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RONALDO STILL THE BEST
Portugal legend and Real Madrid forward, Cristiano Ronaldo retained his crown as the best footballer in the world as he was Monday named as the Best FIFA Men’s Player for the second year running.
The glamorous event was streamed live on FIFA TV monitored via the FIFA website.
Ronaldo was the overwhelming favourite among a trio that included his perennial rival, Lionel Messi and new contender to the crown, Neymar Jr.
Ronaldo played pivotal role in seeing Real Madrid winning the La Liga and Champions League double last season.
The former Manchester United forward remarked he was returning to England for the first time since his exit from Manchester United and his retuning to England had been fruitful.
He had edged out perennial rival Lionel Messi and the Argentinean’s former Barcelona team-mate Neymar to win the award, which he also claimed in its inaugural year in 2016.
Ronaldo’s successes with Madrid last term were crucial in him securing yet another individual accolade, with the 32-year-old scoring 42 goals across all competitions.
The most notable achievement for Madrid was becoming the first club to retain the Champions League title since its inception in 1992, and they also wrestled the domestic crown from bitter rivals Barcelona.
Ronaldo’s goals were vital on both fronts, with his haul of 25 in La Liga making him the division’s third top scorer behind Messi and Luis Suarez, while he also netted 12 in 13 Champions League matches, including two against Juventus in the final.
Speaking when he received his award at London Palladium, Ronaldo was quick to pay tribute to Messi and Neymar, who spent the evening sitting alongside him on the front row.
“Thank you, a lot, to the guys who voted for me. I must also mention Leo and Neymar, for being here,” he said.
“Real Madrid – the coach, the supporters and the president – they support all of the year so I say thank you to them.
“I’m really glad to win consecutive awards. This is a great moment for me. Thank you to all the fans around the world for the support. I appreciate that, thank you very much.
“It’s great to be here with these great players and I am so happy guys, thanks you so much.”
Although Messi’s season was not recognised with the individual gong, the Barcelona hero did enjoy a remarkable campaign on a personal level, scoring 54 goals in 52 games on all fronts, plus 16 assists.
It is the second successive year that Messi has finished runner-up to Ronaldo, while the former Manchester United attacker is also the favourite for the 2017 Ballon d’Or, having taken the honour last year.
That would tie the current era’s defining players on five Ballons d’Or apiece.
Neymar replaced Antoine Griezmann in this year’s top three, with the Brazilian having swapped Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record €222million transfer in August.
This is the second edition of the Best FIFA Football Awards, which are different to the Ballon d’Or.
A version of the Ballon d’Or has been awarded by France Football magazine since 1956, but world football’s governing body has ended its association with that honour.
Instead, it introduced the Best FIFA Football Awards, with Ronaldo the first recipient of its main prize in January.
Voting for the player and coach categories was by national team captains and managers, selected journalists and, for the first time, an online poll of fans.
Each counted for 25% of the total. Madrid dominated the awards ceremony; with boss Zinedine Zidane named Best FIFA Men’s Coach and Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos and Toni Kroos joining Ronaldo in the FIFA FIFPro XI of 2017.
Juventus veteran Gianluigi Buffon was named as Best FIFA Goalkeeper and also lined up in the dream team, while Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud claimed the Puskas Award for the best goal of the year – his remarkable overhead back heel volley against Crystal Palace in January.
Netherlands’ triumphant Euro 2017 campaign saw them dominate the women’s awards, with Sarina Wiegman named Best FIFA Women’s Coach and Lieke Martens scooping the player’s prize.
UEFA appears poised for an emergency vote on suspending Israel from European competition next week, with national federations scrambling to position themselves amid mounting political pressure following calls for action.
The brewing crisis intensified this week when United Nations experts called for Israel’s suspension from international football amid the unfolding genocide in occupied Palestinian territory.
A source confirmed that Europe’s soccer body could potentially decide next week to vote on whether to suspend Israel from European competition.
Should UEFA vote to ban Israel, it would put the organisation on a collision course with the government of the United States — co-hosts for the 2026 World Cup — which is vehemently against such a motion.
“We will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national soccer team from the World Cup,” a spokesperson for the U.S. state department told Sky News.
But even though UEFA has the power to suspend Israel or its clubs from their competitions, it may not be able to stop them from competing in World Cup qualifiers, which fall under the ambit of global soccer body FIFA.
The general secretaries of all UEFA national associations are meeting this week in Marbella, where Israel is not officially on the agenda, but officials expect UEFA to call an emergency vote next week.
FIFA did not respond to a Reuters request for comment while UEFA declined to comment.
