ZURICH: Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi was named World Player of the Year by world football’s ruling body FIFA on Monday.
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.
Messi was leading scorer in the Champions League, scoring nine goals including one in the 2-0 win over Manchester United in the final. He also notched the extra-time winner in the Club World Cup final against Estudiantes on Saturday.
The award, introduced in 1991, is voted by the coaches and captains of the national teams.
The little 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 Cristiano 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.
Brazilian women’s football star Marta won the FIFA World Player of the Year award for the fourth consecutive year.
Marta, who plays professionally for Los Angeles Sol, thus becomes the record winner of the honor awarded by football’s world ruling body.
American Mia Hamm won the inaugural women’s award in 2001, winning again in 2002.
Juventus fined $14,330
Meanwhile in Rome, Juventus have been fined 10,000 euros ($14,330) after their fans sang racist chants and let off fireworks in Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat by Serie A strugglers Catania, the Italian Soccer League said on Monday.
Juve may have feared far worse punishment as fans sang “there are no black Italians,” a chant that cost them a stadium ban last season when directed at Inter Milan forward Mario Balotelli, an Italian of Ghanaian decent.
“During the game Juventus supporters briefly sang offensive chants regarding another team’s player on three occasions, as well as letting off firecrackers in their sector,” read a statement on the League’s website (www.lega-calcio.it).
The League said the punishment had been softened because of the Turin club’s attempts to prevent such episodes taking place.
Italian media speculated that the fans responsible for the chants on Sunday might have been seeking to deliberately harm the club in anger at their poor form.
The loss to Catania was third-placed Juve’s third straight defeat after last week’s 3-1 reverse at Bari and a Champions League exit after a 4-1 home drubbing by Bayern Munich.
Napoli were fined 15,000 euros on Monday after a laser was shone at the opposition goalkeeper in Sunday’s 2-0 home win over Chievo Verona.
The use of lasers by fans has become a growing problem in Italian football and pundits have called on authorities to do more than just fine clubs.
Napoli were fined the same amount when their supporters shone a laser in the eyes of AC Milan goalkeeper Dida in a 2-2 draw in October, while Cagliari and Bari were punished for the same offense by their fans last week.
Livorno were fined 8,000 euros on Monday because play had to be stopped briefly in their 3-1 home win over Sampdoria when their fans threw flares on the pitch.
Leaders Inter Milan also received a 5,000 euro fine after fireworks were let off in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Lazio at the San Siro.
England to play Egypt at Wembley
England will begin their countdown to next year’s World Cup with a friendly international against Egypt at London’s Wembley Stadium on March 3, the Football Association (FA) announced Monday.
After this month’s draw in Cape Town, England manager Fabio Capello said he wanted the side to play against African opponents — something they’ve yet to do under the Italian — as Algeria will be one of their Group C rivals at next year’s finals in South Africa.
“I think we will play March 3 at Wembley, against Egypt, then we have to find the date to play against Mexico,” Capello said following the draw.
“All the friendly games we played were against European teams and we know the style of these teams. We have to play against South Americans and African teams with a different style.” However, Monday’s statement from the FA said no other England fixture details had been confirmed at this time.
Egypt, who’ve yet to play at Wembley, only missed out on a place in the 2010 World Cup finals after losing a tense play-off to Algeria last month.
England has played Egypt just twice previously, most recently at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
Then a goal from England centerback Mark Wright was all that separated the teams as the late Sir Bobby Robson’s side advanced to the second round.
Four years earlier, again under Robson, England won a friendly in Cairo 4-0.
A home win at Wembley in March would give England their 500th victory.
England have won the World Cup just once in their history, when they beat the then West Germany 4-2 after extra-time at Wembley in the 1966 final.
Korea’s Ki Sung-yueng signs for Celtic
Meanwhile, South Korea midfielder Ki Sung-yueng said he hoped to have a similar impact at Celtic as Japan’s Shunsuke Nakamura after signing a four-year deal with the Scottish Premier League club on Monday.
The 20-year-old FC Seoul player, voted Asian Young Player of the Year after helping his country reach next year’s World Cup finals, put pen to paper at a packed news conference in Seoul.
“I am really happy everything has been completed now. As soon as I signed a contract with Celtic I started to learn more and more about the club,” Ki told Celtic’s website (www.celticfc.net).
“I used to watch Shunsuke Nakamura when I was young, especially when he played for Celtic and he did a great job for the club. This club is one of the biggest and best in the world and I know playing for Celtic will make me a better player.” Japan’s Nakamura spent four years at Celtic, being named Scotland’s Player of the Year in 2007, before joining Spanish club Espanyol this year.
