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.
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.
With the government rejecting Evertons’ plea for a new stadium, and Liverpool’s revamp of their training ground on hold due to financial crunch, the two rival clubs may soon share a common training ground.
Today, the unthinkable may happen in the history of soccer.
Football giants Barcelona and Liverpool are on the verge of elimination from the Champions league. This would be the first time in the history of Champions League that winner clubs are ousted at a group stage.
Soccer is an immensely popular sport in the United States of America. Interestingly, USA is the only country which has yielded skilled players in numerous foreign leagues. Among the first Americans to become regulars in foreign leagues were John Harkes at Sheffield Wednesday in England, Eric Wynalda at Saarbrücken in Germany, Kasey Keller at Borussia Mönchengladbach in Germany, and Earnie Stewart at NAC Breda in the Netherlands.
(Ref: BBC News)
Tributes have been placed at the scene of Robert Enke’s death.
Germany and Hannover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke has died after being hit by a train in an apparent suicide on Tuesday, police have confirmed. Enke, 32, was fatally injured at a level crossing north west of Hanover.
The German football federation (DFB) said in a statement: “The German team has learned of the death of Robert Enke with great shock.”
A statement released by the German indicates a suicide- “The victim is apparently national team goalkeeper Robert Enke from Hannover 96. The first police indications are that it was a suicide.”
Enke was reportedly struck by a regional train travelling between Norddeich and Hannover at a railway crossing in Neustadt am Rubenberge and died on the spot.
Enke had played eight times for Germany and also for clubs Carl Zeiss Jena, Borussia Monchengladbach, Benfica, Barcelona, Fenerbahce and Tenerife, before returning to the Bundesliga with Hannover in 2004. He made his international debut aged 29 and became Germany’s number one keeper after Jens Lehmann retired from internationals at the end of Euro 2008.
Robert Enke
Born: 24/8/77, Jena, East Germany
Debut: 1995-96
Clubs: Carl Zeiss Jena, Borussia Monchengladbach, Benfica, Barcelona, Fenerbahce, Tenerife, Hannover 96
Germany debut: 27/3/07 versus Denmark Caps: 8
Michael Owen has missed his bus to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The English manager, Fabio Capello has refused to recall the Manchester United striker for the England squad to play in Brazil next Saturday. (Source: The DailyMail)
According to the Daily Mail, the England manager, who would be at Stamford Bridge for the face-off between Premier League champions United and current leaders Chelsea, will not call on Owen in the World Cup squad.
Capello does not consider Owen’s recent form for United to be sufficient to merit a recall.
The English Manager feels that Owen’s performance is not good enough to merit an entry in the World Cup squad.
Capello does not consider Owen’s recent form for United, in which he has started three games of the past six and scored two goals, to be sufficient to merit a recall. Capello is reportedly favoring Jermain Defoe as a standby to Wayne Rooney.
On being questioned about excluding Owen who has scored 40 goals for England in 89 appearances, was now fit, scoring goals and playing for United, the England manager sad, “ ‘He has played one game,” referring to his midweek start against CSKA Moscow, in which he scored. ‘I will be at Chelsea to check him – if he plays,” Capello added.
Former European Footballer of the Year Owen, once an iconic member of the team and scorer of one of the most memorable World Cup goals at France 98 when just an 18-year-old, has played only once for England during Capello’s reign as manager, against France in March 2008.
With just one friendly match left before Capello finalizes his squad for South Africa next summer, Owen’s only chance would be if there were an abnormal number of injuries in the team. Even though Carlton Cole is out with a hamstring injury it will be of no help to Owen, as Capello is expected to retain Rooney, Defoe, Heskey and Crouch, with Darren Bent and Gabriel Agbonlahor as reserves for the place of a fifth striker.
Here’s the expected English squad – Goalkeepers: James, Green, and Foster. Defenders: Johnson, Brown, Terry, Ferdinand, Lescott, Upson, Cahill, A Cole, Bridge. Midfielders: Barry, Beckham, Carrick, Lampard, Milner, Gerrard, Wright- Phillips. Forwards: Rooney, Heskey, Defoe, Crouch, Agbonlahor.
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