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.

Source (goal.com)

Messi, who described his presence at the FIFA Gala as “the culmination of a year that cannot be improved upon”, has managed to indeed go one better, sealing the only title still evading him.

The diminutive Argentine beat off competition from the a host of the world’s best including team-mates Andreas Iniesta and Xavi, as well as Real Madrid stars Kaka and Christiano Ronaldo, with the Portuguese having already admitted that “he [Messi] will probably win the award”.

The crown capped a quite incredible year for the 22-year-old Argentinian forward who, as a pivotal member of Pep Guardiola’s all conquering Barca squad, beat Estudiantes in FIFA’s Club World Cup final in Abu Dhabi on Saturday to lift their sixth title in the last 12 months.

Messi will add FIFA’s prestigious title to pretty much every individual award in European football; having already been crowned UEFA Club Forward of the Year, UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and UEFA Champions League Top Scorer amongst a host of other individual titles.

Messi’s incredible achievements will go down as one of the most successful seasons ever endured by a single player in club football history.

Here’s a look at the previous award winners:

France’s Zidane and Brazil’s Ronaldo have won it thrice. Last year’s winner Christiano Ronaldo was the youngest player to have won it. FIFA’s World Cup of the Year Award is indeed the most anticipated soccer honors. Here’s a list of players who have won this award in the past:

1996 Ronaldo
1997 Ronaldo
1998 Zinedine Zidane
1999 Rivaldo
2000 Zinedine Zidane
2001 Luís Figo
2002 Ronaldo
2003 Zinedine Zidane
2004 Ronaldinho
2005 Ronaldinho
2006 Fabio Cannavaro
2007 Kaka
2008 Christiano Ronaldo
2009 Lionel Messi

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.

Superb performance in qualifiers, a pepped up team and the right moves- all promise to make USA’s World Cup performance a memorable one. Bradley’s men are now all ready for a longer stint in this World Cup, eventually featuring in the top six teams.

Here’ a trailer of what USA can be in this World Cup.

During their run to the finals, the team has proven that when they stay compact, hustle, and scrap, they can beat anyone — including Spain. After a dismal oust from the 2006 World Cup, now is the team’s chance to pounce back and prove their merit on the International soccer arena. USA takes on England in their first FIFA match on June 12, 2010.

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.

10. Jean Makoun (Cameroon)

9. Landon Donovan (USA)

8. Essam El Hadary (Egypt)

7. Milan Jovanovic (Serbia)

6. Xavi (Spain)

5. Wayne Rooney (England)

4. Alexis Sanchez (Chile)

3. Luis Fabiano (Brazil)

2. Zvjezdan Misimovic (Bosnia-Herzegovina)

1. Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Mexico)

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!

Soweto’s Hector Pieterson Museum

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Robben Island

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Kruger National Park

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Great White Sharks

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Cape Winelands

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Macrolight, Kwazulu Natal

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Fugitive’s Drift

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Legend Golf Course

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The third ticketing phase for the World Cup 2010 begins on Saturday, 5^th 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.

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.

While Bracelona’s reign as Champions Cup holder is at stake due to an attack of swine flu on its prominent players, five-times winner Liverpool’s stay in the league is challenged by a series of injuries. The fate of the two clubs would be determined today as they get on the field for their do or die matches.

Will Barcelona make it?

Barcelona’s tryst could be cut short if the Spanish club loses to Inter Milan and group rival Rubin Kazan beats Dynamo Kiev. With Lionel Messi ‘s leg injury and defender Eric Abidal and midfielder Yaya Toure, down with swine flu, the club would have to miss out on its best talents in today’s crucial match.

Even if Barca finishes level on points with Rubin after the last round of qualifying, Ruin would still have the advantage as the Russian club won in Barcelona and played a scoreless draw in Kazan.

Liverpool is on the verge of elimination with five points to make up on second place Fiorentina.  Rafa Benitez’s team goes to Hungary to face Debrecen and even a victory won’t be enough to keep them in the league if Fiorentina beats Lyon at home. With a recent series of drubbings (one win in 10 games) Liverpool’s chances of a comeback seem bleak.  With striker Fernando Torres is out of the lineup because of a groin problem and two more players picking up injuries in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at home to Manchester City, Liverpool too would miss on its best players for their crucial faceoff against Debrecen.

Will Victory Evade Liverpool?

Surprises are an integral part of soccer World Cups. In the past World Cups there have been non favorite teams which sprung huge surprises and left the fans baffled with their extraordinary performance. Croatia in 1998, Bulgary in 1994, Cameroon in 1990, Turkey in 2002 – who would be the surprise element in 2010?  Here is our pick of four teams to watch out for:

1- Chile

Pitted against soccer giants like Brazil and Argentina in the South American qualifying section, Chile managed to book its World Cup berth with ease. Chile won 10 of their matches in the qualification rounds and Humberto Suazo remained the top scorer for them.

