The 35-year-old Argentine professional footballer was named Best FIFA Men’s Player at a ceremony in Paris on Monday, beating Paris Saint-Germainteammate Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid‘s Karim Benzema.
Messi won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina in December — the country’s first in 36 years — ending his wait for the only major honor to have eluded him in his career.
“It’s amazing. It was a tremendous year and it is an honor for me to be here tonight and win this award,” said Messi, who sat next to Mbappe throughout the ceremony at the Salle Pleyel.
Monday’s award was Messi’s second FIFA The Best title, his first coming in 2019. He has also won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards.
“I want to express my thanks to [coach Lionel] Scaloni and my teammates; without them I would not be here,” Messi added. “I achieved a dream I had been hoping for so long and finally I achieved it. It’s a dream for any player; very few people can achieve that and I was lucky enough to do so.”
Messi scored seven goals at the World Cup in Qatar — including a brace in the thrilling 3-3 final victory on penalties — finishing one behind Golden Boot winner Mbappe.
Messi has scored 16 goals in 27 games in all competitions this season, as well as registering 14 assists, as he chases his second Ligue 1 title in two years at PSG.
Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas won the Best FIFA Women’s award for the second year running, while Argentina’s Scaloni and Emiliano Martinez got the honors for top men’s coach and goalkeeper, respectively.
The 35-year-old Argentine professional footballer scored a goal in Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 win over bitter rivals Marseilleon Sunday to extend their Ligue 1 lead to eight points.
Messi and Kylian Mbappe, World Cup foes, inspired the team’s win.
Mbappe, who bagged a double, was set up by Messi for both his goals, and repaid the favor by laying on another for Messi as PSG, who were without the injured Neymar, moved to 60 points from 25 games with second-placed Marseille on 52.
The goal was Messi’s 700th at club level between his trophy-filled tenure at Barcelonaand his more recent time at PSG.
France forward Mbappe, who was on the losing side against Messi’s Argentina in the World Cup final, became PSG’s joint record scorer with 200 goals — level with Edinson Cavani.
“We were aggressive, we put intensity into the game, that’s what we’d been missing,” said PSG centerback Sergio Ramos.
PSG next face Nantes at home before travelling to Bayern Munichfor their Champions League last-16 return leg after losing the first encounter 1-0 at the Parc des Princes.
Lionel Messimay be playing Major League Soccer next season…
The 35-year-old Argentine professional footballer is reportedly close to an agreement with Inter Miami to join the team after the conclusion of the 2022-23 European season, according to the Sunday Times.
Messi would be the highest-paid player in MLS history and also the highest-profile player to ever play in MLS.
Inter Miami is co-owned by David Beckham, the man who made waves in the 2000s when he came to MLS to play for LA Galaxy.
The Sunday Times also reports that Inter Miami is looking to recruit players who have played with Messi previously in Europe to join him in the United States.
Messi currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in France’s Ligue 1 after playing most of his career at Barcelona. Messi established himself as one of the best players ever at Barcelona and has won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards given to the best player in soccer.
Messi joined PSG ahead of the 2021-22 season after he couldn’t come to a contract agreement with Barcelona amidst the club’s financial issues. Messi scored 474 goals in 520 LaLiga appearances for Barcelona and tallied a staggering 96 goals over 69 appearances over the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons as Barcelona was one of the best squads modern soccer history.
Messi’s contract with PSG is up at the end of the season and a possible move to MLS has long been rumored. It’s unclear how much he’d actually play for Inter Miami after he would join the team in 2023. Major League Soccer’s schedule doesn’t match up with the schedule for major European club soccer. Combine the overlapping schedules with the 2022 World Cup and Messi would be facing over 14 straight months of soccer without a break if he joined Inter Miami as soon as PSG’s season was over and immediately featured in the squad.
Newcastle United has completed the signing of the 24-year-old Brazilian professional footballer from France’sLyon in a €50.1 million deal.
It’s the team’s third signing since being taken over by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in October.
The move for Guimaraes follows the arrivals of defender Kieran Trippierfrom Atletico Madridand striker Chris Wood from Burnley.
The club said in a statement: “Newcastle United are delighted to confirm the signing of Brazil international Bruno Guimaraes on a four-and-a-half-year deal.
