Standing on a stage next to the two most prolific goal scorers in the world, Andres Iniesta
finally received his due.
Iniesta was chosen as the 2011-12 UEFA Best Player in Europe, beating out Barcelona teammate
Lionel Messi and Real Madrid nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo to take home the individual honors that were
voted on by a panel of 53 European journalists at the UEFA Champions League draw in Monaco on
Thursday.
Sit back and relax, turn up your speakers and enjoy some of the best of Lionel Messi in this
collection of Skills, Goals, and Tricks. The Messi video is nicely put together and set to the
music and song by David Guetta featuring Sia, Performing Titanium...Soccer and Music at it's
finest.
Just in case you've been living under a rock and have no idea just how good a soccer player
Messi is or who he is.
Not the best of strikes from the World Player of the Year but Messi being Messi put that behind
him as he helped Argentina to a comfortable 3-1 win over Germany, scoring from play 7 minutes into
the second half.
Pep Guardiola: Past, Present and his Future? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Pep Guardiola has sensationally called time on his Barcelona career following a difficult season
in which the Catalans relinquished their grip on La Liga to rivals Real Madrid and were knocked out
of the Champions League Roberto Di Matteo's Chelsea.
The streets of Barcelona last night ground to a standstill as Lionel Messi's epic goal drought
reached a critical level. The city has called a hosepipe ban to help to cope with the drought, but
Barcelona's transport system has also been affected by the drought. The three-time World Player of
the Year if you [.
TweetBarcelona striker Lionel Messi is set to become a father after news that his girlfriend
Antonella Roccuzzo is pregnant was leaked. The three-time World Player of The Year has been dating
girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo since his late teens and now the pair are expecting their first
child. News of Roccuzzo's pregnancy first broke on an [.
TweetLionel Messi has named Sergio Aguero, Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie as his favourite
Premier League players. Messi is the three-time and current FIFA World Player of The Year, however,
when quizzed on his views about his fellow professionals 'The Flea' was quick to point out three of
his favourite Premier League stars.
Lionel Messi registered a record-breaking five goal haul last Wednesday, as a boisterous
Barcelona swept aside a baffled Bayern Leverkusen outfit, to march promptly into the Champions
League Quarter-Finals.
Messi once again exhibited his undeniable quality and complete understanding of the modern game,
bringing to the boil the debate that has simmered under the surface since he adopted Barcelona's
number 10 shirt from the majestic Ronaldinho in 2008.
TweetLionel Messi created Champions League history by becoming the first ever player to score five
goals in a single match after hitting a hand against Bayer Leverkusen. The three time World Player
of The Year lit up the Camp Nou with a startling performance as Barcelona ran out 7-1 winners
against a hapless Bayer Leverkusen [.
Messi became the first player to score five goals in a UEFA Champions League game as Barcelona
ruthlessly routed Bayer Leverkusen 7-1 at Camp Nou to advance to the quarterfinals on a 10-2
aggregate.
Every football fanatic would love to get their hands on one of these youth player cards
especially that belonging to a player/legend. While clubs usually authorize these
official cards to be placed in their own museums (Real Madrid, for example, has a fascinating range
of cards belonging to their present and former 'greats' at the Bernabeu), Lionel
Messi's own had never been revealed.
Paris St.-Germain have pulled out of talks with Manchester City to sign striker Carlos Tevez.
The Ligue 1 leaders were considered the front-runners after talks with AC Milan broke down last
week. PSG's sporting director Leonardo and new manager Carlo Ancelotti met with Tevez's advisers
but couldn't come to terms
"There was an opportunity, we have studied it, we made a good offer but failed to agree a deal,"
Leonardo told L'Equipe.
So with Real Madrid and Barcelona scheduled to meet tomorrow at the Bernabeu for their first
leg Copa Del Rey quarterfinal fixture, attention is already starting to get centred around the
Messi Ronaldo debate.
Truth be said, although the debate is starting to get boring, it will be interesting to see how
Ronaldo responds to his critics and the world player of the year.
Barcelona looked like they were headed for a draw before Alexis Sanchez and Messi scored in the
span of 10 minutes to hand the Catalans a much needed 4-2 win over Real Betis that reduced their
deficit on Leaders Real Madrid to 5 points.
World Player of the year Lionel Messi scored a brace to bring his tally for the season to 19
goals, just 2 short of leading goal scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.
So as Messi basks in the glory of winning a third straight FIFA world player of the year title,
attention continues to be centred on the players who missed out.
One such Player is Neymar. According to Brazilian legend Ronaldo, Neymar not only has the
potential to win the Ballon d'Or, but he can become better than Messi.
24 years old. An ego that is pushed far beneath an incomparable will to win. 5 feet, 6 inches of
skill and athleticism. The players, the media, and the coaches have spoken. Lionel Messi is, for
the third time, the FIFA World Player of the Year. With so many years left in his career, it's
mystifying.
It's right here, with Zinedine Zidane and Pele. Image: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images.
Lionel Messi took home the coveted FIFA Ballon d'Or trophy Monday evening, staving off tough
competition from Barcelona teammate, Xavi Hernandez, and Real Madrid rival, Cristiano Ronaldo (who
was a no-show since his squad is set to do battle with Malaga in the Copa Del Ray today).
