Fifa Weekly Fifa World Player of the Year
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12 JANUARY 2015 ENGLISH EDITION FIFA BALLON D’OR Fédération Internationale de Football Association – Since 1904 “Yes!”WWW.FIFA.COM/THEWEEKLY FIFA BALLON D’OR For more news from the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala, visit: http://www.fifa.com/ballon-dor FIFA Ballon d’Or CRISTIANO RONALDO (POR) FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Extract from the FIFA President’s NADINE KESSLER (GER) opening speech FIFA World Coach of the Year Dear football friends for Men’s Football iven this uncertain and turbulent world of ours, I have only one JOACHIM LÖW (GER) thing to say this evening: we have yet to see the true power G of peace, or that of football. Therefore, let us be the ambassadors of a positive vision of the world. Let us be the ones to proclaim the message of peace loud and clear. Let us do good. FIFA World Coach of the Year This evening has a very French flavour because the Ballon d’Or has for Women’s Football its origins in France, as I always like to remind people. The award was founded in 1956, in collaboration with my friends at France Football. RALF KELLERMANN (GER) It was launched by friends, in a spirit of friendship, around a round table. Tonight, in keeping with that sentiment, we are all French in some way and our thoughts go out to our neighbours, who have been shaken to the core by the violent events of the last few days, which prompt me to repeat my call for peace, calm and tolerance. FIFA Puskás Award I call on you, if you are willing, to shake the hands of your oppo- nents at every level in the world of football, a gesture that will help JAMES RODRIGUEZ (COL) make this world of ours a better place. The Handshake for Peace is a unique symbol and embodies the values of friendship, respect and forgiveness. It is for those reasons that I want to see this gesture become commonplace. I want people to shake hands and look each other in the eye before and after each football match, at every level, FIFA Fairplay Award starting with the youngest players. What an example it would be! What a step forward it would represent! While it goes without saying VOLUNTEERS OF THE WORLD CUP 2014 that it will not bring an end to war, it will help foster mutual under- standing between people. There is something that is moving and cannot be stopped, and that something is the desire for peace that burns within us, as does the desire to share and to support each other. We are seeing it more and FIFA Presidential Award more on an everyday level and we can see it in our fight against Ebola. We are assuming our responsibilities and showing our solidarity, and HIROSHI KAGAWA (JPN) I would like to congratulate all the players who have devoted their time to spreading the message. Tonight, though, is a celebration first and foremost, a night on FIFA FIFPro World XI which we pay tribute to the stars of football, which is always a difficult thing to do because this is a team sport. Yet here we are, celebrating Goalkeeper MANUEL NEUER (GER/Bayern Munich) the skills of individual players. It is a little bit of a paradox if you ask Defenders PHILIPP LAHM (GER/Bayern Munich) me, though I do think that the triumphs of the talented men and women who have gathered here this evening are not just personal in DAVID LUIZ (BRA/Paris Saint-Germain) nature. They are the triumphs of a whole team: the wider footballing SERGIO RAMOS (ESP/Real Madrid) community. THIAGO SILVA (BRA/Paris Saint-Germain) So let us talk, share our views with each other and revel in the things that make us different. After all, there is always more we can Midfielders ANGEL DI MARIA (ARG/Manchester United) find out about one another. As my friend Nelson Mandela liked to say, let us celebrate humanity. ANDRES INIESTA (ESP/Barcelona) AFP Content: Getty Images / TONI KROOS (GER/Real Madrid) Forwards LIONEL MESSI (ARG/Barcelona) ARJEN ROBBEN (NED/Bayern Munich) CRISTIANO RONALDO (POR/Real Madrid) Best wishes, Sepp Blatter Cover: Fabrice Coffrini 2 THE FIFA WEEKLY FIFA WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR CRISTIANO RONALDO eal Madrid’s Portuguese star received the FIFA Bal- take some beating: top goalscorer in La Liga and Golden lon d’Or trophy in Zurich on Monday evening after Shoe winner (top scorer in Europe) last season, nobody has being voted the world’s best footballer once again. ever scored more UEFA Champions League goals in a single Having previously won the award in 2008 and 2013, campaign than Ronaldo did last term. The Portuguese me- Ronaldo has now been