“The 24-year-old midfielder joins the Magpies for an undisclosed fee from Lyon, where he has been one of the outstanding performers in Ligue 1 over the past two seasons, and will wear shirt No. 39 — the number of the taxi once driven by his father.”
Lyon said in a statement later on Sunday that the deal was worth €50.1m, including €8m in performance-based clauses, with a 20% sell-on fee.
Sources have told ESPN that Newcastle offered Guimaraes a £120,000-a-week contract — four times his wage at Lyon.
“Bruno is a hugely exciting talent and has been one of our primary targets so I’m delighted to secure him,” manager Eddie Howe said. “He strengthens the group immediately ready for the challenge ahead.
“He has been one of the standout performers in France and is a full international for Brazil so I have no doubt our supporters will really enjoy watching him. We look forward to welcoming him to the club on his return from international duty.”
Guimaraes began his career at Atletico Paranaense before joining Lyon in January 2020 for €21.5m.
The midfielder also has three international caps for Brazil and has been away with Tite‘s squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay.
The 34-year-old Argentine soccer star, who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team, appears on FIFA‘s annual awards list for best men’s player of the 2020-21 season.
Messi appears on a finalist alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and last year’s winner, Robert Lewandowski.
A men’s list dominated by forwards was completed by Mohamed Salah, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Karim Benzema and Neymarin the nominations by a FIFA-appointed panel. Two Chelseaplayers — Jorginho and N’Golo Kante — rounded out the 11 candidates.
There are no defenders or goalkeepers in contention for the main FIFA award, though goalkeepers have their own separate award.
Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was named player of the tournament at Euro 2020, is among the five goalkeeping candidates.
Robert Mancini, who led Italy to the European title, is among seven candidates for the men’s coaching award that include Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel and Lionel Scaloni, whose Argentina team won the Copa America.
The winner of the women’s award last year, England defender Lucy Bronze, is nominated again and the 13 candidates include her national and Manchester City teammate Ellen White.
Olympic gold medal-winning Canada has just one candidate, veteran forward Christine Sinclair, 19 years after she was first voted into the top 10.
No player was nominated from the United States women’s team, which took bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Two men and three women are in contention to be the best coach in women’s football. They include Bev Priestman of Canada, Lluis Cortes of European champion Barcelona, and Emma Hayes of runner-up Chelsea.
Votes in all categories from national team captains and coaches, fans and media worldwide will be collected through Dec. 10. A virtual ceremony will be held on Jan. 17 remotely, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, from FIFA headquarters in Zurich. Ahead of the awards, three-candidate shortlists will be announced for each award, FIFA said.
Lionel Messihas kicked his way into the Ligue 1 books…
The 34-year-old Argentine professional footballer scored his first goal in the league as Paris Saint-Germainopened a 13-point lead at the top of the table despite playing almost half an hour with 10 men in a 3-1 home win against Nanteson Saturday.
Messi found the back of the net with a curled left-footed effort from outside the box three minutes from time, adding to Dennis Appiah‘s own goal after Randal Kolo Muanihad cancelled out Kylian Mbappe‘s first-half opener.
The result left PSG with 37 points from 14 games ahead of a Champions League trip to Manchester Cityon Wednesday, while Nantes are 11th on 18 points.
Messi has scored three goals in the Champions League since joining from Barcelonaduring the close season but the Argentine forward had not found the back of the net for PSG in his five previous appearances in Ligue 1.
The 35-year-old Colombian professional footballer has joined Spain’s Rayo Vallecanoon a free transfer after his contract with Galatasaray was terminated.
Falcao joined Gala in 2019 and spent two seasons in Turkey but is best known for his spells with Porto, Atletico Madridand Monaco. He also played for Manchester Unitedand Chelsea on loan.
He is Colombia’s all-time top scorer with 35 goals in 91 appearances and has won the Europa League with Porto and Atletico, as well as winning Ligue 1 with Monaco.
Rayo, who face Levante in LaLiga play on September 10, have lost two and won one of their opening three league games of the season.
The 35-year-old Spanish professional footballer will undergo a medical in Paris on Tuesday ahead of joining Paris Saint-Germainas a free agent, according to ESPN.
Sources added that Ramos, a veteran defender, agreed to join the Ligue 1 giants on a two-year deal.
Ramos announced last month that he’d leave Real Madrid after failing to reach an agreement to extend his 16-year stay in the Spanish capital.