2- Cameroon

Cameroon topped their qualifying group with 13 points. Matching up against Gabon, Togo and Morroco, Cameroon started slowly in the qualification round, losing to Togo and drawing with Morocco, but later they went on to win the rest of their matches. Captain and star player Samuel Eto’o remained Cameroon’s top scorer with 8 goals, and the Inter Milan striker will be their player to watch out in the World Cup.

3- USA

In the fourth and final round of qualifying, six nations were battling it out for the three automatic 2010 World Cup spots. USA finished top of the group, thanks to 6 superb goals from their top scorer and Hull City striker Jozy Altidore.

4- Uruguay

The might be the last one to qualify for the World Cup, but their acumen cannot be doubted. Uruguay missed the 2006, but this time they are back with a bang. 1-1 home draw with Costa Rica booked Uruguay a ticket to South Africa with a 2-1 aggregate win.

Who out of this would be the 2010 surprise element? Share your views on ‘The Wall’ of ifotbol.com

Will he or won’t he? That’s the question haunting millions of Cristiano Ronaldo fans. The soccer ace will be out of action for four weeks owing to an ankle injury. The injury caused by a field tackle with Marseille defender Souleymane Diawara has set abuzz speculations about the health and performance of the world’s most expensive player.

Ankle injury will keep the soccer star away from action for a while

Ronaldo will now miss Tuesday’s Champions League match with AC Milan as he has not yet recovered. Real Madrid Director General Jorge Valdano has insisted that Cristiano Ronaldo should not have played in Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against Hungary at the weekend, as he was not fit enough to return after injuring his ankle while playing for his club.

Ronaldo was forced to limp out of his country’s key tie after less than half-an-hour with a recurrence of an ankle problem that he first suffered in Madrid’s Champions League victory over Marseille on September 30.

Bulgarian legend Hristo Stoichkov, has also expressed his concerns over Ronaldo’s injury. The soccer expert has advised Real Madrid to utilize their local players for the Champions League and let Ronaldo recuperate for the World Cup. Stoichkov, who is currently in charge of the South African side Mamelodi Sundowns, maintains that playing conditions are tougher in Spain than England, and exposing Ronaldo frequently to field may only worsen his injury.

Hristo Stoichkov

Stoichkov suggests complete rest to Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, on the other hand, remains upbeat and has requested his fans to “be patient” with his recovery. Waving off concerns over Madrid’s wobbling performance in his absence, the Ronaldo told the Canadian Press, “I’ve already missed some games to injury but it’s not like I’m the savior. I’m just a player that will give to help the team to win, but the team needs to work. I think things will improve.”

Ronaldo has missed Madrid’s past six games, one of those being a 4-0 loss at Alcorcon in the first leg of the fourth round of the Copa Del Rey.

Ronaldo’s recuperation is a matter of time, till then fans need to keep patience before they see their soccer idol recreate his magic. Here’s wishing Ronaldo a speedy recovery.

Argentinean coach and famous football player Diego Maradona has finally included Inter Milan midfielder Esteban Cambiasso  in the nineteen man Argentina squad for the November 14 match against European champions Spain at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid.

Maradona springs last minute surprises

Maradona had ignored the Inter Milan midfielder for long and he was not considered for the final eight qualifying matches for the World Cup 2010. Along with Cambiasso, Real Madrid’s Fernando Gago and Atletico Madrid’s Maxi Rodriguez – both of whom missed the crucial match in Montevideo have also been included in the World Cup squad. Another surprise entry into the Argentinean squad is the uncapped left-back Cristian Ansaldi, who plays for Russian champions Rubin Kazan.

The new entrants:

Cambiasso	Gago	Maxi Rodriguez

Stuttering performance and a last minute entry to the 2010 gala had put immense pressure on Maradona to end player rotation and consolidate a stable team. Argentina only secured their place in the World Cup after a 1-0 win over Uruguay on 15th of this month at Montevideo.

As Argentina gears up to take on Spain in their friendly at the Vicente Calderon in Madrid on November 1, hopes ride high on these new entrants.

Here’s the final Argentina squad for the World Cup

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar), Mariano Andujar (Catania)

Defenders: Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle United), Gabriel Heinze (Olympique Marseille), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Nicolas Pareja (Espanyol), Cristian Ansaldi (Rubin Kazan)

Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle United), Pablo Aimar, Angel Di Maria (both Benfica)

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli)

As the countdown begins for the football World Cup 2010, excitement is building up in all corners of the world. As players and teams get ready for the big face off, all eyes are now on the young Turks who may create history with newer achievements during the tournament. Ronaldo did it in 2006. Who can be the next?

Ronaldo

The Brazilian soccer whiz kid remains unbeaten with his historical 15 goals in the 2006 World Cup.

Watch his 15 golden goals here:

World Cup 2010 is expected to surface fresher talent that may take soccer to greater heights in future. Players like Cristiano Ronaldo , Kaka, Lionel Messi, Torres, and David Villa are all set to unleash an unprecedented display of soccer skills.

Whom, out of these players do you think might break Cristiano’s record? Share your opinion now!

Cristiano Ronaldo

Kaka

Messi

Torres