ONTD FOOTBALL

"We can confirm Irina Shayk has ended her relationship to Cristiano Ronaldo of five years. She has been close with his family throughout the course of their relationship," Shayk's rep tells Us in a statement. "Any negative rumors with regards to Irina and the Ronaldo family are completely false, and have not been a factor in the cause of the spilt. Irina has no further comment at the time."

source

So, I guess this isn't such a surprise after she didn't attend Ballon d'Or. Kind of sad, though, considering they were together for 5 years.

In other news, Crispy didn't manage to win Fallon d'Floor 2014, he only got 3rd place! Dying at the winning dive, he made it look like a seizure!

Despite producing one of football’s biggest miracles last season, Diego Simeone's warriors received little acknowledgement in Zurich – unlike their city rivals
by Carlo Garganese



Real Madrid dominated the awards at the 2014 Fifa Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday to cement their status as the best team in club football. Cristiano Ronaldo roared his way to yet another Ballon d’Or in the main category – becoming only the fourth player in history to win the prize three times. James Rodriguez scooped the Fifa Puskas Award for best goal of 2014, Carlo Ancelotti took silver in the Fifa World Coach of the Year, while four Madrid players were selected in the FIFPro World XI (including Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria). A further three Madridistas made the FIFPro reserve XI.

Despite clinching a stunning Liga title win on a limited budget, Real’s city rivals Atletico - who they welcome to Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday in the Copa del Rey - enjoyed next to no recognition in Zurich.

Only two Atletico-related players, Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois, were chosen on the Ballon d’Or’s original 23-man shortlist, both of whom went to Chelsea in the summer. The striker received just 1.02 per cent of the vote and finished in 11th position. The goalkeeper earned only 0.51% and was down in 20th place.

Diego Godin, Miranda and Filipe Luis were all ignored when Fifa and France Football drew up their long list, despite forming the best club defence in Europe last season. The omission of Godin, in particular, is inexplicable after he eliminated Italy at the World Cup, scored the goal that won La Liga, and also struck in the Champions League final. Midfield masters Arda Turan and Koke were also overlooked.

All of these above players were also snubbed for the Fifa FIFPro World XI, with only Courtois making the reserve selection. The FIFPro XI is one of the most democratic awards in football - voted for globally by over 23,000 professional footballers. Contrary to public opinion, it is not influenced by Fifa or politics at all and there is no shortlist to steer players. Yet Godin and Miranda were shunned, while David Luiz - part of the Brazil team humiliated by Germany at the World Cup - made the cut.

The Atletico defensive pair's omission for Luiz was a point of ridicule shared both by fans and pundits. Arda and Koke must be raising the same question about the inclusion of an ageing Andres Iniesta. Could it be that Atletico’s cynical style of play wins them few friends in the football fraternity? Or simply that many in football vote on reputation, not achievement?

( Read more... )

I made a list of the votes from the people most would be interested in, you can see the full lists in the links below ...

Ballon d'Or

NATIONAL CAPTAINS:
• Argentina - Lionel Messi: Di María, Iniesta, Mascherano
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - Džeko: Ronaldo, Messi, Robben
• Brazil - Neymar: Messi, Ronaldo, Mascherano
• Colombia - Falcao: James, Ronaldo, Di María
• England - Rooney: Ronaldo, Kroos, Bale
• France - Lloris: Ronaldo, Benzema, Neuer
• Germany - Schweinsteiger: Neuer, Lahm, Müller
• Italy - Buffon: Ronaldo, Messi, Neuer
• Mexico - Guardado: Lahm, Di María, Ronaldo
• Netherlands - Van Persie: Robben, Ibrahimovic, Neuer
• Poland - Lewandowski: Ronaldo, Neuer, Schweinsteiger
• Portugal - Ronaldo: Ramos, Bale, Benzema
• Serbia - Ivanović: Ronaldo, Messi, Hazard
• Spain - Casillas: Ronaldo, Ramos, Müller
• Sweden - Ibrahimović: Messi, Neuer, Ronaldo
• Turkey - Turan: Ronaldo, Robben, Neuer
• Uruguay - Godín: Costa, Courtois, Robben
• USA - Dempsey: Ronaldo, Messi, Müller

( votes for players and coaches by NT captains and coaches ... )


Thoughts? Any surprises? The best player votes are quite predictable, I was surprised by a few votes for the best coach (like RVP not voting for Van Gaal, Arda Turan voting Mou as #1 and Messi listing Mou). What do you think of the transparent system? I actually think it does more harm than good because the players feel obliged to vote for their teammates. The award is kind of ridiculos in general, though, as you cannot objectively compare players that play in different positions ...
Regarding Puskás, I'm kind of shocked RVP's header got so little votes.

ZLATAN REVEALS HIS DREAM TEAM



GK Gigi Buffon: “the wall”
RB Lilian Thuram: “the animal”
CB Thiago Silva: “complete”
CB Fabio Cannavaro: “the pitbull”
LB Maxwell: “elegant, simple as that”
RW Andres Iniesta: “magic”
CM Patrick Vieira: “the leader”
CM Xavi: “perfect, very simple”
LW Pavel Nedved: “because he is a machine”
FW Lionel Messi: “genius”
FW Zlatan Ibrahimovic: “The God”

( FIFA Puskás Award and other newsclub )


Which 11 players would you have in YOUR Dream Team?