UEFA EURO2016 TOP 10 PLAYERS AFTER TWO ROUNDS

UEFA has released its Top 10 players after two Rounds of the Euro2016 Championship being played in France. There are four Spanish National Team players within the Top 10: Pique, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta & Alvaro Morata

UEFA measures there "Top 10" with an algorithm that takes into account data, statistics & players state of form from the start of the year until now. A method heavily criticised in the first round top 10 list when Spaniard Andres Iniesta was not included. Obvious fail, as the FC Barcelona midfielder played a "blinder" in the first round & is currently the tournaments best player.

So was the criticism that UEFA as apparently re-tuned the "algorithm" & now has included Andres Iniesta.   

While "Big Data" is all the rage it is obvious that the "machine" lacks the knowledge or the human appreciation for "Football beauty". However, this may be the way for many Sports including Football.

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ANDRES INIESTA | THE MAGIC

Like fine wine, Andres Iniesta gets better with age. Spains finest & most probably the Worlds Best midfield player. Here are just 12 seconds of the magic, an impressive overhead manoeuvre during the Turkey game in the Euro 2016 Group D match-up 




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ANDRES INIESTA WINS 2014 GOLDEN FOOT AWARD

FC Barcelona & Spanish International Andres Iniesta has been awarded the 2014 "Golden Foot" as the Best over 28 years of age Football Player in Monaco. The player received the prize along with his family & Barça representative.

The other candidates were:

Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Manuel Neuer, Andrea Pirlo, Thiago Silva, Franck Ribéry, Toure Yaya & Thierry Henry.

Although I am an Iniesta "fan", I have been surprised that the Spanish player has won over Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo who has, & is having a "super" year which may hand him his third "Golden Ball" next January. 

In any case great news for Spanish Football, well done & congratulations to Iniesta.

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ANDRES INIESTA TO REACH HIS 100TH GAME WITH SPAIN

The Spanish National Football Team plays its last match this afternoon against Australia in Group B of the 2014 World Cup. A match that gives the team the opportunity to "clean" their disastrous image & win back some lost pride. It is also a "trap" as Australia are super keen to defeat the reigning World Champs & go back home on a high, while Spain psychologically is low with some internal problems flowering over these last days.

According to Spanish Team Selector & Coach Vicente Del Bosque he is going to give some "lesser" players a chance to have a run & at least participate in this World Cup edition. Already some names have been mentioned that will sit things out: Casillas, Pique, Xabi Alonso, Xavi Hernandez & perhaps Cesc Fabregas. All these players have been in the spotlight these past days as elements in the Spain Team failure, or that perhaps they end their time with the National Team. All speculation off course, as Coach Del Bosque has not officially given his starting XI & the "ugly atmosphere" within the Spanish camp is rip with daily rumours.

One player who looks like definitely getting a run is ANDRES INIESTA. If he does start he will receive his 100th International Cap with Spain. Fine achievement & well deserved as he is possibly one of the few players that has not been put in doubt during this World Cup. Congratulations crack!

Players currently with most International Caps with the Spain Football Team:

.1. Iker Casillas 156 games
.2. Xavi Hernandez 133
.3. Andoni Zubizarreta 126
.4. Sergio Ramos 118
.5. Xabi Alonso 113
.6. Fernando Torres 109
.7. Raul Gonzalez 102
.8. Carles Puyol 100
.9. Andres Iniesta 99
10. David Villa 96.

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THREE SPANISH FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN TOP 100 WORLD CUP LIST

The English newspaper the "The Guardian" has elaborated & released its "List of Top 100 World Cup Football Players". Three Spanish Football Players are represented within the list:

• Xavi Hernandez Nº15
• Carles Pujol Nº64
• Andres Iniesta Nº65

The voting was done by 6 World Cup ex-players (Barnes, Khune, Matthaus, Oliseh, Smith y Zico), 20 journalists from "The Guardian" & 12 International journalists. The votes from the ex-players had greater weight than the rest.

