Tag Archives: Pep Guardiola

Messi Breaks Champions League Goal-Scoring Record

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Lionel Messi has shattered another record…

The 27-year-old Argentine soccer star broke the Champions League goal-scoring record with the 72nd of his career during Barcelona‘s Group F game against APOEL on Tuesday. He then went on to cap the feat by completing a hat trick.

Lionel Messi

Messi entered Barca‘s game tied with Real Madrid legend Raul with 71, and took the record after diverting Rafinha‘s goal-bound shot into the net in the 38th minute. He then added his 73rd and 74th career competition goals in the second half.

Messi matched the record in just 90 games, while Raul played in 142 Champions League games for Madrid.

Cristiano Ronaldo is also in the race for the record, with the Real Madrid star having scored 70 Champions League goals in 106 appearances. The Portuguese forward could well surpass Messi’s total against Basel on Wednesday.

The achievement was the second goal-scoring record Messi has broken in a week. He moved past Telmo Zarra’s La Liga tally of 251 goals with a hat trick against Sevilla on Saturday.

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola said Messi’s Liga record — which currently stands at 253 goals — will not last for 60 years, but 600 years.”

Alonso Agrees to Two-Year Deal with Bayern Munich

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Xabi Alonso is leaving his beloved home country and heading to Germany…

The 32-year-old Spanish soccer star has agreed to a two-year contract with Bayern Munich for an undisclosed fee.

Xabi Alonso

Alonso had been a midfielder for Real Madrid for five years following his £30m move from Liverpool in 2009.

Alonso, a Champions League winner in May, had just signed a new two-year deal in January.

Bayern moved for Alonso after Toni Kroos joined Madrid following the World Cup and fellow Spaniard Javi Martinez was ruled out until 2015 with a knee injury.

“He has bags of experience and a big personality,” said Bayern boss Pep Guardiola.

“We need a player with his quality and vision. I know he’s 32 but that doesn’t matter in this position, where you need intelligent players, rather than the legs and stamina for the flanks.”

“I had a great time here, we have won big things and now a new chapter opens for me. It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to take,” said Alonso. “The club did not want me to go. It was my decision and I asked them to understand. The club didn’t share my idea but they understood my need to start a new chapter, to start from zero in a new club.”

Alonso, who won two European Championships and a World Cup with Spain, joined Liverpool from Real Sociedad in 2004 where he won the Champions League at the end of his first season.

Messi Wins Record Fourth Ballon d’Or

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Lionel Messi is officially in a league of his own…

The 25-year-old Argentine fútbol has become the first four-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, FIFA’s Player of the Year award, after breaking the world record for most goals in a year with 91 goals for Barcelona and Argentina.

Lionel Messi

Messi won for the fourth straight time, beating Real Madrid‘s Cristiano Ronaldo and his fellow Futbol Club Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta in voting announced Monday. His 91 goals topped Gerd Mueller‘s mark of 85 for Bayern Munich and Germany back in 1972.

Messi received 41.60 percent of the points in votes by national team coaches and captains plus selected media. Ronaldo got 23.68 percent and Iniesta 10.91 percent.

“To tell the truth, this is really unbelievable to get the fourth award. I am so nervous,” Messi said in Spanish, wearing a black tuxedo jacket and bow tie, both with a white polka-dot pattern in an unexpectedly flamboyant touch.

U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann and captain Carlos Bocanegra both voted Messi first, as did Soccer America’s Paul Kennedy.

Zinedine Zidane of France and Ronaldo of Brazil were voted FIFA Player of the Year three times before the award merged in 2010 with France Football’s Golden Ball, given to the European player of the year. The Golden Ball, or Ballon d’Or, was won three times by Michel Platini of France and Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten of the Netherlands.

Vicente del Bosque was voted top men’s coach after leading Spain to its third straight title in a major tournament, the 2012 European Championship. Del Bosque got 34.51 percent to win over Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho (20.49), who won last year, and Pep Guardiola (12.91) who won in 2011 and retired from Barcelona last spring.

The three men’s Player of the Year candidates were on the World XI All-Star team chosen by the FIFPro group of players’ unions, comprising 50,000 members worldwide.

They selected a team composed entirely of players from Spanish clubs, with nine repeating their selection from one year ago.

Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas was selected as goalkeeper, joined on defense by teammates Sergio Ramos and Marcelo and by Barcelona’s Dani Alves and Gerard Pique. Iniesta was joined in midfield by Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez and Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso. Messi led the attack with Ronaldo and Atletico Madrid‘s Radamel Falcao. Marcelo and Falcao replaced Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney from the 2011 team.

Messi Gunning for History-Making Fourth Ballon d’Or

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Lionel Messi is one step closer to making serious soccer history this January…

The 25-year-old Argentine fútbol star has been named as a finalist for the 2012 Ballon d’Or, which honors the world’s best soccer player.

Lionel Messi

Messi, who claimed his second Golden Boot in October for being the top scorer in the European national leagues, will compete against Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain’s Andres Iniesta for the honor, FIFA and France Football announced  Thursday.

Messi has won the award for the last three years, while Ronaldo took the prize in 2008. First-time finalist Iniesta was the MVP of the 2012 European Championship. Should Messi earn his fourth consecutive award, he’d become the only player to win the award four times.

Iniesta and Messi are teammates at Futbol Club Barcelona, while Ronaldo plays for Real Madrid.

“We’re not at the level of the Oscars, but we’re not very far from that ceremony either,” Blatter said.

Nominated for Coach of the Year are Vicente Del Bosque of the Spanish national squad, Pep Guardiola – late of Barcelona – and Jose Mourinho, manager of Real Madrid.

Brazil’s Marta and two members of the U.S. team, Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan, will compete for the title of Women’s Player of the Year. The contenders for Coach of the Year in women’s soccer are Bruno Bini of France, Norio Sasaki of Japan and Sweden’s Pia Sundhage.

The Puskas trophy for goal of the year will go to either Colombian Radamel Falcao Garcia, Brazil’s Neymar or Slovak Miroslav Stoch.

The names of all the winners will be revealed at a January 7 gala in Switzerland.