Palestinian Football Association president Jibril Rajoub said Israelis should not be allowed to participate in any matches, whether they are under UEFA or FIFA.
“Israel has violated the principles, values and FIFA’s statutes. Therefore, I believe that Israel should be sanctioned,” Rajoub told TV2.
“The sanctions should come from UEFA and FIFA.”
WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Israel’s national team are set to face Norway and Italy, the top two teams in their World Cup qualifying group, next month.
“We don’t have any indications that we are facing such an act (UEFA suspension),” a spokesperson for the Israel Football Association told Reuters.
“We are focusing on our international matches against Norway and Italy.”
Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) is one of the member associations that have been the driving force behind calling for a meeting on the Israel situation. The NFF declined to comment.
Lise Klaveness, the president of the NFF and a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, has also been vocal about the crisis in Gaza ahead of her country’s home game against Israel on October 11.
“Neither we nor other organisations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been subjected to for a long time,” Klaveness said in a statement last month.
“We want to donate the proceeds (from the game) to a humanitarian organisation that saves lives in Gaza every day and provides active emergency aid on the ground.”
The Dutch football federation (KNVB) said it knows nothing about a vote to suspend Israel.
“As soon as the football association receives a message about this, it will take a position,” the KNVB told Dutch outlet NOS.
Last week, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Israel should be banned from international sports competitions. However, officials from the Spanish FA (RFEF) have kept a low profile on the matter.
Israel maintains that its war is not against the population of Gaza but against the Hamas militant group whose fighters led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and precipitated the war.
The subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people, according to local health officials.
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A hat-trick from George Agha and a sublime free-kick goal from David Edeh ensured a comfortable start for five-time world champions Nigeria in the WAFU-B U17 Championship, as the Golden Eaglets routed Baby Cheetahs of Benin Republic 4 -1 in Yamoussoukro on Wednesday.
Agha converted from the spot three minutes into the game after Boluwatife Thompson was hacked inside the box.
Edeh displayed fantastic football artistry to score from a free-kick in the 5th minute of the encounter.
The Eaglets were in cruise control as Agha bagged his brace in the 14th minute. The charges of Manu Garba were very dominant with a three-goal advantage.
Warris Soumanou in goal for Benin Republic was caught napping and his error of judgement gave the Eaglets another goal after a beautiful exchange of passes and dribbles between Thompson and Edeh, which set up Agha for his hat-trick in the 32nd minute.
It was raining goals and it was the turn of the Beninoise in the 45th minute, as a low drive from Jeremy Zannou gave the Baby Cheetahs a consolation goal.
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Mohamed Salah’s dramatic stoppage-time penalty ensured Liverpool maintained their winning start to the Premier League season with a 1-0 victory at promoted side Burnley on Sunday.
With British record signing Alexander Isak forced to wait for his Liverpool debut having been left out the squad for the trip to Lancashire, the champions struggled to break down a dogged home side in the first half.
After a regroup at the break, the visitors upped the ante in the second half, with Dominik Szoboszlai finally forcing a fine save from Martin Dubravka in the Burnley goal.
Burnley were holding on for a well-earned point with ease, before the ball agonisingly struck substitute Hannibal Mejbri’s arm in the penalty area and Salah slotted the spot kick into the net in the 95th minute to break home hearts.
Liverpool are still to really get going this season, requiring a winner in the last 10 minutes of all four of their league victories so far. The goal that clinched an undeserved success at Turf Moor was certainly the most fortunate.
After one of the longest transfer sagas in Premier League history finally reached its expected conclusion, Liverpool supporters were forced to wait two weeks for their first glimpse of their 125-million-pound ($169.45-million) goal machine due to the international break.
While coach Arne Slot said this week that Isak would have to be utilised carefully due to his previous injuries and lack of action so far this season, the Swede was still expected to at least be on the bench at Turf Moor.
The wait goes on as, without their expensive new forward, Liverpool mustered just one shot on target in the first half, from left-back Andrew Robertson.
Burnley, who conceded the fewest goals in English football league history last term to earn them promotion, otherwise frustrated the champions with ease. Even Lesley Ugochukwu’s red card for two bookings in the 84th minute did not seem to fluster them.
Even without Isak, Liverpool still had much attacking talent on the Turf Moor pitch but they just could not find that killer pass.
Salah was especially below par but he made no mistake in the most pressurised moment after Hannibal had stuck up an arm to block Jeremie Frimpong’s cross
The champions’ impressive Premier League goalscoring streak stretches to 38 games nonetheless, their longest such run in the competition.
-Reuters
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