List of Top 100 World Cup players:

 1. Pele   (3 World Titles in 4 World Cup appearances)
2. Maradona
3. Beckenbauer
4. Ronaldo
5. Zidane
6. Cruyff
7. Matthaus
8. Müller
9. Garrincha
10. Platini
.../...  

15. Xavi
64. Puyol
65. Iniesta
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IFFHS NAMES ANDRES INIESTA THE "BEST PLAYMAKER" FOR 2013

The FIFA backed IFFHS ( "International Federation of Football History & Statistics" ) has announced that Spanish International & FC Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta is the 2013 "Best Playermaker" in World Football-Soccer.

The Spaniard beats German International & Arsenal FC player Mesut Ozil who finished 2º. The top 8 positions has uo to 4 Spanish players highlighting their "Football speciality". Past winners of note have been Zinedine Zidane (2006), Kaka (2007) & FC Barcelona team-mate Xavi Hernandez (from 2008 to 2011). Note the dominance of Xavi Hernandez who has been named winner of this Award 4 years in a row.

IFFHS "Best Playmaker" Classification for 2013
.1. Andres Iniesta (SP/FC Barcelona) 132 pts
.2. Mesut Özil (GER/Real Madrid/Arsenal) 94
.3. Andrea Pirlo (ITA/Juventus) 78
.4. Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER/Bayern Múnich) 61
.5. Xavi Hernandez (SP/FC Barcelona) 56
.6. Yaya Toure (IVC/Manchester City) 21
.7. Toni Kroos (GER/Bayern Múnich) 10
.8. David Silva (SP/Manchester City) 6
.+. Juan Mata (SP/Chelsea) 6

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MANCHESTER UNITED - MANCHESTER CITY CALLING OUT TO ANDRES INIESTA ?

Spanish International Football player Andres Iniesta ends contract with FC Barcelona in 2015. The Club is currently in negotiations with Iniesta to renew his contract & the player has turned back the first offer. This has attracted the "Big Football Sharks" to come in & investigate the waters in case their is a possibility of a feast. 

From England - "Daily Star" - comes the news that Manchester United & Manchester City are already circling the possible prey & are said to be willing to do & give what it takes to lure Iniesta out of Barcelona. City has the advantage that their current top Club Directives are ex-Barça & are familiar with the player & his inner circle. 

Beforehand, Barça fans should not be concerned. The player has voiced his desire to continue & finish his career at FC Barcelona. But, what Iniesta has not said is that he wishes to be shown the "love"  that others have been shown & have not been as long as he has at the Club.

The arrival of Neymar at FC Barcelona has raffled the feathers of the "corral", especially after the players believe that Neymar earns 17M€ / season. This calculation comes from the 50M€ advance to the father of Neymar ( 10M€ / season for the 5 year contract ) plus the 7M€ / season that Barça says is the salary of Neymar. The "Roosters" in the dressing room aren't buying the Club Directives manoeuvres & want the same conditions.

Football Insiders say that the Iniesta team is asking Barça for a salary rise of 17M€ / season & here is were the initiation negotiations have started. I personally don´t think money is the prime issue with Iniesta, but were I do believe there is a possible "Achilles heal" is with bench time & changing times ahead.

Football changes on a daily basis, what is said today is disclaimed tomorrow. The best friend of Iniesta goalkeeper Victor Valdes is leaving the Club next season for new experiences ( apart from the bad vibes with Club Directives ). Iniesta may in time also wish for experience new sensations especially if he is rested too much on the bench & sees that his contribution will be less in coming seasons due to the explosion of a current player, a new incorporation & new ideas from the Coach ( or new Coach ). Said simply anything can happen & Football changes things rapidly.

Manchester City & United do well to position themselves & let known early that they are alternatives. Having said this Real Madrid is the biggest shark of them all & they too will be circling.

Stay tuned!

