FIFA have announced the winners of the FIFA Ballon d’Or and a host of other FIFA awards. Let’s take a look at the people who won the prizes for 2010.
- FIFA BALLON D’OR (MEN)
- Winner: Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina)
- Runners-up: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona & Spain), Xavi (Barcelona & Spain)
- Why did he win it? Messi scored 60 goals in total for Barcelona and Argentina. According to Opta Sports, he scored the most goals in the league (42), made the most assists (15), and made the most dribbles (166) in 2010.
- Who should have won it? Xavi. He is the most influential player in both Spain and Barcelona. His passing skills are amazing, he rarely loses the ball, he won the league with Barcelona, AND he won the World Cup with Spain.
- FIFA BALLON D’OR (WOMEN)
- Winner: Marta (FC Gold Pride & Brazil)
- Runners-up: Fatmire Bajramaj (Turbine Potsdam & Germany), Birgit Prinz (FFC Frankfurt & Germany)
- Why did she win it? She won the United States’ WPS (Women’s Professional Soccer) league title, she was the top goal scorer in the league, and she won the award for Most Valuable Player in 2010. She was also part of the Brazil side which qualified for this year’s world cup by winning all seven of their games. Plus, she’s still only 24.
- Who should have won it? I’m going with the experts on this one…
- COACH OF THE YEAR (MEN)
- Winner: Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid coach)
- Runners-up: Vincente Del Bosque (Spain coach), Josep Guardiola (Barcelona coach)
- Why did he win it? Mourinho’s former club Inter Milan won the league title, the Italian Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. The UEFA Awards of 2010 were all won by Inter Milan players. Need I go on?
- Who should have won it? Mourinho.
- COACH OF THE YEAR (WOMEN)
- Winner: Silvia Neid (Germany coach)
- Runners-up: Maren Meinert (Germany U-20s coach), Pia Sundhage (USA coach)
- Why did she win it? Hmmm… I’m not sure. Something about being the coach of the best women’s national team in the world. Ask FIFA.
- Who should have won it? Once again, I defer to the learned experts. I will learn more about women’s football when the world cup starts in Germany this year.
- FIFA/FIFPRO WORLD XI (TEAM OF THE YEAR)
- Goal keeper: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid & Spain)
- Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan & Brazil), Lucio (Inter Milan & Brazil), Gerard Pique (Barcelona & Spain), Carles Puyol (Barcelona & Spain)
- Midfielders: Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan & The Netherlands), Xavi (Barcelona & Spain), Iniesta (Barcelona & Spain)
- Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina), David Villa (Barcelona & Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Portugal)
- Do you agree with this team? Yes.
- FIFA PUSKAS AWARD (GOAL OF THE YEAR)
- Winner: Hamit Altintop (Bayern Munich & Turkey)
- Who voted for this: Millions of football fans from around the world.
- Do you agree with this choice? No, I wanted Matthew Burrows to win
- Can we see the goal? Of course!
- PRESIDENTIAL AWARD
- Winner: The great Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
- What’s this award all about? I’m not sure to be honest! Ask FIFA.
- Do you agree with this choice? I would agree with him winning ANY award!
- FAIR PLAY AWARD
- Winner: Haiti’s U-17 women’s national team.
- Why did they win it? They bravely played their qualifying matches, despite losing family members only 2 months earlier in January’s horrific earthquake.
- Do you agree with this choice? Absolutely. I wish them and Haiti all the best in 2011.
Related articles
- Messi takes Ballon d’Or honour (best-football-players.com)
- 2010 FIFA Ballon d’Or: It’s Messi, Marta, Mourinho (vanguardngr.com)
- Messi wins 2010 Fifa Ballon d’Or ahead of Xavi and Iniesta (guardian.co.uk)
