By Alan Duffy

Those overpaid, underworked suits ensconced in the plush environs of Geneva have taken time out from their golf outings and gala receptions to put together their team of the year for 2011 which has been compiled from over 4.

At this point only World Cup success eludes him. But Leo Messi has done enough to earn himself a place in the pantheon of the greats. He was awarded the trophy by O Fenomeno looking none the worse for wear for someone recently recovering from dengue fever.

Messi beat out Cristiano Ronaldo, the Liga's top scorer last season, and his Barca team mate Xavi.

The debate whether or not he's the greatest ever may never be resolved, but he is certainly well on his way to being the most decorated. The gentleman from Rosario won his third consecutive Ballon d'Or at the ripe old age of 24.

And he did it showing up in purple velvet.

According to the description (good luck getting a universally accepted tally on this stat), guess who's currently leading Big Europe in assists this season? Yup.

It's pretty unfair when he's surrounded by that type of talent, given the fact that rolling one onto the boot of a teammate is like rolling Adriano into a buffet he's very unlikely to fluff his chance.

En Eurosport han sacado el recuento de Los 10 mejores goles de la Champions League 2011 fase de grupos, como ya lo han de saber la Champions League es el mejor torneo de clubes de futbol en el mundo. Esto sucede cuando buenos futbolistas se esfuerzan al maximo de sus capacidades.

10.

By Chris Wright

Presenting, the ten best goals (that I could find corresponding videos for) scored during the El Clasico fixture since the dawn of time. To be perfectly honest, they're just ten fine goals the order is more or less superfluous.

10. Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid, 2001/2.

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

This is a 2011 list of top 20 highest paid soccer players in the world.

RankPLAYERSCLUBSMONTHLYANNUAL 1Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid€ 1,000,000€ 12 million 2 Lionel MessiFC Barcelona€ 875,000€ 10.5 million 3 Fernando TorresChelsea€ 833,000€ 10 million 4 Yaya Toure Manchester City € 833,000€ 10 million 5 Wayne Rooney Manchester United € 791,000€ 9,500,000 6 Ricardo Kaka Real Madrid € 750,000 € 9,000,000 7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic AC Milan€ 750,000€ 9,000,000 8 Emmanuel Adebayor Real Madrid € 708,000€ 8,500,000 9 Carlos TevezManchester City€ 666,000€ 8,000,000 10 Samuel Eto'oInternazionale€ 666,000€ 8,000,000 11 Frank Ribery Bayern Munich € 666,000€ 8,000,000 12 John TerryChelsea€ 625,000€ 7,500,000 13 Frank Lampard Chelsea€ 625,0007500.

Seven matches played today/tonight of the SPANISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE with the Round 12 scheduled clashes of LA LIGA. Below are brief summaries of the events, results & all the scorers. Cristiano Ronaldo REAL MADRID had to wake up early to play their match against OSASUNA at 12.00 pm, an hour strategically placed by La Liga to be beamed in prime-time Asian TV.

Here's Cristiano Ronaldo scoring one of his three goals yesterday against Malaga. I miss CRon in the Fantasy Premier League for many reasons but especially because I finished first in my mini-league in every season that he featured ... Continue reading →

As we head into the international break, here are the top scorers in La Liga after six matches.

• 8: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
• 7: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
• 5: Radamel Falcao (Atletico Madrid) Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) Roberto Soldado (Valencia)
• 4: Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona) Miku (Getafe) Santi Cazorla (Malaga) Imanol Agirretxe (Real Sociedad)
• 3: Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao) David Villa (Barcelona) Raul Garcia (Osasuna) Michu (Rayo Vallecano) Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) Luis Garcia (Real Zaragoza) Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal)

25.08.2011 - Tras la medida de la Federación Turca de Fútbol de excluir al Fenerbahçe SK de la UEFA Champions League 2011/12 por estar implicado en un caso de amaño de partidos, el Panel de Emergencia de la UEFA (presidente + 4 miembros del Comité Ejecutivo) decidió que el Fenerbahçe SK sea sustituido por el Trabzonspor AŞ, subcampeón de la liga turca 2010/11 en el sorteo de la fase de grupos.

