Barcelona playmaker, Lionel Messi who returned to training a day ago is wearing a new haircut. Messi has really stepped up. The Argentine forward has joined other footballers who parade an array of bizarre or bold haircuts. Gone are the days when he would leave his hair dull, shapeless and at times dangling across his forehead.
The father of one has shaved the sides of his head and left the top intact. Can’t wait to read footie fans’ reactions to his new look when the season kicks off this month.
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Goal 50 award for the world’s best footballer
after a record-breaking season. The Portuguese forward claims the trophy from digital football brand Goal.com for the third time.
Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama was also named in the list and finished in 27th spot after impressive performances with Lille and the Super Eagles in the last season. Enyeama helped the reigning African champions to the second round of the World Cup where he kept two clean sheets. His heroics with Lille saw him go 1062 minutes without conceding a goal in the 2013/13 Ligue 1 season.
The Goal 50 title – presented by the world’s biggest single-sport website – is in recognition of a magnificent campaign during which Ronaldo led his club to a long-awaited 10th Champions League crown.
Ronaldo, 29, who also claimed the Copa del Rey, struck 51 goals in all competitions for club and country. He shared the European Golden Shoe with Luis Suarez and also picked up the 2013 Fifa Ballon d’Or.
“It’s a very big honour for me to have been chosen as the best player,” Ronaldo told Goal at the trophy presentation held at Real Madrid’s
pre-season training camp in Los Angeles.
“I’m sincerely grateful for this award. I also want to thank the fans for their support and for their passion for the game, which is what makes this sport so fascinating throughout the world.”
The Goal 50 is regarded as one of the most credible and respected awards in sport, chosen by over 600 Goal journalists, covering 35 editions around the world to a global audience of over 64 million users.
Voting takes place at the end of domestic and international seasons for the majority of countries. Ronaldo heads this year’s list in front of second-placed Arjen Robben, who starred for Netherlands at the World Cup and helped Bayern to four trophies in 2013-14. Last year’s winner Lionel Messi finished third after another prolific season for club and country.
The Goal 50 has a track record of identifying many of the future stars of
the game. Youngsters James Rodriguez and Thibaut Courtois featured in the
2013 list, and this year both made it into the top 10.
Commenting on the results, Graham Shaw, Goal’s Editorial Director, said:
“Goal 50 gives a truly global view on the players who have lit up an epic
season. Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo who fully deserves to top this
year’s list after a sensational campaign.”
2014 Goal 50 – Top 10
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
2. Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
3. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
4. Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)
5. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)
6. James Rodriguez (AS Monaco)
7. Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
8. Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid)
9. Arturo Vidal (Juventus)
10. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
2014 Goal 50 – positions 11-50
11. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain)
12. Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla)
13. Angel di Maria (Real Madrid)
14. Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid)
15. Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)
16. Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich)
17. Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)
18. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal)
19. Yaya Toure (Manchester City)
20. Miralem Pjanic (AS Roma)
21. Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund)
22. Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)
23. Keylor Navas (Levante)
24. Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid)
25. Javier Mascherano (Barcelona)
26. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid)
27. Vincent Enyeama (Lille)
28. Juan Cuadrado (Fiorentina)
29. Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
30. Neymar (Barcelona)
31. Joel Campbell (Olympiakos)
32. Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain)
33. Enzo Perez (Benfica)
34. Charles Aranguiz (Internacional)
35. Asamoah Gyan (Al Ain)
36. Daley Blind (Ajax)
37. Gervinho (AS Roma)
38. Paul Pogba (Juventus)
39. Rafael Marquez (Leon)
40. Abdelmoumene Djabou (Club Africain)
41. Robin van Persie (Manchester United)
42. David Silva (Manchester City)
43. Ciro Immobile (Torino)
44. Serge Aurier (Toulouse)
45. Yoshito Okubo (Kawasaki Frontale)
46. Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City)
47. Caner Erkin (Fenerbahce)
48. Nadir Belhadj (Al-Sadd)
49. Kim Shin-Wook (Ulsan Hyundai)
50. Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls)
http://www.goal.com The Goal 50 is voted for by editors representing each of the 35 editions of Goal around the world.
Goal.com is the most-read football site in the world, according to ComScore, with editions in 16 languages spanning five continents. The Goal 50 is voted for based on the performance of the players over a full season rather than a calendar year.
Details of 2013 winner Lionel Messi (from FC Barcelona’s website):
http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/leo-messi-wins-goal-50-award
Goal 50 previous winners:
• 2007/2008 Cristiano Ronaldo
• 2008/2009 Lionel Messi
• 2009/2010 Wesley Sneijder
• 2010/2011 Lionel Messi
• 2011/2012 Cristiano Ronaldo
• 2012/2013 Lionel Messi
Who’s surprised by this statement? Argentine legend Diego Maradona, while speaking during a TV programme affirmed that Lionel Messi didn’t deserve the Golden Ball award at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He said the prize should have gone to Colombia’s James Rodriguez.
“I would give heaven and earth to Leo, but when marketing people want him to win something he didn’t deserve to win, it is unfair. I could see that he didn’t want to go up and collect it. We raised our flag high, there’s no doubt about that. Germany won due to a misunderstanding in the defence but at no point were they better than us. They showed us a lot of respect, and our lads earned that out on the pitch.”
And just in almost every football list. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo lead the pack.
