BALLON D' OR SPECIAL :

 Here are some of the guidelines defined by FIFA for the Ballon d’Or award:

• Voted by the national team coaches & Captains along-with with one journalist from top football nations around the world.
• Performance period from 22 November 2014 to 20 November 2015 is taken into consideration.
• Voting started on 26th October 2015 and completed on 20th November 2015.
• The winners will be announced on 11 January 2016 in the Ballon d’Or ceremony.

This is how the top three players faired in 2015 calendar year. Lionel Messi and Neymar won the treble scoring loads of goals while Ronaldo was one man show with Real Madrid throughout the year. Ronaldo and Messi scored 48 goals each in 2015 while Neymar is just 3 behind with 45. Messi however assisted 24 goals compared to 14 and 13 by Ronaldo and Neymar respectively.

Here is the shortlist of players announced for the Ballon D’or Award 2015. This list will be trimmed down to top 3 players before the ceremony after the voting has been finalized. Every national team coach, captain and renouned football jounalists will be voting and once the voting period is over FIFA Will announce the top 3 players a week before the ceremony while the winner will be announced during traditional player of the year gala.

FIFA BALLON DOR 2015 – NOMINEES

NO#	DEFENDERS & KEEPRS	MIDFIELDERS	FORWARDS
1	Manuel Neuer (GK)	Kevin De Bruyne	Cristiano Ronaldo
2	Javier Mascherano	Eden Hazard	Lionel Messi
3		Toni Kroos	Sergio Aguero
4		Paul Pogba	Zlatan Ibrahimovic
5		Andreas Iniesta	Luis Suarez
6		James Rodriguez	Gareth Bale
7		Yaya Toure	Alexis Sanchez
8		Arturo Vidal	Thomas Muller
9		Ivan Rakitic	Neymar
10		Arjan Robben	Robert Lewandowski

When Ballon d’Or Ceremony Will Take Place ?
FIFA world player of the year will be announced on Monday, 11th January 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. There are number of other awards also up for grabs with the likes of FIFA Puskas (best goal of the year), Women player of the year, manager of the year and FIFpro Team of the year.

The Ceremony will be officially start at 9:45 NST and will be streamed on this blog and SS4 

Messi scores in sixth different tournament this season

After netting a brace against Espanyol in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night, Leo Messi has now scored in all six different competitions this season. Six of the Argentinian’s total of 15 goals have been scored in La Liga, while he’s also got two in the European Super Cup, one in the Spanish Super Cup and one in the Club World Cup.

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Messi completed a similar full house in the 2011/12 campaign, which he ended with 73 goals in 60 appearances.

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This was the fourth time this term that Messi has scored twice in the same game. He also doubled up against Sevilla in the European Super Cup, Levante in La Liga and AS Roma in the Champions League.

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To cap an exquisite evening, Leo Messi also supplied the assists for Piqué and Neymar, while his own opener came on the back of a terrific pass from Iniesta that found its way through six defenders. Iniesta was another of the standout performers of the night, and led the team in passes (81).

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There were two debuts in the Copa del Rey derby at the Camp Nou. In an active game in the middle of the park and on the right wing, Arda Turan played for 70 minutes and provided 49 passes, 42 of which found their man (see diagram below). Aleix Vidal was on for the last 28 minutes at right back and made ten passes, only one of which was failed.                                            

Read Full Here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Thierry Henry on Messi:

“The best player that I played with? I would say Dennis Bergkamp,"

“To me it’s Bergkamp, because of the years that he did it and what he did. But I say Bergkamp because he was human. Leo, at times I think, really seriously, I ask myself if he’s human.

“You can’t really explain what Leo is doing. You just have to admire it and enjoy it, because what he is doing is just not normal. "

Click here to read full article

Thierry Henry still dazzled by FC Barcelona and Leo Messi

Former FC Barcelona player Thierry Henry has always been passionate when it comes to Barça. The French striker enjoyed a wonderful spell at the club, and especially in the 2008/09 season, when he joined forces with Samuel Eto’o and Leo Messi in an attack that won all six major trophies and wowed the world with some of the finest football ever seen.

He still keeps a close eye on events at the Camp Nou and is thoroughly looking forward to February, when the other club closest to his heart, Arsenal, meet the Catalans in the Champions League.

It would be madness if Messi doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or

Speaking to Barça TV and www.fcbarcelona.com he was particularly gushing with admiration when the name of Leo Messi came up. “All we can do is enjoy what he does” he said. “Because what he’s doing is not normal … We used to say that a player who got 23-25 goals in a season was an incredible striker. But Messi does that in three months”.

Reminiscing about his time in Catalonia, Henry says that “we had incredible players in that team and whenever you didn’t know what to do, you always looked for Messi … I think it would be madness if he doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or. He deserves it because the team won another treble. But what I don’t understand is why Suárez isn’t there.”

Henry also made his prediction for this season’s Champions League. “In a single game, Bayern can win it” he said. “And you have to be careful with PSG too. You never know what might happen but I think Barça can win it again.”                                 View full interview [With Video]

FIFA accidentally leaked the winners of the 2015 Ballon d’Or winners on their website for a brief moment on Wednesday.

The leak saw Lionel Messi and Celia Sasic claim the top prizes for the 2015 edition of the event.

playLionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar [From left]

Lionel Messi who scored 48 goals in 53 appearances for his Barcelona side is competing against Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Neymar of Barcelona for the 2015 World Player of the Year which is set to be officially announced on January 11.

Source: http://pulse.com.gh/sports/football/officially-official-fifa-accidentally-announce-lionel-messi-as-2015-ballon-d-or-winner-id4529027.html

When it comes to being the best in the world, we come to two contenders. Portugese sensation Christiano Ronaldo and the Argentine magician Leo Messi. No one can get and give the perfect answer about who is the best one of our generation. But, for me Leo Messi is the best one now. Not just by the number of Ballon D 'Ors and trophies he has, but the way of play also decides Messi as the best one for me. The way of play, the way of uplifting your team from crisis, the way of turning your haters into praisers, the way of providing us immense pleasure through tight gameplay... Ohh! I'm getting goosebumps when I'm going through this one. Quite clearly, Messi has got 'em all. Ronaldo on the other hand is a player whom I respect alot. Anyone can barely imagine having all those qualities like he does. Scoring goals at regular basis, alot of hattricks, a lot of hardwork and strength are the aspects, which make Ronaldo for me. Frankly, I used to love the Ronaldo playing for Man United. Now, in my view, his game has become more physical, unlike technical when he was at Man United. That's the main reason behind nine redcards wearing the Madrid shirt. However, if we look at Messi, a short and stout one, is very much disciplined on the pitch. With no red cards conceeded in club career, Messi has managed to be on the clean side. Messi is a genius. Trust me, he's a god. Not only good at scoring goals, but even better at creating chances, providing assists, keeping the possesion and supporting the whole Barca play. I had never seen a player like this man and think will never get a chance to in coming days. So, I wanna see this player playing live on the football field some day. According to me, Messi-Ronaldo comparison in digits are as:

~SPEED = CR7:95>94:LM10
~STRENGTH= CR7:85>74:LM10
~FINISHING= CR7=LM10=94
~MENTALITY= LM10:91>80:CR7
~PASSING= LM10:92>82:CR7
~DRIBBLING= LM10:95>86:CR7
OVERALL: Leo Messi : 95 Cris Ronaldo : 93



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