Wins the FIFA World Player of the Year Award by a huge margin
After proving his mettle by a unanimous win in the European Footballer of the Year 2009 awards, Messi has done it yet again. The Barcelona start has drubbed rival Christiano Ronaldo to lift the FIFA World Player of the Year 2009 trophy.
Despite their sixth turn for the soccer World Cup, no one gave the USA a winning chance, until they emerged as the CONACACAF winners. Watch the USA soccer stars as they gear up to take on their first FIFA hurdle- England in their opening match. Read more…
These soccer heroes were instrumental in grabbing a World Cup berth for their teams. Exhibiting exceptional performance and consistency, they ensured that their team was through for the 2010 South Africa gala.
While you are in South Africa to catch the action live on the World Cup, here’s a list of places you must see during your stay. From historical museums to national parks, South Africa offers myriad tourist destinations to make your trip a memorable one!
The third ticketing phase for the World Cup 2010 begins on Saturday, 5th Dec.
The third phase of ticket sales for the World Cup will begin on Saturday, the day after the draw for the finals is made. About one million tickets for all the 64 matches will be made available, including a limited number for the opening game and final.
“It’s traditionally by far the most important sales phase,” Horst R Schmidt, the chairman of the Ticketing Sub-Committee said. “As the world’s football fans will by then know who will be playing whom in the group matches,” he added.
You can apply for the tickets online through Fifa’s official website, while the South African residents can also apply by filling out the forms at the FNB branches across the country. The last date for ticket applications is 22 January. An electronic random draw would be used to decide ticket winners for oversubscribed games.
“We’re confident that our preparations for the tournament are going extremely well,” said Danny Jordaan, the chief executive officer of the World Cup organizing committee. “Now, it’s time to focus on the teams and the stars coming to South Africa 2010, for the global football world to see who their teams will be up against and for our Host Cities and residents to gear up to welcome the teams that will be heading their way. We encourage fans in South Africa and around the world to grab this chance to get tickets for what will be an unforgettable event.”
So far, a total of 674,403 tickets have been sold, corresponding to 90% of the tickets made available till now. Of those tickets, almost 53.6% have been purchased by South African residents. Fans from the United States have bought the second-most (84,103 tickets), followed by those in the United Kingdom (48,388), Germany (25,112), Australia (17,876), Canada (11,662), Switzerland (11,045), Japan (10,558) and Brazil (8,006).
All 32 participating member associations will be allocated 12% of all purchasable tickets in the stadiums where their three group games will be played. These tickets will be available through individual websites operated by the member associations.
The Barcelona star has been named the European Footballer of the Year. Beating last year’s winner Christiano Ronaldo, Messi claimed the title by the greatest margin ever recorded in the history of this august competition. Out of a possible 480 points, Lionel scored 473 – a new record, while Ronaldo managed only 233 points.
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- And the Winner is…Lionel Messi!