Category Archives: Lionel Messi

Dec 25 2010

Lionel Messi Merry Christmas!

Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi plays a ball during the Spanish King’s Cup (Copa del Rey) football match Barcelona FC vs Athletic Bilbao on December 21, 2010 at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona.    AFP PHOTO/ JOSEP LAGO (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images)

Dec 20 2010

Lionel Messi launches vote for FIFA/FIFPro World XI

Lionel Messi, the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year, gave the starting signal for the new election of the FIFA/FIFPro World XI on Friday. The Barcelona attacker was the first player to fill in his ballot paper at the Juan Gamper training complex. Many thousands of fellow players will follow his example in the coming weeks.

It has now become a FIFPro tradition for the previous year’s top footballer to cast the first vote for the new edition of the FIFA/FIFPro World XI. Messi was honoured as the sport’s best performer during the FIFA World Player Gala, which was held in Zurich, in December 2009.

Being chosen by my fellow players means a great deal. They know better than anyone what you have to do for it.

- Lionel Messi on being named in last year’s FIFA/FIFPro World XI

The Argentinian was also asked to take the spotlight with ten of his colleagues, who were all chosen in the FIFA/FIFPro World XI. It was a memorable occasion as it represented the first time in football history that the 11 best players on the planet had come together on the same stage.

After casting his vote, Messi said that it was the fact that the players themselves choose the World XI which made his selection extra special. “Being chosen by my fellow players means a great deal to me,” he said.

“They know better than anyone what you have to do for it, and what you have to abstain from in order to reach the top and stay there. It is a great thing that FIFPro has done in giving the players the chance to vote themselves.’

FIFPro is organising the selection of the World XI for the sixth time this year. The world players’ union last week sent out approximately 55,000 ballot papers to professional footballers on every continent: from Australia to South Africa, from Finland to Costa Rica, and from Russia to Argentina. Following Messi’s example, the players will put together their favourite team consisting of one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards.

Just like last year, the World XI will be announced in collaboration with FIFA at the FIFA Gala. The honour for 2010′s top footballer will be known as the FIFA Ballon d’Or for the first time, after FIFA and France Football agreed to merge their prestigious awards. The Gala, which will be held on 10 January 2011 in Zurich, will see players included in the World XI receive their FIFA/FIFPro World XI Award.

 

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Oct 12 2010

Dolce & Gabbana signs Lionel Messi

THE BEST FOOTBALLER IN THE WORLD CHOOSES ITALIAN STYLE

Reigning FIFA Player of the Year Lionel Messi has just signed a deal with Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana.

Dolce & Gabbana released two teaser photos featuring the Barcelona and Argentine superstar through their Twitter account.

Aside from Messi, who recently received the European Golden Shoe Award for being the top scorer in the domestic league during the past season, Dolce & Gabbana have also dressed football clubs AC Milan and Chelsea, plus the Italian National Team.

More pictures after the jump…

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Sep 30 2010

Lionel Messi Awarded with Golden Boot (Bota de Oro)

In this image released by the magazine Don Balon, FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi poses with the Bota de Oro (Golden Boot) trophy awarded to him as top scorer of all European Leagues, at a ceremony in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010. Messi now joins Marco van Basten, Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players to have won all three major individual awards: the Golden Boot, FIFA World Player of the Year and the Golden Ball, given to the European footballer of the year (AP Photo)

Check the videos after the jump (Available while they last on Youtube.com)

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Sep 26 2010

Poll: Who has better abs?

Messi, Roddick or Nadal?

For more on Lionel Messi click HERE

For more on Andy Roddick click HERE

For more on Rafael Nadal click HERE

Sep 25 2010

Adidas brings Lionel Messi to London

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Full Gallery After the Jump…

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Sep 24 2010

Lionel Messi steps up recovery regime

via www.fcbarcelona.cat

Lionel Messi’s road to recovery took a step forward on Friday as he strolled onto the training pitch for the first time to work on his individual programme.

The Argentinian star suffered his injury in the closing moments of Barça’s win against Atlético de Madrid last weekend and has spent the last few days behind closed doors. Now he has moved up a gear and moved outside along with a coach and worked away from the rest of the first-team squad as he battles to regain full fitness.

Two games

Messi is combining the training that he is doing on the pitch with an intense regime in the Blaugrana gymnasium at the Ciutat Esportiva complex. After he had completed his exercises on Friday he stayed out and watched the other players go through their warm-up exercises and ball games.

Medics predicted after the initial round of tests that Messi would miss two games for pep Guardiola’s side and has already sat out the midweek encounter with Sporting Gijón.

Sep 23 2010

Lionel Messi receives award

BARCELONA, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 22: Lionel Messi of Barcelona receives a trophy before the La Liga match between Barcelona and Sporting de Gijon at Nou Camp on September 22, 2010 in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona won 1-0. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)

Sep 20 2010

Lionel Messi Injury – 2 Weeks Out

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Messi Injury – Barcelona Soccer Star Lionel Messi Ankle Hurt – Lionel Messi suffered a fairly serious ankle injury as his team went on to beat Atletico. The injury came on a tackle by Atletico defender Tomas Ijfalusi. He was taken off the field on a stretcher and it is believed that he could be out of play for the next two weeks. In an official release, the team confirmed that he had sprained ligaments in his right ankle, and had suffered no damage to the bone.

After being given the title of World Player of the Year last year, Messi has been on a tear in recent games. He will have a number of tests on Monday, when the team will get a better idea of just how hurt he truly is. Teammat3es said that they were happy to have won the game, but were sad to have done so without the help of their best player.

Luckily, a fracture was ruled out and it appears that his return will be quicker than some guessed. If he had fractured his ankle, he would have to spend over a month in a cast while it healed, and then would have an additional few weeks of rehab before he would be able to play again. The injury looked bad, but in reality it could have been much worse both for Messi and for his team. He will be missing league matches against Sporting Gijon, Real Mallorca and Athletic Bilbao.