Only hours after sparking yet another Triumph Deluxe for FC Barcelona with a 4 - 0 victory over Deportivo Corunna in La Liga play this past weekend, Lionel Messi, AKA "Messi Wan Kenobi" here at Jedi Soccer, has been named the winner of the FIFA Ballon D'Or (Golden Ball) award as the world's greatest professional soccer player, for the second year in a row. His contributions on the pitch this past weekend included two assists to teamates Villa and Pedro, and one goal outright on his own. The other Barca goal was scored by fellow Ballon D'Or finalist Andres Iniesta in the 80th minute.
Many people may be shocked by this outcome--after all, it is highly unusual for a player, even of Messi's caliber, to win the award two years in a row. And surely, both Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez were also deserving candidates. Iniesta's game-winning goal at the World Cup final was historic enough to have won the award for him on its own.
But there is one statistic which, more than any other, tells why Messi wins again:
GOALS this season / La Liga play:
Iniesta: 5
Xavi: 6
Messi: 24
And there you have it, my friends. All other things being equal, the ability to put the ball in the back of the net makes the difference.
FC Barcelona is truly in the midst of a Golden Age in the history of the club. To have three players named as Ballon D'Or finalists... and then to have our franchise player win it again, on top of all the championships that Barca has won the last few years, surely this is supreme satisfaction for any fan of the Blaugrana.
"These are the Good Old Days."
“LIKE A JEDI KNIGHT— no, better than that— A TEMPLAR KNIGHT. This is a FLASH OF PURE INSPIRATION, and let me tip my hat to the genesis of this goal: Ibarra. Lionel only absolutely LIGHTS IT UP here, he LIFTS OFF IT, FLAMETHROWERS IT PAST poor Reny Vega. It’s just as well Reny didn’t get a hand to that because it would have TAKEN IT OFF HIS WRIST. Superlative football and an out of this world BERNINI SCULPTURE of a finish." GOL TV Commentator Ray Hudson
Monday, January 10, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
New Barca Kit Preview
Well, Nike has released a mock-up of the new 'Qatar Foundation' FC Barcelona jersey, or at least the away version of it:
http://bleacherreport.com/tb/b7SxL
A few thoughts on this. First, thank goodness they did not try and reproduce that blotchy Sidra-tree logo of the Qatar Foundation, it is UGLY and it would have look like a big glob of bird poop on the blaugrana from a distance. Mercifully, someone at the Nike design team had the aesthetic sense to avoid trying to reproduce that on the jersey. So, score one for aesthetic sensibility there, I suppose.
However: black? To the best of my knowledge, Barca has never worn black before. Don't get me wrong-- it looks good, like DC United's kit looks sharp on the pitch. But DC United has always worn black, and Barca never has. Again, we are seeing this 'Qatar Foundation' sponsorship morph into something that is outside of Barca's club traditions.
Verdict? The new jersey is aesthetically pleasing and, visually, I like it; but it is still a betrayal of club traditions. Since when does Barca traffic with royalty? Or is that OK so long as its not the Spanish monarchy and they have a ton of money?
On so many levels, this new sponsorship is very wrong for FC Barcelona. The deal is set to expire in 2016, along with Sandro Rosell's first (and hopefully last) term as club President. I can't wait.
http://bleacherreport.com/tb/b7SxL
A few thoughts on this. First, thank goodness they did not try and reproduce that blotchy Sidra-tree logo of the Qatar Foundation, it is UGLY and it would have look like a big glob of bird poop on the blaugrana from a distance. Mercifully, someone at the Nike design team had the aesthetic sense to avoid trying to reproduce that on the jersey. So, score one for aesthetic sensibility there, I suppose.
However: black? To the best of my knowledge, Barca has never worn black before. Don't get me wrong-- it looks good, like DC United's kit looks sharp on the pitch. But DC United has always worn black, and Barca never has. Again, we are seeing this 'Qatar Foundation' sponsorship morph into something that is outside of Barca's club traditions.
