Pro Eleven Headline News

Cristiano Ronaldo wins FIFA player of year award

Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year award on Monday to complete a sweep of soccer's top individual honors for 2008.

The 23-year-old Portugal and Manchester United winger received 935 votes in a worldwide poll of national team captains and coaches, with the results announced by Brazil's all-time great Pele.

Lionel Messi, the Barcelona and Argentina midfielder, was runner-up with 678 votes, while Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was third with 203.

Ronaldo scored 42 goals last season, leading Manchester United to the Premier League and Champions League titles in May.

"It is an overwhelming moment, a very special moment in my life," Ronaldo said. "I would like to say to my mother and sister that the fireworks can be fired off now."

Brazil's Marta won the women's award for the third year in a row.

Ronaldo previously won the Ballon D'Or as European player of the year and World Soccer magazine's player of the year award. Associated Press


Chelsea Planning World Record Bid For Barca Star

Chelsea are understood to be considering making a world record bid for Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta, with Blues boss Luiz Felipe Scolari keen to lure the Spanish International away from the Nou Camp, according to Catalan newspaper Sport.

24-year-old Iniesta has been identified by the Premier League club as the player to turn around, what has been a disappointing first season in charge at Stamford Bridge for former Portugal and Brazil coach Scolari. Chelsea are 2nd in the Premiership, but have performed poorly against other teams of the ‘big four’, which was highlighted in their 3-0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Chelsea reportedly made an offer of £42million two-years ago to bring Iniesta to England and are now set to reignite their interest in the EURO 2008 winner in a bid to get their faltering season back on track.

Barca allowed Deco to leave the Blaugrana last summer for Chelsea, with Iniesta, who has been at Barca since 1996, proving a more than adequate replacement for the Portuguese International. Deco has struggled to regain his early season form at Stamford Bridge, which has led Scolari to Iniesta, with it remaining to be seen if Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic will bankroll the purchase of Spaniard after refusing to go above a certain point with both Robinho and Dani Alves last summer.

Sport claims that Chelsea are preparing an offer for Iniesta, with it also understood that should Barcelona allow the midfielder to leave. They would expect a fee in excess of the £46million that Real Madrid paid for Zinedine Zidane from Juventus in 2001. Premiership Latest


Mourinho Wants Coppa Italia Win For Inter

Tomorrow night Inter host high flying Genoa in the Coppa Italia round of 16, with only one match deciding who progresses to the next phase.

Inter's Julio Cruz and Marco Materazzi are suspended for the game, while no players from either team go into the game a booking away from suspension.

At the weekend Inter drew 1-1 with Siena at the San Siro, while Genoa cruised to a 3-0 victory over Torino. Both of these teams will be keen to make a good showing and pass through into the quarter-finals.

In the pre-match conference held not long ago Mourinho said: “It is important to win tomorrow. It would be easy to say that it is not an important game, I would have an alibi in case things went badly, but it is not like that because I do not think that way.”

Mourinho continued: “It is true that I will need to rest a few players, but if you look at the squad list you can see that I have chosen players that have played more games and I don't think it will be a problem for the players to be on the pitch tomorrow and also on Sunday in Bergamo, after four days of rest.”

As far as Mario Balotelli being left out of the squad once again, Mourinho explained: “Only two days have passed since the last squad was picked and so nothing has changed. His way of working is the same and so is his attitude.”

It seems that Mourinho would like Balotelli to change before he considers him for the squad again. Can anyone say Adriano version 2?

Inter Squad:

Goalkeepers: Francesco Toldo, Julio Cesar, Paolo Orlandoni.

Defenders: Maxwell, Maicon, Nicolas Burdisso, Walter Samuel, Cristian Chivu, Davide Santon.

Midfielders: Javier Zanetti, Luis Jimenez, Esteban Cambiasso, Sulley Muntari, Amantino Mancini, Ricardo Quaresma.

Strikers: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Adriano, Hernan Crespo, Victor Obinna. Goal


Gourcuff backs Bordeaux bid

Bordeaux playmaker Yoann Gourcuff insists his team will be serious title contenders in Ligue 1 this season if they maintain the intensity they showed in Sunday night's 4-0 rout of Paris St Germain.

Les Girondins moved to within a point of leaders Lyon by thrashing the capital club at a freezing Stade Chaban-Delmas, their fourth league win on the spin.

Laurent Blanc's men are being seen as the team most likely to deprive Lyon of an eighth successive French title and with Les Gones in stuttering form at the moment, Bordeaux look to have a great chance this season.

If they are to do so, Gourcuff believes they have to keep up their current level, especially against the league's weaker teams.

"We are only just starting the second half of the season and there are a lot of matches left, as well as the Coupe de la Ligue and the UEFA Cup," said the France international.

"But if we maintain the same consistency and the same concentration in our other league matches, we can cause trouble.

"This was positive here but sometimes, against the smaller teams, we have lacked concentration and they have created too many chances against us.

"Even Paris were dangerous on the counter-attack here. We still have to find that balance."

Gourcuff was once again the star of the show and he capped a superb personal display with a wonderful solo strike to make it 3-0 in the 71st minute.

He set up Souleymane Diawara for the 10th-minute opener with a devilish free-kick and was a constant menace to the shaky PSG defence.

Striker Fernando Cavenaghi, with his 12th of the season, and Brazil midfielder Fernando scored the other goals to leave Blanc delighted.

"I am very satisfied with Bordeaux, with every player, who performed well in every department," said the former France centre-back, whose team scored twice in each half.

"We weren't happy to just sit back and control the match, we wanted to score more goals. And I noted there were four different goalscorers.

"I am happy to be a point off Lyon, even though I would prefer to be ahead. But it's true that winning against a direct rival - and in this manner - is special."

PSG remain six points off the top and coach Paul Le Guen had no complaints with the result.

"Athletically, Bordeaux were strong, powerful and good on set-plays because of their size," he said.

"It is a big slap in the face. We must react and admit defeat. We must accept the superiority of Bordeaux, who had qualities we certainly didn't have." Sporting Life


Klinsmann frustrated with Podolski's attitude

Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann has hit out at striker Lukas Podolski for failing to fight to secure a future with the Bundesliga champions.

Germany international Podolski is all but certain to leave the Allianz Arena this month, with a return to former club Koln on the cards.

Klinsmann told his club's official website: "It hurts to see a special talent who just stops and does not progress because he cannot deal with the situation of having two players in front of him.

"I would have hoped he had some anger, which he would express in his game and he would say to himself 'I will show them what I have got'.

"Bayern is a club where it is either or. Either a player faces the challenge and says 'I will fight my way into the team' or it is better to change your environment."

Podolski joined Bayern in the summer of 2006 and has scored 18 goals in 80 league and European appearances for the club. Sports Network