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FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP "BEST XI TEAM" | THREE SPANIARDS

FIFA has released its habitual post Confederations Cup "Best XI Team". Obviously the "Best XI" is full of Brazilian players having Brazil won the tournament. The second placed Nation, Spain, has three players in the line-up in Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos & Fernando Torres.

The full list of the Confederations Cup "Best XI":

Julio César, Daniel Alves, David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Sergio Ramos; Paulinho, Pirlo, Iniesta; Neymar, Torres &  Fred. Coach-Scolari

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ANDRES INIESTA - SERGIO RAMOS CANDIDATES FOR THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP MVP

FIFA named & released today their six candidates that will opt for the "MVP of the Confederations Cup". There are two Spanish Football Players in the initial list:

• Sergio Ramos 
• Andres Iniesta

The other four players are:

• Pirlo (Italy)
• Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
• Paulinho (Brazil)
• Neymar (Brazil)

It is obvious beforehand that the outcome of the Brazil vs Spain Final on Sunday ( 00.00 Monday Spanish Time ) will be an important factor in the election of the "Best Player of the Confederations Cup". A Brazil victory will almost certainly give the prize to Neymar, while a Spain win will give it to either Iniesta or Ramos, with Iniesta in the front running.

Everything is building up for a much anticipated & desired Final that has grabbed the attention of the World Soccer audience.

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IFFHS PRIZES FC BARCELONA | MESSI | INIESTA | BEST IN 2012

The FIFA backed International Federation of Football Statistics & History (IFFHS) has added more trophies for the collection for Spanish Football Club FC Barcelona & its players with the following prizes:

• FC Barcelona was awarded "Best Football Club 2012"
• Lionel Messi the "Best Goalscorer 2012", second year running
• Andres Iniesta the "Best Player maker in World Football", taking over from team-mate Xavi Hernandez who won last year.

However, we all knew this beforehand, right :O)

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THE 10 MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS IN WORLD FOOTBALL

Our friends at "Transfermarket" have written an interesting article on what they consider the "10 most valuable players in World Football". But what is the meaning of value? I have looked up a few sites of reference & there are numerous definitions that cover every facet of life ( political, cultural, religious...economic). For such a simple 5 letter word we find a varying amount of interpretations. Here are three I have selected:

• Economic value is a measure of the benefit that an economic actor can gain from either a good or service. It is generally measured relative to units of currency, and the interpretation is therefore "what is the maximum amount of money a specific actor is willing and able to pay for the good or service"?

• The value of an asset deriving from its ability to generate income.

• The value or worth that a product or service would bring to someone if sold.

Therefore something is valuable if it can generate a benefit (emotionally & monetary ) & if it is perceived as being valuable, this last part is subjective, what is valuable to me may not be for you. Thus the "market" via supply & demand sets the price as many free willed & rational actors mix their perceptions & bid for the good or service. This is the theory of course,  but prices can also be "inflated" (artificially) by nothing less than expectations (individual or collective),fashions & by pure emotions. Difficult to get your teeth around this word "value".

Lets assume for the sake of simplicity that value is the amount some actor is willing to pay according to the benefits the asset can generate ( in Football,  victory & titles , which is in turn to generate more money). Thus the following figures are close to accurate numbers given experience ( victories, titles & money generated  ) & actual commented offers. 

The Top 10 most valuable players are:

Lionel Messi: FC Barcelona €120,000,000

Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid €100,000,000

Andres Iniesta: Barcelona €70,000,000

Wayne Rooney: Manchester United €65,000,000

Ramadel Falcao: At. Madrid €60,000,000

Cesc Fabregas: FC Barcelona €55,000,000

Neymar: Santos €50,000,000

Edinson Cavani: Napoli €45,000,000

Sergio Aguero: Manchester City €45,000,000

Robin van Persie: Manchester United €45,000,000

FC Barcelona player Lionel Messi tops the list, I think mosr will agree. The highest Spaniard is Andres Iniesta & second is Cesc Fabregas both from FC Barcelona. Spanish Football in total has 5 out of the 10 on the list.