Three names are down as candidates for the first & new "UEFA Best Player in Europe" Award 2010 - 2011. The names are LIONEL MESSI (FC Barcelona) , CRISTIANO RONALDO ( Real Madrid) & XAVI HERNANDEZ (FC Barcelona). Thus Spanish Football has the honour of having all three play in its Football League (LA LIGA) & a Spanish born representative in Xavi Hernandez.

Looks like Real Madrid had to pay a lot for attaining the services of Kaka and Ronaldo. Real Madrid apparently took some loan from a bank in order to buy the two stars. A total of 136 million euros. Now that specific bank has listed Ronaldo and Kaka as collateral. What that means is that [...]

By Chris Wright

Another sextuplet of exceptional goals from around the globe for you to wade through (as always, you're going to have to be quick with a few of them the Youtube police are lurking)...

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, REAL MADRID vs Hertha Berlin

The one in every ten that doesn't just crash into the wall or balloon into the upper tier.

Three SPANISH FOOTBALL based players ( one Spanish born ) are the final candidates for the "UEFA Best Player in European Football Award season 2010 - 2011". The three names are CRISTIANO RONALDO ( Real Madrid ) , LIONEL MESSI & XAVI HERNANDEZ ( FC Barcelona). The winner will be announced the 25th of August at Monaco were a jury of 53 European sporting journalists will hand down their decision.

Gervinho another bit-part failure in waiting for Arsenal? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Gervinho was instrumental for Lille in their Ligue 1 title campaign last season, but does he fit the bill for Arsenal?

The Arsenal-bound, Ivory Coast striker has the all-round game and technical ability that Arsène Wenger fancies but how do his recent performances show up in a lower-level league compared to the Premier League, and will he rise to the stage that Arsenal will provide for him or crumble in the winter when the pressure is on?

PSNL are proud to announce our award winners for the 2010/11 season, after sitting at a desk and discussing our thoughs and reasons behind certain choices we have come down to our conclusion for this seasons award winners. PSNL Portuguese Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) A no brainer as Ronaldo broke the La Liga record for most goals in a year and wins the award for the

Is Gervinho the right man for Arsenal? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Arsène Wenger is on the hunt for a striker who could help the Gunners end a trophy drought that has stretched from 2005, and their main target is Ivory Coast international, Gervinho who was instrumental for Lille in their Ligue 1 title campaign last term:

Gervinho in Ligue 1

Gervinho - Lille

2010-11

Appearances

35

Minutes On Pitch

2849

Goals

15

Mins per goal

190

Shots

78

Shots On Target

42

Shooting Accuracy

54%

Chance Conversion

19%

Touches per game

40

Goal Assists

10

Key Passes

36

Total Passes

786

Pass Completion %

79%

Dribbles & Runs

199

Dribble Completion %

37%

Gervinho was the only player to reach double figures in both goals scored (15, his highest season tally in professional football) and assists made (10) in Ligue 1, joining a group of only seven more players who did so amongst the top-5 European Leagues:

Goals and Assists – top-5 European leagues (2010-11)

Player

Team

Goals

Assists

Total

Ronaldo

Real Madrid

40

11

51

Messi

Barcelona

31

18

49

Gervinho

Lille

15

10

25

Ibrahimovic

Milan

14

11

25

Müller

FC Bayern München

12

11

23

Drogba

Chelsea

11

13

24

Rooney

Manchester United

11

11

22

Vidal

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

10

11

21

Since his arrival in Ligue 1 in 2007/08, Gervinho has made more successful dribbles than any other player in the French top flight.

Check out this well elaborated infograph on the Top 100 earners in World Football 2011. As last reports Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) is top with 12M€ per year in salary, followed by Messi ( FC Barcelona ) with 10.5M€ & third Spanish Football & Chelsea FC forward Fernando Torres with 10M€/year.

