The list of candidates to win the 2009 Ballon d'Or award was reduced to 10 men on Sunday, with Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi the overwhelming favourite.
Lionel Messi of European champions Barcelona was named the European Club Player of the Year on Thursday for helping his side lift the UEFA Champions League trophy last season. Argentine Messi was also named forward of the year with his club mate Xavi Hernandez, who also played a key role for Barca last season, named as midfielder of the year ahead of a third Barcelona club mate Andres Iniesta.
Lionel Messi became Argentina's youngest World Cup captain when he led his country for the first time two days before his 23rd birthday against Greece in Group B on Tuesday.
The unstoppable Lionel Messi set a record for goals scored in a calendar year and kept unbeaten La Liga leaders Barcelona six points clear of Atletico Madrid in a nervy 2-1 win at Real Betis on Sunday.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola described Lionel Messi's achievements as 'outrageous' after the World Player of the Year produced another masterclass in Wednesday's 2-0 Champions League win at Real Madrid.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Barcelona have been very active in the transfer market in recent years, completing three of the top six most expensive transfers ever.
The 18-year-old became the sixth youngest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup and the youngest Argentine to play in the tournament.
Lionel Messi kept his date with India and unfolded his magic when he led Argentina in a FIFA international friendly against Venezuela in Kolkata even as the euphoria of one of the most high-profile matches in the country reached the crescendo.
The 18-year-old trained with the team on Monday but has not been given the all-clear to play by club medical staff.
Heinze returned recently to action for Manchester United after seven months, following a knee surgery.
Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is in line to become the first man to win the World Player of the Year award for the fourth time in a row after the shortlist for FIFA's Ballon d'Or was published on Monday.
It would be a crime if Cristiano Ronaldo lost out to Lionel Messi for the 2012 Ballon d'Or, his Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Lionel Messi came to Barcelona's rescue for the second time in a week by snatching a late winner to give his side a barely deserved 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday which provisionally took the champions top of La Liga.
Cristiano Ronaldo said he has always got on well with Lionel Messi and never saw him as a rival.
Salah, 25, struck four goals in Liverpool's 5-0 thrashing of Watford that lifted them back into third place in the Premier League on Saturday.
In its effort to make ticket prices 'affordable' for the friendly between Argentina and Venezuela, involving star footballer Lionel Messi, on September 2, the West Bengal government is planning to introduce dedicated family blocks wherein tickets would be available at a discounted price.
'It's a prize that's called The Best and the guy who is, for us, the best player in the world wasn't there.'
FIFA World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and runner-up Lionel Messi need to reverse a surprising trend if either is to propel his side to victory in the Champions League final.
The moment that defined Lionel Messi as the greatest player in the world came after 69 minutes of the Champions League final on Saturday, rather than the 54th when he scored. That's how remarkable it was.
Lionel Messi celebrated a second successive World Player of the Year award with a hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed second division Real Betis 5-0 in a King's Cup quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.
Luis Suarez said he had missed linking up with his insatiable strike partners Neymar and Lionel Messi after Barcelona's 'MSN' attack scored six goals in their 7-0 record rout of Celtic on Tuesday. Messi scored a record sixth European Cup hat-trick while Neymar became the first player in Champions League history to provide four assists and score in a game, curling in the third from a free-kick.
Lionel Messi squeezed home a stoppage-time penalty to grab a 3-2 win for champions Barcelona at Valencia in a thrilling and controversial La Liga match on Sunday.
Lionel Messi saved Argentina's blushes with a brilliant stoppage time winner against unheralded Iran at the football World Cup on Saturday to send the South Americans into the last 16.
Cristiano Ronaldo's son Cris junior is a Lionel Messi fan the boy's father said after they met up with the Argentina captain at the Ballon D'Or ceremony in Zurich on Monday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic christened Sweden's new stadium with a sprinkling of gold on Wednesday, scoring three classy goals and an unforgettable one in a 4-2 friendly win over England, while Argentina's Lionel Messi drew a blank in Riyadh.
Star footballers Lionel Messi, Manuel Neuer and Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been shortlisted for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award, have been selected by their peers for the 2014 FIFPro World XI team.
Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to lead Barcelona to a 4-0 victory over Sevilla Saturday and a 5-3 aggregate win in the Spanish Super Cup.
Seven times reigning winner Lionel Messi was not nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or for the first time since 2005 and nor was his Paris Saint-Germain team mate Neymar.
Hundreds of Argentines protested in the pouring rain on Saturday, demanding that soccer star Lionel Messi return to Argentina's national team after he unexpectedly quit following a loss in the regional Copa America final.
Lionel Messi will play against Greece in an Argentina team full of changes for their final World Cup Group B match on Tuesday, coach Diego Maradona said.
With the world watching him in a World Cup opener against Iceland, the normally brilliant Messi struck a weak spot-kick that was saved, leaving Argentina with a disappointing 1-1 draw.
Lionel Messi's injury is a painful blow for Barcelona but is also a motivation for the rest of the squad, midfielder Ivan Rakitic said before the holders host Bayer Leverkusen in Champions League Group E on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi put playing for Argentina at the Olympic Games in August ahead of Barcelona's Champions League third qualifying round tie.
Lionel Messi would trade all his Barcelona success for a World Cup winners' medal with Argentina to sit alongside the game's greats, according to compatriot Ossie Ardiles.
A mesmeric Lionel Messi helped Barcelona to come from behind and beat Sevilla 2-1 in a thrilling encounter on Sunday as the champions kept the pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who saw off Leganes 3-0 thanks to a double from Gareth Bale.
For Argentina players and captain Messi, who netted twice in the 120 minutes before also scoring in the shoot-out, it was the biggest title of their careers.
Lionel Messi netted a brilliant first-half hat-trick and added a late fourth to fire holders Barcelona past Arsenal into the last four of the Champions League on Tuesday.
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