Below are top 10 highest paid World Cup stars and their endorsement deals.
(1) Lionel Messi – £292,000 (After Tax)- Endorsement deals- EA Sports, Adidas, Turkish Arilines, Gillette, Pepsi
(2) Ronaldo – £288,000 (after Tax)-Endorsement deals- Konami, Nike, Coca Cola, Castrol, herbalife, KFC, Armani, Emirates
(3) Wayne Rooney – £300,000 – Endorsement deals- Harper Collins, Nike, EA Sports, Coca-Cola
(4) Robin Van Persie – £250,000- Endorsement deals- Adidas, BT Sport, Pepsi
(5) Thiago Silva – £250,000 – Endorsement deal- Nike
(6) Yaya Toure – £240,000 – Endorsement deals – Puma, Ford
(7) Sergio Aguero – £230,000 – Endorsement deals- Puma, Pepsi
(8) Neymar – £230,000 – Endorsement deals – Nike, Volkswagon, Coca Cola
(9) Luis Suarez – £220,000 – Endorsement deal – Adidas
(10) David Silva – £200,000 – Endorsement deal – Nike
Photography has a way of stirring up emotions. I love this wonderful shot. Osaze’s look is priceless! The picture was taken shortly before the match (Argentina and Nigeria) started. The game ended 3-2 in favour of Argentina
Asides the fact that his team has not done badly so far, Netherlands winger, Arjen Robben has added another achievement to his list. He is now the world’s fastest footballer. The Bayern Munich talisman achieved the feat in the ongoing World Cup tournament. Last friday, on June 13, 2014 to be precise, he recorded a speed of 37km/h, the fastest ever clocked by a footballer during his team’s clash against Spain.
The record was previously held by Arsenal’s Theo Walcott who ran a recorded speed of 35.7km/h sometime in September 2010. The 25 year-old England player however congratulated him on twitter, “Robben, Congrats for beating my clocked speed but thought it looked a bit downhill. #SpeedMatters”.
Top 8 fastest footballers in the world.
Arjen Robben – 37km/h
Theo Walcott – 35.7km/h
Antonio Valencia – 35.2km/h
Gareth Bale – 34-7km/h
Aaron Lennon – 33.8km/h
Cristiano Ronaldo – 33.6km/h
Lionel Messi – 32.5km/h
Wayne Rooney – 32.1km/h
Prominent footballers; Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eden Hazard, Luis Suarez have made The Football Observatory’s annual list of its 25 Most Valuable Soccer Players In The World.
11 players are from the English Premier League EPL, 8 from Spanish La Liga, 2 play in France, 2 play in Germany, and 2 in Italy. Also 4 of the players are from Barcelona, 3 players from Real Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Taken into consideration include their age, length of contract remaining, position, player performance at club level for last and previous seasons (matches, minutes, goals, assists, passes, tackles, interceptions, etc.), results of the clubs to which players belong, players’ international experience and results of association represented at national A-team level.”
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina) — $272-317 million
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal) — $144-167 million
3. Luis Suarez (Liverpool, Uruguay) — $134-156 million
4. Eden Hazard (Chelsea, Belgium) — $103-120 million
5. Neymar (Barcelona, Brazil) — $86-99 million
6. Paul Pogba (Juventus, France) — $83-96 million
7. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid, Wales) — $80-92 million
8. Mesut Ozil (Arsenal, Germany) — $67-78 million
9. Edinson Cavani (PSG, Uruguay) — $65-76 million
10. Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich, Germany) — $64-74 million
11. Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid, Spain) — $64-74 million
12. Oscar (Chelsea, Brazil) — $63-$72 million
13. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City, Argentina) — $62-72 million
14. Isco (Real Madrid, Spain) — $56-65 million
15. Raheem Sterling (Liverpool, England) — $53-61 million
16. Ross Barkley (Everton, England) — $50-58 million
17. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich, Germany) — $50-$58 million
18. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England) — $50-58 million
19. Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool, England) — $50-58 million
20. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, Spain) — $50-58 million
21. Mario Balotelli (AC Milan, Italy) — $48-56 million
22. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea, Belgium) — $48-56 million
23. Juan Mata (Manchester United, Spain) — $47-54 million
24. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona, Spain) — $47-54 million
25. James Rodriguez (Monaco, Colombia) — $47-54 million
Liverpool’s Luis Suarez has topped Bloomberg Sports list of most influential players. The Uruguayan who scored 31 goals and assisted 12 in 33 Premier League matches piped out the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the rankings.
Bloomberg’s criteria include: Effectiveness and efficiency when performing specific attacking tasks, including goals, shots, creativity etc.
Top 20 most influential players
(1) Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
(2) Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
(3) Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG)
(4) Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
(5) Kevin Strootman (Roma)
(6) Diego Costa (Athletico Madrid)
(7) Mehdi Benatia (Roma)
(8) Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)
(9) Tiago (Athletico Madrid)
(10) David Silva (Manchester City)
(11) Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
(12) Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)
(13) Miranda (Athletico Madrid)
(14) Yaya Toure (Manchester city)
(15) Carlos Tevez (Juventus)
(16) Leandro Castan (Roma)
(17) Martin Demichelis (Manchester City)
(18) Diego Godin (Athletico Madrid)
(19) Gervinho (Roma)
(20) Thiago Silva Club- (PSG)
