como aspirantes el seleccionador nacional español, Vicente del Bosque, campeón del mundo en 2010, así como el entrenador del FC Barcelona, Pep Guardiola, que la pasada campaña conquistó de nuevo la Liga BBVA y la Liga de Campeones, entre otros trofeos, que también aparecen en la lista.

As advanced yesterday, the full list of the 23 player candidates for the upcoming FIFA GOLDEN BALL AWARD is now officially known after coming down from the initial 50 names. France Football has made it official today, with 3 finalists to be named on the 5th of December. The winner will be named on the 9th of January 2012 in Zurich (Switzerland).

SPANISH SPORTS paper based in Barcelona "Mundo Deportivo" has advanced the "exclusive" news that EIGHT FC BARCELONA players have made the cut of 23 player candidates for this years FIFA GOLDEN BALL AWARD. REAL MADRID has FIVE players in the 23 candidate cut, "leaked" tonight by the Barcelona paper. Days back FRANCE FOOTBALL handed in their initial list of 50 FIFA Golden Ball players, that has

FIFA and France Football have announced the names of the players and coaches on the short lists for the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year and the FIFA World Coach of the Year for the Women's Football and three U.S. players have made the list of 10: Abby Wambach, Hope Solo and Alex Morgan.
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France Football has handed in the list of the initial 50 candidates chosen for this years FIFA GOLDEN BALL AWARD. These are now the following procedures: 1. 1st of November the list of 50 will be shortened to 23 players 2. 5th of December , three players will be named as finalists 3. 9th of January 2012 the winner will be announced Spanish Football based players: courtesy of Marca.

Some big stars keep playing till their impact on the game fades away slowly overtime. Maradona, Romario, Bebeto, Peter Shilton are some examples. I remember Lothar Matthaus in an interview stating that one of the mistakes he did in his career was to play too late for the national side, especially the Euro 2000 when Germany had paled appearance and linked to his name.

Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour is convinced that Mikel Arteta is just what the Gunners needed after they sold Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri this summer. Speaking to France Football, the Englishman confessed that the Gunners ...

Transfer Rumors: Chelsea Close On Special Juan - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

There's a little more than a week left in the summer transfer window, and as is the case every summer, there are a few unresolved situations heading into the homestretch.

We'll report the latest developments on those fronts in due time, as there is something new to report with two of the summer's longest-running remaining transfer sagas.

Liverpool is set to sign Ivory Coast youngster Victorien Angban, according to France Football.
The Under-17 international played a pivotal part with his country during the recent World Cup, playing alongside striker Souleymane Coulibaly, who broke a 10-year scoring record by scoring nine goals during the recent World Cup in Mexico.

This week's cover of France Football is a first for the squad - the headline "On Vous Aime!" has a lovely double resonance. It means "We love you!" and it's used by football fans - I have a Marseille scarf with this exact thing written on it. (Who writes that on a football scarf but the French!

Lille winger Gervinho revealed that he is very close to Arsenal as he explained why he decided to join Arsene Wenger's side. Speaking to France Football, the Ivory Coast International explained that there are minor details ...

Hello everyone and welcome to July 1st.

Picture me standing, leaning forward, cupping my ear, waiting, listening. 'Listening for what?', you ask. Well, the tiny patter of new feet, of course! Today is the day when it all starts. July 1st. The day of the transfer. El dia del traslado. Le jour du trawnsfeeeerrrr.

Newcastle United allegedly maintain a strong interest in Saint-Etienne's Blaise Matuidi and Paris Saint-Germain's Mevlüt Erdinç. According to 'France Football' (as well as our very own Chronicle) the French revolution is far from over at Newcastle. Apparently we are still pursuing a legendary 'double swoop' for Blaise Matuidi and Mevlüt Erdinç.

Liverpool is the latest side to be credited with an interest in Brest striker Nolan Roux, according to France Football, and could move for the Frenchman this week.
The 23-year-old has attracted a plethora of suitors following a stellar Ligue 1 campaign in which he scored six goals in 28 appearances for the strugglers.

Gerard Houllier has reflected on his departure from Aston Villa and admitted that it was entirely necessary; it was just too risky for both the club and his own health. He also says that the club were "still traumatised" by the nature of Martin O'Neill's exit five days before the season started.

Somehow, Deep Down Inside, we all knew that it was going to end in divorce between the 2 of them.
.When Florentino Perez became the President of Real Madrid for a second time, many probably felt that here we were again, right back on the pattern of hiring and firing at least one coach per season till the silverware came along.

Somehow, Deep Down Inside, we all knew that it was going to end in divorce between the 2 of them.
.When Florentino Perez became the President of Real Madrid for a second time, many probably felt that here we were again, right back on the pattern of hiring and firing at least one coach per season till the silverware came along.

Somehow, Deep Down Inside, we all knew that it was going to end in divorce between the 2 of them.
.When Florentino Perez became the President of Real Madrid for a second time, many probably felt that here we were again, right back on the pattern of hiring and firing at least one coach per season till the silverware came along.

Liverpool have been given a boost in their hopes to secure France international winger Dimitri Payet, according to reports.
The official Liverpool website has cited sources claiming that the winger, who is reportedly worth £7 million, has been fielding interest from big name clubs throughout Europe, with Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish keen to grow his attacking force.

France Football, as is customary for every single publication the world over, has released its list of football's most handsomely rewarded from all facets of the business. There are, predictably, no surprises. Messi, Ronaldo, everybody else even Golden McNuggets can no longer compete with the Clasico Kids.

In a very interesting interview with FourFourTwo magazine, Maradona talked about many parts of his life, and in many of his favorite things. What's interesting when he talked about his favorite player when he was young. Definitely, he was not Pele : ), it was not Mario Kempes or Alfredo De Stefano or Danial Passarella.

Manchester United and Liverpool are both interested in Marseille defender Taye Taiwo, according to the Daily Mail.
The Nigerian is out of contract in the summer and has already stated his intention to leave France, which has led to increasing speculation that he will move to the Barclays Premier League.

Que complicados son los premios individuales en un deporte de equipo. Siempre surgirá la polémica, las opiniones y por lo tanto la inconformidad de algún sector. En lo personal no me encantan, porque un jugador no gana solo, nunca, ni Maradona ni Pelé ganaron solos y esta vez tampoco Messi lo hizo.

LAUSANNE/NYON The European Footballer of the Year award – betrayed, diluted and sold off by its original French creators – is to be revived by the European federation. UEFA president Michel Platini, a three-times winner of the original prize, will present the first of the new version at the organisation's annual eve-of-term event in [.

By Chris Wright

After netting 60 goals for club and country during 2010, Barcelona's littlest ball of awesome Lionel Messi has been bestowed with the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or award (this is the first time that FIFA's Player of the Year award has been merged with France Football's golden trinket, both of which Messi won last year), pipping teammates Xavi (you get the feeling this was probably his last chance to have his artisan talents formally recognised by FIFA during his playing days) and Andres Iniesta into second and third place respectively.