Tag Archives: Euro 2016

Messi Makes the UEFA’s Shortlist for the 2015-16 Goal of the Season Award

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Lionel Messi is gol oriented.…

The 29-year-oldArgentine soccer player and FC Barcelona star is among the 10 players who’ve made the UEFA‘s shortlist for the 2015-16 Goal of the Season award, covering last season’s European club competitions and the Euro 2016 finals.

Lionel Messi

Messi’s flick past Roma goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny after a team move involving Neymar and Luis Suarez in the 6-1 Champions League group-stage victory is on the list alongside Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez‘s solo effort against Bayern Munich in the semifinal first leg.

Gonzalo Higuain‘s solo run and fierce strike for Napoli against Legia Warsaw in the Europa League is also a contender, with spectacular efforts from Juan Cuadrado and Stephan Lichtsteiner for Juventus also recognised.

The goals chosen from Euro 2016 are Xherdan Shaqiri‘s acrobatic late equalizer for Switzerland against Poland and Marek Hamsik‘s strike for Slovakia against Russia.

Lionel Messi

That means Zoltan Gera‘s strike for Hungary against Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo‘s header for Portugal against Wales — voted first and second respectively by fans for Euro 2016’s Goal of the Tournament award — are not under consideration.

Also nominated for the Goal of the Season award are Barcelona youngster Carlos Alena‘s mazy dribble against Roma in the UEFA Youth League, Camille Abily‘s overhead kick for Lyon against Sparta Prague in the Women’s Champions League and Ricardinho‘s special strike for Portugal against Serbia at Futsal EURO 2016.

Fans can vote online at UEFA.com until Aug. 23 to choose their favorite goal from the shortlist chosen by UEFA‘s expert panel.

A similar online vote has been launched allowing supporters to choose their Save of the Season.

Suárez Among Contendors For This Year’s UEFA Best Player in Europe Award

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Luis Suárez is getting a second chance to take down his teammate…

The 29-year-old Uruguayan professional footballer, a striker for Futbol Club Barcelona, has made it to the shortlist for Union of European Football Associations‘ Best Player in Europe Award.

Luis Suárez

Suárez, the winner of Europe’s Golden Boot after his 40-goal season in La Liga, finished in second place for the coveted UEFA award last year, losing to fellow teammate Lionel Messi.

This year, Suárez was also Barça‘s top scorer in the Champions League, even though the teamcouldn’t get past the quarterfinals, losing to the eventual runner-up, Atlético Madrid.

Messi, the only player in history to have won the award twice, first in 2011 and then in 2015, is up for the award again this year.

But Suárez and Messi aren’t the only Latino players to make the 10-man list.

Real Madrid’s Pepe has made the cut for the second the year in a row. The 33-year-old Brazilian soccer star, a defender for Portugal, is included after a season in which he won the Champions League with Los Blancos before winning Euro 2016 with Portugal.

In addition to Suárez, Messi and Pepe, the shortlist is compiled using votes from journalists across UEFA‘s 55 member associations and includes Gareth Bale, Gianluigi Buffon, Antoine Griezmann, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer and Cristian Ronaldo.

The winner will be announced at the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on August 25.