named best player in the gastar has practically reinvented the art of goalscoring while world on three occasions, but the great man will only attaining new heights of efficiency and cadence. Rrest when he has accumulated more Ballon d’Or trophies Five weeks ago, Ronaldo became the fastest player to than any of his competitors. The earliest he can achieve reach the 200-goal mark in Spain’s top flight, reaching the that objective, however, is January 2017. milestone in just 178 appearances. His hat-trick against Celta Argentine star Lionel Messi, who came away emp- Vigo was his 23rd treble in La Liga – another league high. ty-handed for the second year running, has won the award He wouldn’t be the phenomenal player he is, though, if four times to date. Assuming Ronaldo makes the final Bal- only his personal achievements were of any real signifi- lon d’Or shortlist again in December, another victory for cance. It goes without saying that Ronaldo’s individual the 29-year-old next year would draw him level with the performances have made a key contribution to his team’s Barcelona man. success. He helped Real Madrid win the Champions Just how likely is the above scenario? Very, if Ronaldo League, UEFA Super Cup and Copa del Rey last season. remains injury free over the next twelve months. The man- Barely four weeks have passed since Madrid completed ner with which he swept everything before him last season their trophy haul by winning the FIFA Club World Cup for and during the first half of the current campaign has been the very first time. breathtaking, extraordinary, almost hallucinatory at times. As ever, Cristiano Ronaldo will do everything he can to Many believe the last twelve months have been the best ensure his game continues to appear effortless and his scor- in his career. If that is true, any goals Ronaldo chooses to ing tally continues to grow. His long-term objective, name- pursue in 2015 are surely well within his capabilities. Indeed, ly a fifth Ballon d’Or award, also remains firmly in his if he didn’t keep surprising us all with his genius, one might sights. Å Andres Kudacki/AP/Keystone say he is at the peak of his game right now. His stats certainly Perikles Monioudis THE FIFA WEEKLY 3 FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR NADINE KESSLER ith her tackling prowess, creativ- ity and exemplary leadership, Nadine Kessler is a pillar of the VfL Wolfsburg side and the driv- ing force behind their success. In 2014 the defensive midfielder Wspearheaded the team’s successful de- fence of their Women’s Bundesliga and Champions League crowns and, if that were not impressive enough, also under- lined her keen eye for goal with 17 strikes in all competitions for her club last sea- son. “She’s made a crucial contribution to our titles,” said her coach Ralf Keller- mann, adding: “I’m 100 per cent certain she’ll be named FIFA Women’s World Play- er of the Year.” The coach's words were to prove prescient. Just a few month after being named Europe’s player of the year, Kessler added the world title to her collec- tion at Monday evening’s award ceremony. Nadine Kessler is in the form of her life – or rather she was. After undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on her knee in October, the Germany international is still experiencing discomfort despite originally planning to make a comeback at the start of the year. Her coach is cur- rently unable to give an estimated date for her return. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old knows how to battle her way back from such frus- trating injury layoffs. She overcame re- peated setbacks at the start of her career, having already established her reputation as one of Germany’s brightest footballing talents. And although Kessler’s career hung by a thread after she underwent sev- en knee operations between 2008 and 2010, she worked hard to return to com- petitive action. This fighting spirit was once again evident in the 2012/13 Cham- pions League final, when she played on with a broken little toe. Nadine Kessler is also an important figure within the Ger- man national team. She made a decisive contribution to the eight-time European champions’ World Cup qualifying cam- paign, where they won all seven of their matches to ensure they travel to Canada among the favourites to lift the trophy. Kessler found the net five times in six games to make her one of Die Nationalelf’s most prolific scorers. It is hoped that she will make a speedy return to full training in time to help write another Germany summer fairytale – this time at the Wom- en’s World Cup 2015 in Canada.