Lionel Messi is Europe’s footballer of the year

November 7th, 2009 LONDON - Ace midfielder David Beckham has raked in a whopping 10.7 million pounds last year in sponsorship deals, doubling his payout from the previous 12 months. Beckham boosted his fortune by endorsing a range of goods including Armani and adidas.

October 30th, 2009 ZURICH - Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the top picks for the 2009 World Footballer of the Year award as part of a 23-player shortlist published Friday by the ruling body FIFA. Ronaldo, who left Manchester United for Real Madrid in summer, won the prestigious prize last year.

October 20th, 2009 Ronaldo picks Messi as Golden Ball favorite PARIS — Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo thinks Barcelona striker Lionel Messi could succeed him as the best player in Europe by winning the Golden Ball award. The Portugal winger, who joined Madrid from Manchester United during the offseason, said Tuesday in an interview with France Football magazine that Barcelona players have the best chances to win the prestigious trophy this year.

October 13th, 2009 Argentina needs a real coach, not MaradonaPARIS — One story about Diego Maradona is that when he was a toddler, squeezed with his large family into a three-room shack in a poor neighborhood of Buenos Aires, he fell one dark night into their cesspit and had to be rescued by his uncle Cirilo. Maradona's latest savior is Martin Palermo.

October 4th, 2009 LONDON - Barcelona winger Lionel Messi believes that he and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney have one thing in common, both of them are passionate about the game. Messi admires this quality in Rooney, and said: "You can see the love and passion for the game in Rooney's face and I have a feeling he is one of those players who would play for 100 pound a week because football is in his blood.

September 17th, 2009 LONDON - In an interview with the Italian edition of Marie Claire, Capello has revealed his loves and fears, and admitted that if he had not been involved in football he would have liked to be an airline pilot "flying Boeings". He revealed: "My greatest fear is ending up paralysed in a wheelchair.

August 4th, 2009 LONDON - Barcelona and Argentine superstar Lionel Messi will be offered a new eight million-pound-a-year long-term deal. According to The Sun, Barca also wants a 255 million pound buy-out clause included in the 22-year-old football star's contract.

June 14th, 2009 LOS ANGELES - Star Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he cares two hoots about those who think his 80 million pound transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid will make him a hate figure. Many Manchester United fans say they are glad to see the back of Ronaldo, but he has told the News of The World that he simply does not care what the critics are saying now.

June 5th, 2009 LONDON - Manchester United has said that it is willing to sell Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo to Spanish football giants Real Madrid for 75million pounds. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and the club's money men believe this is the magic number that would allow the transfer to take place.

May 28th, 2009 ROME - Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his Manchester United side were comprehensively outplayed by Barcelona in their Champions League final Wednesday as goals in each half from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi secured a 2-0 win for the Catalan giants. "I knew before the game what a good football team they are," said Ferguson, who called Pep Guardiola's side one of the best he has come up against in Europe.

May 28th, 2009 ROME - Lionel Messi is the leading scorer of the Champions League football with nine goals followed by Liverpool's Steven Gerrad with seven and Miroslav Klose of Bayern Munich with six. The list of leading scorers: 9 Lionel Messi (Barcelona); 7 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool); Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich); 6 Lisandro Lopez (Porto); 5 Thierry Henry (Barcelona); Didier Drogba (Chelsea); Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal); Robin van Persie (Arsenal); Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus); Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyon); 4 Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona); Wayne Rooney (Manchester United); Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United); Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United); Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich); Jadson (Shakhtar Donetsk); Danny Koevermans (PSV Eindhoven); Joseba Llorente (Villarreal); Vangelis Mantzios (Panathinaikos); Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina).

May 28th, 2009 ROME - Pep Guardiola dedicated Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the final of the Champions League Wednesday to Italian football legend Paolo Maldini. Maldini played his last match Sunday at the San Siro for AC Milan against AS Roma, but the event was overshadowed by a section of fans who chanted against him.

May 28th, 2009 ROME - Barcelona's forensic dismantling of Manchester United in the Champions League final at Rome's Stadio Olimpico Wednesday night seemed familiar. Perhaps it was the long periods of complete dominance, of wearing the English Premier League champions down courtesy of a crisp passing game that bore all the hallmarks of Spain's victory over Germany a year ago at Euro 2008.

May 27th, 2009 LONDON - Barcelona and Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has warned that Manchester United face a humiliating roll over in Wednesday night's Champions League final in Rome. Predicting that Barca would see the face-off as a revenge outing for last year's semi-final loss, Messi said that the Catalan giants were now better prepared and that Manchester United would not be able to repeat its 2008 heroics.

May 27th, 2009 MUMBAI - A team of performance analysts at Castrol have revealed that a free kick by Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo can generate greater acceleration than a Formula 1 race car, while Barcelona striker Lionel Messi runs down the field during a season are the equivalent of the distance between Barcelona to Madrid. And that's why Ronaldo and Messi will carry the hopes of Manchester United and Barcelona into the Champions League final on May 27th.