FIFA Ballon d’Or Awards Gala

Monday evening saw the annual FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala hosted in the luxurious Swiss city of Zurich and as always, we are on hand to detail and showcase all the respective victors and nominees of the numerous awards dished out at this star-studded ceremony.  

With the excitement of the weekend football over and done with, everyone turned their attention to Zurich where we discovered who walked away with the prized FIFA Ballon d’Or; FIFA Coach of the Year; FIFA Puskas Award; FIFA Presidential Award; FIFA Fair Play Award and FIFA/FIFPro World XI decorations (too much ‘FIFA’ for one sentence!). Let’s lift the lid and parade the winners –  and nominees too! – of this year’s glamorous award ceremony.

FIFA Ballon d’Or – Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Surprise, surprise: the Argentine walked away with the prestigious award for the third year on the trot! Messi triumphed over Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and fellow Barcelona teammate Xavi, to bag the award that recognises his achievements in the previous season worthy enough of this esteemed reward.

It’s worth mentioning that (we don’t want to overlook anything) Homare Sawa of Japan bagged her first FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year prize – shrugging off competition from Marta of Brazil and Abby Wambach of the USA. It’s good to see dual awards for both respective games.

FIFA Coach of the Year – Pep Guardiola (Barcelona)

Is that another award snapped up by a Barcelona representative? Indeed it is. Pep pipped Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) and arch-rival Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid) to join Messi on the accolades list for yet another year. We were hoping that AVB would walk away with this (despite the fact he wasn’t even on the final shortlist) for his stellar efforts in securing three trophies in addition to seeing Porto finish undefeated in the Portuguese Primeira Liga before Roman Abramovich acquired his services as the man to steer Chelsea to success after they dismissed Carlo Ancelotti.

Meanwhile, the FIFA Women’s Coach of the Year went to Japan’s Norio Sasaki, who oversaw Japan’s triumph in last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup held in Germany. The other nominees for that award were Pia Sundhage (Manager of the USA) and Bruno Bini who joined the two due to his efforts in guiding France to their first ever semi-finals in that very same tournament.

FIFA Puskas Award – Neymar (Santos)

Otherwise dubbed “The Best Goal of the Year” to any football outsider, the Puskas Award was pocketed by the Brazilian wonder kid, Neymar, who is without a doubt one of the hottest properties in the world right now and with an asking price of over £40 million, it’s fair to say that this goal justifies exactly why he will cost so dearly. His brilliant solo effort against Flamengo last July earned the majority of the vote to claim victory over Wayne Rooney’s (Manchester United) stunning bicycle kick against Manchester City last February and Lionel Messi’s (Barcelona) flick against Arsenal in last season’s Champions League. However, we’re not so sure how Messi’s goal wound up in there, but come on: there were MUCH better goals in the initial shortlist than Messi’s! Are we right or are we right?

FIFA Presedential Award – Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)

Now, this prestigious recognition is awarded to anyone within the footballing community  that has gained extreme recognition for their efforts out with the football stadium, but this year, FIFA made an exception. 2011 saw Sir Alex Ferguson celebrate his 70th Birthday, an outstanding 25 years at the helm of Manchester United and a 12th Premier League title success to his name – with that medal being United’s history defining 19th title which saw United finally knock Liverpool off their pesky perch. Oh, he also guided United to their 3rd Champions League final in just four years. You can’t really argue with this one, can you?

FIFA Fair Play Award – Japan

This decoration is reserved for those who have achieved success in troubled times and this award couldn’t be anymore deserving for the nation of Japan. Rocked by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the country in March last year, Japan found solace through football and for this, FIFA commend them with this accolade. Participation in four/five FIFA tournaments; an AFC Asian Cup success; hosting the FIFA Club World Cup and emerging as the victors in Germany’s 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup all played a key part in securing this award for the Japanese. It’s also worth mentioning that 2011 marked the 90th anniversary of the Japan Football Association. You see, football is more than just a game. It is a spirit, passion, belief and means of uniting those in the face of adversity.

FIFA/FIFPro World XI – Numerous

Essentially, this is a team comprised of the greatest 11 players from the previous season as voted for by over 50,000 professional footballers. This assembled team was a little… expected to say the least.

GK: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)

DF: Dani Alves (Barcelona)

DF: Gerard Pique (Barcelona)

DF: Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

DF: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

MF: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)

MF: Xavi (Barcelona)

MF: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

FW: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

FW: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

FW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

That’s the glitz and glamour over and done with for yet another year and we will all be keeping our eyes peeled on the hottest performers of this current season to predict who will walk away with some of the most coveted prizes in world football come next year. Will Messi bag an unprecedented fourth FIFA Ballon d’Or title? We will have to wait and see. What do you guys think about the award winners?