Verdict? The new jersey is aesthetically pleasing and, visually, I like it; but it is still a betrayal of club traditions. Since when does Barca traffic with royalty? Or is that OK so long as its not the Spanish monarchy and they have a ton of money?
On so many levels, this new sponsorship is very wrong for FC Barcelona. The deal is set to expire in 2016, along with Sandro Rosell's first (and hopefully last) term as club President. I can't wait.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Barca Advances With a Draw
Needing only a draw to advance in the Copa del Rey competition, today Barca squeezed past Atletico Bilbao with a 1 - 1 performance on the road at San Mames to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.
Eric Abdiel gave Barca its only goal of the match late in regular time at the 75th minute, and for a moment it seemed Barca would win the match straight up. However, ten minutes later in the 85th minute, Fernando Llorente put Atletico even with the equalizer, and that was the match.
Barca, the previous winners of 25 Copa del Rey titles, will next face the winner of tomorrow's match between Getafe and Real Betis.
Visca el Barca !
Eric Abdiel gave Barca its only goal of the match late in regular time at the 75th minute, and for a moment it seemed Barca would win the match straight up. However, ten minutes later in the 85th minute, Fernando Llorente put Atletico even with the equalizer, and that was the match.
Barca, the previous winners of 25 Copa del Rey titles, will next face the winner of tomorrow's match between Getafe and Real Betis.
Visca el Barca !
Monday, January 3, 2011
Barca Over Levante 2 - 1
Happy New Year!
Emerging from the winter break, this past Sunday Barcelona FC overcame a dogged effort by Levante UD to post a miserly 2 - 1 victory over their Spanish league opponents. Playing without their iconic scoring talisman, Messi Wan Kenobi, as well as several other starters, Barcelona struggled to find the rythym and flow of their patented 'Tiki-Taka' style with their second team on the pitch. The result was a scoreless first half, leaving the normally superhuman blaugrana looking merely mortal.
In the second half, however, the Barcelona backups finally found their rythym. Dani Alves teamed up with Pedro Rodriguez twice in the fist 15 minutes of the second half, putting Barcelona up by two goals. Perhaps relaxing just a bit, Barcelona was momentarily threatened when Levante's Uruguayan forward Christian Stuani volleyed the ball into the net past Valdes with ten minutes remaining, briefly giving Levante some hope. However, Barcelona's reserves stepped up to the challenge and shut down Levante's last-gasp runs at the goal, thus escaping this dangerous match with a 2 - 1 victory.
This Wednesday Barca's 2011 campaign continues, with a critical match at Atletico Bilbao in the Cop del Rey competition. Barca needs a win or a tie to advance. Since this is not a league match, Pep Guardiola will likely use his backup team again, and give his regulars a little rest. Assuming our reserves step up as they did this past weekend, this should not be a big problem.
Emerging from the winter break, this past Sunday Barcelona FC overcame a dogged effort by Levante UD to post a miserly 2 - 1 victory over their Spanish league opponents. Playing without their iconic scoring talisman, Messi Wan Kenobi, as well as several other starters, Barcelona struggled to find the rythym and flow of their patented 'Tiki-Taka' style with their second team on the pitch. The result was a scoreless first half, leaving the normally superhuman blaugrana looking merely mortal.
In the second half, however, the Barcelona backups finally found their rythym. Dani Alves teamed up with Pedro Rodriguez twice in the fist 15 minutes of the second half, putting Barcelona up by two goals. Perhaps relaxing just a bit, Barcelona was momentarily threatened when Levante's Uruguayan forward Christian Stuani volleyed the ball into the net past Valdes with ten minutes remaining, briefly giving Levante some hope. However, Barcelona's reserves stepped up to the challenge and shut down Levante's last-gasp runs at the goal, thus escaping this dangerous match with a 2 - 1 victory.
This Wednesday Barca's 2011 campaign continues, with a critical match at Atletico Bilbao in the Cop del Rey competition. Barca needs a win or a tie to advance. Since this is not a league match, Pep Guardiola will likely use his backup team again, and give his regulars a little rest. Assuming our reserves step up as they did this past weekend, this should not be a big problem.
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