Final 10 Nominees for 2009 Ballon D'Or

The final ten nominees for the 2009 Ballon D'Or have been released, and Barcelona dominates the list with Messi favored to win the trophy.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United-Real Madrid)

Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea)

Samuel Eto'o (Camerun, Barcelona-Inter Milan)

Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Inter Milan-Barcelona)

Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona)


Kaka (Brazil, AC Milan-Real Madrid)

Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona)

Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United)

Xavi (Spain, Barcelona)




The winner of the Ballon D'Or is considered the best player in European football for that year, the winner is decided by a poll of football journalists compiled by France Football, the winner should be revealed Tuesday.

Champions League Wrap Up: Liverpool Out, Fiorentina In

Nobody can say that the group stages are boring, full of important and spectacular matches, the UEFA Champions League's last group stage match day looks to be spectacular.

Lots of important matches and teams being kicked out this matchday, but we should start with the biggest team that will not make it to the Champions League knockout stages, Liverpool. Liverpool were knocked out due to Fiorentina getting the win at Lyon, Vargas' penalty ensured the reds wouldn't go through, and although Liverpool earned three points thanks to an early goal by Ngog,  it was a bitter victory. Another big team in risk of not making it to the knockout stages is Inter Milan, the Italian champions lost to a spectacular Barcelona 2-0, Pique headed slapped one in from a corner, and a wonderful maneuver led to Pedro tapping in a Dani Alves chip. Now Inter face Rubin Kazan, and if they lose or draw that fixture,  they are out. Bayern Munich also has a crucial match against Juventus next matchday, Juventus lost to Bordeaux 2-0, leaving them only two points ahead of Bayern, who having beaten Maccabi Haifa 1-0 the head to head clash for second will knock one of the giants out. Besiktas pull a surprise result at Old Trafford against a youth filled Manchester United side, the 1-0 could make the English giants come second in their group if they were to lose their next match. AC Milan drew 1-1 against Olympique Marseille, leaving them to claim the second spot only one point ahead of the french team, on the other side of the group, Real Madrid beat FC Zurich 1-0, a goal by Higuain, determined to be recognized as a star, lead Los Blancos to qualification.


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Major European Leagues Wrap Up: *MLS Special* Real Salt Lake Beat LA Galaxy to Claim MLS Cup

This week was full of action, in which the MLS Cup was conquered by Real Salt Lake.


*MLS SPECIAL*

The MLS Cup between LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake ended in an epic penalty shootout, both teams put heart into the game, but in the end, Real Salt Lake prevailed in the shootout, claiming the 14th MLS Cup. In the first half Magee scored for the LA Galaxy, but Findley is able to get one back for Real Salt Lake. 90 minutes passed, and 30 minutes of extra time, still can't separate these two sides, in the penalty shootout Donovan misses, allowing Real Salt Lake to claim the MLS Cup. Even though Beckham has to return to Milan, he'll return in tears, having missed an important trophy to win over american fans.

In England, an amazing week with wonderful score lines and great upsets for the Premiership, an epic 9-1 for Tottenham Hotspur against Wigan, a super Defoe which bagged five goals almost completing the double hat trick. Wigan has said that they will refund the traveling fans using the players salaries, this wonderful win allows Tottenham to move to fourth, three points clear of Aston Villa. Portsmouth lost 1-0 to Stoke City, leaving Portsmouth manager Paul Hart to be sacked, and probably replaced by Avram Grant. Sunderland overcome a Van Persie-less Arsenal 1-0, and Hull City drew a fantastic game 3-3 against West Ham United. Chelsea against Wolverhampton Wanderers finishes 4-0 for the blues, but more importantly, three youngsters had their debut for Chelsea, one of them being Gael Kakuta who showed a lot of promise.

In Italy, Inter Milan have no trouble with Bologna, a simple 3-1 win, but Maicon receives a red for badmouthing an official which will make him miss the next two Serie A matches, and with Santon out this could heavily affect the neroazzurri against Juventus. Parma continue their great run by beating Fiorentina 3-2, a wonderful display of both teams, and if Parma continue like this, they might be in for a Europa League spot. Totti returns to Roma with a hat trick, one penalty, and two fantastic goals lead Roma to a 3-1 victory over Bari. AC Milan show strength and determination beating a super Cagliari 4-3, the seven goal thriller had spectacular play by both sides, and Cagliari will be disappointed to come out of this match without a point.

In Spain, Real Madrid take first place in La Liga thanks to a 1-0 win over Racing Santander, a goal by Higuain sets them up well for what should be a fantastic "El Classico" against Barcelona next weekend. Barcelona instead give up two points against Athletic Bilbao, a 1-1 draw could be dangerous, especially with "El Classico" coming up. Valencia beat Osasuna and Villareal beat Real Valladolid, while Atletico Madrid are unable to find their form. An early goal by Sergio Aguero in the game against Real Deportivo La Coruna should have let Atletico win, but a Deportivo came back to win 2-1.

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World Cup Qualifiers Wrap Up: Henry Gives a Hand to Domenech

The 32 teams have been decided, while some teams reinvent themselves, others disappoint. With many controversial decisions, FIFA are starting to feel the pressure of incorporating technology into the beautiful game.

In Europe, the four huge playoffs could be described as disappointing,

Slovenia against Russia showed a strong russian team at home, winning 2-1 in the first leg, but a fantastic Slovenia against a frustrated nine man Russia wins 1-0, going through thanks to the away goals rule.

Greece and Ukraine was a rather goalless tie, the first leg in Greece ended 0-0, and in the second leg, the Greeks were able to nip a goal, going through 1-0.

Portugal faced a tough Bosnia Herzegovina side, winning 1-0 in the first leg at home, Portugal seemed sure to go through, even though Bosnia hit the crossbar and the post in the range of 10 seconds. The second leg went Portugal's way, winning 1-0 at Bosnia Portugal go through on an aggregate score of 2-0.

The best for last, Ireland against France was an exciting match up that ended in an exciting way, the first leg finished 1-0 for the French who were away against 80,000 Irish supporters. A deflection off of Anelka's shot hit the post and went in, a tragic goal for the Irish to give up. But Ireland went to France, with spirit and with heart, battering away at the French, Ireland got an away goal with Robbie Keane. The game finishes 1-0, in extra time, a free kick given to France, Henry is in offside position but it isn't called the ball swings over to him, and to keep it in play he taps it with his left hand, then quickly shifting the ball again with the same hand over to his leg, allowing him to pass the ball into an oncoming Gallas who gets the ball into the back of the net. All the Irish players go over to the referee, but the goal is allowed and France go through thanks to their captains hand. Ireland appealed for the match to be replayed, but FIFA announced that the match will not be replayed, and that France will travel to South Africa.

Check out our poll on this subject, should FIFA have replayed the game? Vote now!