Updated La Liga scoring chart after Ronaldo's hat-trick last night saw Ronaldo extend his lead over Messi (penalties in parentheses).

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, 36 (7)
2. Lionel Messi, Barcelona, 31 (4)
3. David Villa, Barcelona, 18
4. Giuseppe Rossi, Villarreal, 18 (3)
5. Sergio Aguero, Atletico Madrid, 17 (1)
6. Fernando Llorente, Athletic Bilbao, 17
7. Roberto Soldado, Valencia, 16 (1)
8. Alvaro Negredo, Sevilla, 15 (4)
9. Jose Rondon, Malaga, 14
10. Pedro Rodriguez, Barcelona, 13
11. Karim Benzema, Real Madrid, 13

Lionel Messi extended his lead atop the ESM Golden Shoe standings to four points at the weekend after scoring in Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Osasuna.

Messi came off the bench to score, while his nearest challenger Cristiano Ronaldo, who also started on the bench at the weekend, failed to score in Real Madrid's rout of Valencia Saturday.

What do Beckham, Ronaldo, Tevez and Messi all have in common? The hottest women by their sides? The top teams in the world fighting for not only their skills but also their brand? More money than the mere mortal can ever imagine? Tick, tick and triple tick.
While there are many footballers out there who are admired, some are still yet to shine.

Una nueva ‘WAG' (mujer y novia de futbolista) ha surgido en el panorama nacional de la mano de Özil, el jugador alemán de origen turco del Real Madrid. Hace dos meses su novia de toda la vida, Anna Marie Lagerbloom, le dejó porque no le gustaba el carácter del futbolista en Madrid ni su estilo de vida.

LONDON, England Lionel Messi has pushed clear of Cristiano Ronaldo in the ESM Golden Shoe rankings after Barcelona's Argentina star scored a further goal at the weekend while his Portuguese rival from Real Madrid drew a blank. The Spanish league is the only one with three representatives in the top 11 Barcelona's David Villa [.

A great football career in acknowledgments Thank you for being the greatest goal scorer in my lifetime. Zidane may have had more grace and compsure in the nineties, but Ronaldo had the finish. 247 goals in 343 league games from a man who was plagued by knee injuries from the age of 20 onwards. 62 [..

Una vez mas Cristiano Ronaldo es el jugador mejor pagado en el mundo solo así puede superar a Lionel Messi quien en la cancha y en los premios de este 2010 le ha ganado todo.
Según un estudio realizado por la revista belga «Sport Foot Magazine». La actual estrella madridista, con un salario de 12 millones de euros al año.

Here are the scoring leaders in La Liga at the halfway point of the season (penalties in parentheses):

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, 22 (5)
2. Lionel Messi, Barcelona, 18 (1)
3. David Villa, Barcelona, 14
4. Fernando Llorente, Athletic Bilbao, 11
5. Pedro Rodriguez, Barcelona, 10
6. Nilmar, Villarreal, 10
7. David Trezeguet, Hercules, 9 (1)
8. Giuseppe Rossi, Villarreal, 9 (3)
9. Frederic Kanoute, Sevilla, 8 (2)
10. Sergio Aguero, Atletico Madrid, 7
11. Pablo Osvaldo, Espanyol, 7 (1)
12. Nelson Valdez, Hercules, 7
13. Gonzalo Higuain, Real Madrid, 7
14. Diego Castro, Sporting Gijon, 7 (4)
15. Aritz Aduriz, Valencia, 7

In addition to the naming of Lionel Messi as the inaugural winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or, FIFA also announced Jose Mourinho was named Coach of the Year ahead of World Cup-winning Spain boss Vicente del Bosque and Barcelona's Pep Guardiola for leading Inter Milan to an unprecedented Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia treble.

He's the best player in the world. Individually, he was the best for club throughout 2010. Individually, he was the best player in the World Cup until his team was dumped out. '

And for all this, they've handed him the Ballon d'Or for the second year straight, last done by Marco van Basten in '88-'89, and doing do as the first non-World Cup winner in a World Cup year since Hristo Stoichkov in '94.