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SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM COACH HANDS HIS GOLDEN BALL AWARD VOTES

SPANISH FOOTBALL NATIONAL TEAM Selector & Coach Vicente Del Bosque has handed in his personal votes for the upcoming FIFA GOLDEN BALL 2012. Each National Team Coach along with Captains have 3 choices. The top three players voted globally with know who takes the prize the 7 th of January 2013.

The three candidates from Spanish Football Selector - Coach goes to...

1. IKER CASILLAS 
2. XAVI HERNANDEZ
3. ANDRES INIESTA

As Coach Del Bosque voted for Pep Guardiola ( ex FC Barcelona)

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ANDRES INIESTA | HIS "IDEAL" PROFILE OF FOOTBALLER

Interesting story out of Spanish Sports paper "Marca" on what FC Barcelona & Spanish International ANDRES INIESTA considers the "profile of the perfect (ideal) Football player".

Iniesta: profile of the perfect Footballer

He picks 6 players & a specific aspect of their abilities to fit his "idea" profile:

• The heading technique of Falcao
• The personality of Carles Puyol
• The right leg of Xavi Hernandez
• The left leg & ability of Leo Messi
• The tactical positioning of Busquets
• The goal scoring instinct of Cristiano Ronaldo

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ANDRES INIESTA | UEFA BEST EUROPEAN PLAYER 2011 - 2012

UEFA has announced tonight that FC BARCELONA & Spanish International ANDRES INIESTA is the winner of the "UEFA Best European Player" season 2011 - 2012. The Spaniard won ahead of team-mate Lionel Messi & Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, to be awarded possibly Iniesta´s biggest individual prize to date.

The players Euro 2012 performance was determinate as he won the MVP of that tournament & marvelled. In fact, its time that Iniesta be recognized for his talent, sportsmanship & all round "Football Nice Guy". Congratulations Champ!

This puts the player up there for the end of year "Golden Ball Award" were a handful of players , including the already mentioned, will be vying. 

Andres Iniesta

Here is list of other candidates & how they finally finished & were placed:

4. Andrea Pirlo – Juventus (90 pts)
5. Xavi Hernández – Barcelona (57)
6. Iker Casillas – Real Madrid (53)
7. Didier Drogba – Chelsea (31)
8. Petr Cech – Chelsea (14)
9. Falcao – Atlético de Madrid (14)
10. Mesut Özil – Real Madrid (10)

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UEFA BEST EUROPEAN PLAYER 2011-2012 THREE CANDIDATES

UEFA has announced the three final candidates for the "UEFA Best European Player of season 2011-2012" They are:

• Cristiano Ronaldo ( Real Madrid CF )
• Lionel Messi ( FC Barcelona )
• Andres Iniesta ( FC Barcelona )

the rest in line are Pirlo (Juventus),Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona),Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Drogba (ex-Chelsea FC), P.Cech (Chelsea FC), Falcao (At. Madrid) & Ozil (Real Madrid) ...all which finish off the Top 10 list.

UEFA Candidates: Ronaldo, Messi & Iniesta

The list & the three aspiring candidates have been voted by the Sports journalists from the 53 Federations that make up UEFA. The winner will be announced the 30th of August in Monaco along with the Champions League groups draw & later the European Super-Cup clash between Atletico de Madrid - Chelsea FC.

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THREE SPANISH FOOTBALL PLAYERS WITH GOLDEN BALL AWARD ODDS

The talk about the "Golden Ball Award" candidates & favourites at this time of the year is obviously premature. However, it is inevitable after we have been blessed with the recently finished Euro 2012 tournament along with all the World star players on stage. 


In recent days, France Football has done its marketing strategy-tactic aimed at the Spanish Market, announcing that Spanish Goalkeeper & Captain IKER CASILLAS should be given this years Award. This & along with Brazilian & Football legend Pele announcing that Casillas was his favourite as well, casually while on promotion with a major Spanish/European Bank. 