For the third year in succession Lionel Messi has been crowned FIFA World Player of the Year. The
24-year old Argentina and FC Barcelona forward received his award at FIFA's...
Lauren Sesselmann (Green Bay Notre Dame) and the Canadian women's national team
lost to Brazil 2-1 on a last-second goal Tuesday in their final warmup match before the London
Olympics.
It was a wild finish to the Match world Women's Cup in Savièse, Switzerland. Canada seemingly
forced penalty kicks on Christine Sinclair's equalizer deep into stoppage time,
but the Brazilians raced down the field after the restart and Grazielle poked in a
cross from five-time reigning women's world player of the year Marta to win
it.
According to reports out of Brazil, the former two-time FIFA World Player of the Year has won a
legal dispute against Flamengo over $20 million in unpaid wages and other payments and as a result
has been freed from his contract with the club.
Lauren Sesselmann (Green Bay Notre Dame) and the Canadian national team beat the
third-ranked women's soccer team in the world Saturday – and the left back nearly scored her
first international goal in the process.
Canada got past Brazil 2-1 in an internationally friendly in Foxborough, Mass.
ANALYSIS: Does Cristiano Ronaldo do it in the big games? is a post from: Just Football
In his own mind he's the best player in the world, while in the minds of others he isn't even in
the top 10. No matter which way you look at it, Cristiano Ronaldo divides
opinion.
After a season in which the one-time World Player of the Year won La Liga for the first time
since joining Real Madrid in 2009, Ronaldo was criticised intensely after
Portugal's first two games at Euro 2012.
Real Madrid goal machine and contender for world player of the year, Christiano Ronaldo, was given
a lesson in finishing today by none other than the Arsenal and Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner. I
know this sounds ridiculous but it's true. Ronaldo has scored 60 goals this season in just 55 games
for Real Madrid, while [.
Giovani Dos Santos is no stranger to moving during the winter transfer window, but instead of
what has happened in past years, he is on the verge of leaving club purgatory for good.
Forever glued to the bench at Tottenham, the 22-year-old Mexican star is on the verge of a full
transfer to Spanish club Villarreal, according to reports from Europe.
Earlier this week, the German Football Association held a farewell match and party for
Birgit Prinz, one of the country's finest female players (and for those
unfamiliar, a Mia Hamm of her generation). Of course, Birgit's accolades in the
game are simply outstanding she has won the FIFA World Player of the Year thrice,
German Player of the Year eight times, the FIFA World Cup twice
and the Euro Championships five times.
The U.S. WNT takes on Japan in its third and final group match at the 2012 Algarve Cup in what will
be the first meeting between the teams since the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final.
While there will be some extra emotions for sure in this match for the Americans, the focus is
looking forward and that means getting a result against Japan that will send the U.
At Thursday night's Supporters' Summit, New England Revolution President Brian Bilello mentioned
the team was working on a doubleheader for Revs' home opener on March 24th.
It now appears, according to multiple reports, that the Canadian Women's National Team and the
Brazilian Women's National Team will face off on that same date at Gillette Stadium in a friendly
match to prepare for the 2012 London Olympics, presumably as the second game in that Gillette
Stadium doubleheader .
U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage, forward Abby Wambach and goalkeeper Hope Solo have arrived in
training camp after attending the annual FIFA Awards Gala in Zurich, Switzerland on Monday
night.
Sundhage finished second in the voting for FIFA Women's World Cup of the Year and Wambach finished
third in the voting for FIFA Women's World Player of the Year behind Marta of Brazil and winner
Homare Sawa.
The U.S. WNT has started its training camp in Los Angeles, a final week of practice and fine-tuning
before head coach Pia Sundhage names the 20 players that will travel to Vancouver, B.C. for the
CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Sundhage called up 29 players for the camp, but just 27 are currently training as Abby Wambach and
Hope Solo are in Zurich, Switzerland, for the year-end FIFA Gala Awards.
2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho has signed a six month deal with Atlético
Mineiro after walking out on his contract with Flamengo last week. The former...
Last night the US Women played their second and final match of the Kirin Challenge Cup. The
initial kickoff time was an inconvenient 4am Pacific, but due to impending bad weather the match
was moved up to a more reasonable midnight. Unfortunately, ESPN stuck with the initial time for the
broadcast, so Twitter was the only source for live updates.
Woke up beat to hell but forced myself up and skipped breakfast (no time). Left hotel at 9:30 am
to walk to turf field across the street from Camp Nou for coaches course with Jordi Vinyals and
Arnau. Coaches ran sessions and they critiqued them to improve. Paul and I went to Barca offices to
secure tickets for Stadium Tour, Athletic Bilbao game, and Milan game.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Christine Sinclair bagged a brace as the Canadian women outmuscled Brazil
2-1 at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.
Sinclair's strikes arrived in the 12th and 78th minutes while Gabriella Demoiser's penalty cut
the Canadian lead in half in the 88th minute. Karina LaBlanc made a crucial save late to preserve
the victory.
Lionel Messi was voted World Player of the Year for the third year in a row with Cristiano
Ronaldo and Xavi a distant second and third respectively. Barcelona's Pep Guardiola won the manager
of the year awrd having guided Barcelona to a unique double of La Liga and Champions League titles,
Sir Alex ferguson who received an award for services to football was second and Jose Mourinho third
in the Manager's list.
