Off The Pitch

Snippets from far and wide:

Messi Wins Again

Lionel Messi won his second straight FIFA Player of the Year award as he scooped the prestigious Ballon d’Or.  Messi, the standout Barcelona star, garnered just under 23% of the vote, as he edged out teammates Xavi Fernandez and Andres Iniesta.  With FIFA’s Player of the Year prize merging with the French Ballon d’Or, this year, Messi could not repeat what he achieved last year when he won both accolades.  Considered to be one of the modern games brightest stars, despite being only 23, Messi has scored roughly once per match over the past year.  A dismal World Cup campaign for Argentina only briefly reduced the lustre as Messi was still one the national team’s main stars.

His performances seem to improve with every passing week and excellent seasons in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 have been further improved upon this year.  At time of writing, Lionel Andres Messi, affectionately dubbed ‘Leo’, has scored an astonishing 40 goals and provided 20 assists in just 35 matches.  Numbers like these have broken practically every club and league scoring record and his phenomenal offensive production seems to know no bounds.

With the best years of his career still in front of him, only injury can prevent Messi from adding to the sextuple he won with Barcelona in 2009 and the Olympic gold medal in 2008.  Pacy, with excellent close control, dribbling and potent finishing, Messi is the pre-eminent footballer in today’s global game.

Overall, Barcelona players took eight of the top 20 positions.

Ronaldo Retires

February 2011 saw the retirement of one of the all time greats.  Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, commonly known as Ronaldo, first exploded onto the scene as a raw teenager at Cruzeiro, scoring 24 times in 26 outings.  A World Cup Win in 1994, albeit as an unused substitute, saw him then invade the European consciousness with a glittering two year career at PSV Eindhoven, where he netted 54 goals in 57 games.  A move to Barcelona for a single potent season followed as he would score another 47 goals in just 49 matches.

A record transfer to Internazionale ensued where, despite a recurring knee injury Ronaldo, further elevated his game and became the complete forward, creating, as well as, scoring goals.  In five injury blighted seasons, that were no doubt influenced by Calciopoli as well, Ronaldo still notched up 59 goals despite playing only 99 times.  His education in Serie A held him in good stead as his all round game allowed him to score another eight times in a winning 2002 World Cup campaign.  A transfer to Real Madrid after the World Cup continued his production as the Galacticos project yielded another 104 strikes for his generation’s greatest striker.  During this time he would play his final World Cup, during which he became the all time leading scorer at World Cup finals with 15 goals.

After five seasons with Madrid, he moved to his final European destination and in the twilight of his career put away 9 goals in 2 stop start seasons for the Rossoneri.  With weight and knee problems bogging him down, he moved back to Brazil to play for Corinthians in 2009.  Declining form and ability still saw his score 35 goals in his final seasons before he eventually announced his retirement at the start of 2011.  352 goals in four different leagues and at five of Europe’s biggest clubs along with a consistent international career, that saw 62 goals, with Brazil are just some of the achievements of the real, original Ronaldo.  At his peak, for the better part of two decades he was a powerful, pacy and lethal striker who captured the imagination of fans the world over.  He will always be the Phenomenon, a sporting freak of nature, who was the last of his breed - a true, raw, natural talent – a kid playing the game he loves.

Scared Jack

After Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Barcelona in their opening UEFA Champions’ League round of 16 tie, apparently Man of the Match Jack Wilshere was too scared to ask Messi for his shirt.  Captain Cesc Fabregas had to do so for him and then jokingly called him out on Twitter.  Although Jack responded in kind with another humorous response, the incident goes to show that even footballers are after all, just humans and fans like us.

Cesc: “Can't believe i had to go to get Messi's shirt for u. U were so scared. You were MOTM so next time please ask urself!”

Wilshere: “You are the skipper mate you should look after your players ;) Thanks though and next time in going after your mate iniesta!”

Here we have both the twitter page as well as Wilshere posing with the shirts and his father.

Lion on the Prowl

Uzbek tycoon Alisher Usmanov (sher means lion) is still snatching up shares left, right and centre as he seeks to acquire complete control Arsenal.  Sitting at just under 27%, Russia’s current richest man (personal wealth approximately $20 billions) is closing in on Stan Kroenke’s stake of 29%.  With Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea already owned by a single concern, what price the last remaining member of the big four, becoming the same.

Ticket Madness

UEFA are milking the cash cow that is the 2011 UEFA Champions’ League final.  A pack of two adult and two child tickets, come out to be just over 700 pounds.  UEFA claimed they wanted more children in the seats but out of the 11,000 neutral tickets, only set aside 500 of them for the kids.  In fact the cheapest ticket for the final is 176 pounds.  The eye gouging has drawn harsh criticism with both Carlo Ancelotti and Arsene Wenger urging UEFA to lower their prices.

Berlusconi Junior

With father and club owner Silvio under some heat for alleged improprieties as Italian Prime Minister, Barbara Bersluconi is slowly readying herself for taking over the management of Milan.  With Club President Adrian Galliani also aging and on his way out, young Barbara, with her blonde locks and entitled air, reckons, "For me, Milan is the symbol of my father. He has a sentimental bond with the team which is very strong, because it represents an immediate success that he has been able to achieve in all areas in which he operated.”

Euro 2012 on sale

Ticket prices have been set for the European Football Championships to take place in Poland and Ukraine in 2012.
­Just €30 gets you a group stage game while the cheapest ticket for the final is a very reasonable €50.  Of course, if you want a better view at the final, be prepared to fork over €600.  Tickets go on sale next month, solely on UEFA’s website.  Expect them to sell out in hours.