Manchester City and Bayern Munich had shown an interest in acquiring the Spain international, but the experienced centerback preferred PSG‘s project.
Ramos didn’t strike an agreement with Madrid due to discrepancies over the length of the deal. Los Blancos were only willing to offer one year and by the time Ramos agreed to accept the club’s proposal he was told the deadline had expired.
Ramos had wanted a two-year deal. His wages at PSG are set to be lower than what he was earning in Spain and what he would have earned had he stayed at the Bernabeu.
Ramos will land in Paris just hours after the arrival of his former Real Madrid teammate Achraf Hakimi. Hakimi, 22, is expected to join PSG on a €70m transfer from Inter Milan, sources have told ESPN.
Puma has announced the signing of the 28-year-old Brazilian soccer star after the Paris Saint-Germain player left Nike following a 15-year association.
Neymar’s arrival was announced on the Puma website alongside the banner “The king is back” and “Welcome to the family Neymar JR.”
Neymar wrote in a statement on his Twitter page: “At the beginning of each new season, I take some time to think about my career and the choices I have made. I think about the dreams I had when I started this sport, and the path that lies ahead.
“This will be a different season, a special season. For that reason, as I have done in the past, I decided to write this text.
“I am about to live a unique experience, a new challenge. I consider myself privileged to have had a life filled with unique experiences and wonderful challenges.
“I grew up watching videos of great football legends such as Pele, Cruyff, Matthaus, Eusebio and Maradona … These were the kings of the pitch, the kings of my sport. And they had something in common — a love of the game, a drive to be the best version of themselves and a spirit that unites all. It’s not always about being the best or the greatest but instead, to inspire future generations. That is exactly what I have dreamt of for myself, to give all of me to football because football has given me everything I have. I want to do it my way, using my gift.
“New challenges, new responsibilities, I understand that. I wish to bring back the legacy that those athletes created on the pitch. I was to help bring back memories from each of their football histories and the magic they gave us in their classic leather boots — and through boots like those, leave behind my own legacy. They each played in PUMA, and each of them created their magic in The KING.
“And so now, as I begin this new season, I want the KING to reign on the pitch and inspire generations as it has inspired me and others.
“To be in this project, associating myself to those Kings of football, through KING, it is a dream. For these reasons, from today onward, I have the honour to unite with the brand that helped the biggest legends of football become what they are. Every time I lace my boots, my KING boots, I will do anything to achieve all of my dreams to honour my name and that of all those great ones who wore the KING before me. This will be my PUMA history. The KING is back!”
Sources told ESPN that only four executives knew about the deal to land Neymar and it was “a big secret in the company” that they had been working to sign the player for several months.
He returned to training with PSG on Friday after missing their opening Ligue 1 fixture of the campaign, a 1-0 defeat at Lens, following a positive test for the coronavirus.
Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona in 2017 for a world-record €222 million fee and has won three Ligue 1 titles in Paris. He also helped the French club reach the Champions League final in August, where they were beaten 1-0 by Bayern Munich.
During his time at Barca he won the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup and two La Liga titles.
Jhonder Cadiz is ready to kick things up in Major League Soccer…
MLS expansion side Nashville SC has a new Designated Player, with the club announcing they acquired the 25-year-old soccer player and striker on loan from Portuguese giants Benfica.
Cadiz spent last season on loan in France with Dijon and becomes Nashville’s third DP signing, with the MLS club having an option to buy.
“Jhonder has been an outstanding striker at the highest of levels in both European and South American competitions, and we think his game is tailor-made for Major League Soccer,” said Nashville SC General Manager Mike Jacobs. “The combination of his athleticism and clinical ability around the box made him heavily sought after. We feel fortunate to be able to add him to our club.”
Cadiz, who scored two goals in 15 appearances with Dijon last season in Ligue 1, racked up 10 the previous season for Portugal’s Vitoria Setubal, leading him to sign a five-year contract with Benfica in June 2019.
“I’m very excited to join Nashville SC and to be a part of this inaugural year for the club,” Cadiz said in a statement. “I’m incredibly motivated to showcase my game in Nashville and Major League Soccer and to help the club reach every goal in 2020 and beyond.”
Messi won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina in December — the country’s first in 36 years — ending his wait for the only major honor to have eluded him in his career.