Golden Boot Candidates 2012

But Casillas is not the only candidate sounding at this early stage. There is also the habitual  duo of Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo, along with Iniesta, Xavi, Pirlo & Drogba.

I personally am not getting into the "marketing hype" at this stage. My response will be worth more around Octubre. ¿Who is yourfavourite?

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SPANISH FOOTBALL | ANDRES INIESTA 2012 EURO MVP + EURO IDEAL TEAM

Perhaps it is the moment to finally give the next FIFA World Player Award to FC Barcelona & Spanish International player ANDRES INIESTA. Many feel - myself included - that Iniesta should have been given the 2010 Fifa World Player Award instead of Lionel Messi after his great FIFA World Cup performance with winning goal included.

The Spanish midfielder has been announced the 2012 Euro MVP player, that is, the "Most Valuable Player" of the European Nations Cup tournament: the Best. Andres Iniesta was MVP against Italy in the Group C opener, Ireland & in the final against Italy; that is 3 times MVP.

Andres Iniesta

If awards are a factor in the FIFA World Player calculation, then Iniesta shares the same amount as his team-mate Messi , except the European Golden Boot Award which goes to the Argentine with 51 goals in La Liga

Also UEFA & its team of experts has voted & released the list of 23 players that make up the Euro 2012 ideal team:
The names are:

- Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (ITA), Iker Casillas (SP) & Manuel Neuer (GER).
- Defenders: Gerard Piqué, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba (SP), Fabio Coentrao, Pepe (POR) & Philipp Lahm (GER).
- Midfielders: Daniele de Rossi, Andrea Pirlo (ITA), Steven Gerrard (ING), Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso (SP), Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil (GER).
- Forwards: Mario Balotelli (ITA), Cesc Fábregas (SP), Cristiano Ronaldo (POR), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (SWE) & David Silva (SP).

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FC BARCELONA | ANDRES INIESTA

SPANISH SPORTS papers become creative during the Xmas Break as Football "stops" but the selling of papers continue. One inventive daily is Barcelona based "Sport" which comes up with interesting content, this case, an info-graph dedicated to FC BARCELONA crack ANDRES INIESTA.

The diagram is in Spanish but I believe it is intuitive enough for non-Spanish readers to get the gist.

Courtesy: MARC CREUS / CARLES JAVIERRE

Amazing stats & impressive collection of titles from a player that is amongst the Top 3 Football players in World Football. In fact, many experts consider that Andres Iniesta as THE player on the planet.

Hope the Barça & Iniesta fans around the World find this piece of interest. 

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A QUIET DAY FOR SPANISH FOOTBALL | ANDRES INIESTA

post source:spanish football sports
When SPANISH FOOTBALL goes into summer slow mode, the whole industry that is dragged by it also suffers. The media see how their newspapers sell less & TV Sports shows even that the time to go on holidays. The real creativity over the summer-break in Sports media departments is to figure out what the hell to publish or talk about the following day to get people "excited" & buy content. 

Andres Iniesta

The last pearl to stimulate excitement is a normal comment made in Italy by the son of AC MILAN owner Silvio Berlusconi, Pier, also Vice - President of the Italian multi-media group Mediaset. Pier says basically that if allowed to dream, FC Barcelona Andres Iniesta would be the player he would pick to play for AC MILAN. Fairly normal dream, I too if allowed to dream would want Iniesta at Atletico de Madrid,  & if Real Madrid President Perez was to dream he would see Iniesta at his Club. 


My surprise is to see this "having a coffee with Footy mates" comment splashed in local Spanish Sports papers "Marca",  "AS" & "Sport" & even in Italian press. Just to freeze any dreams other than hypothetical, Andres Iniesta is NOT GOING ANYWHERE, & less to AC Milan, at least not next season.


A quite day in Spanish Football, obviously.

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ITALIAN PRESS GIVES FC BARCELONA PLAYER ANDRES INIESTA THE FIFA GOLDEN BALL 2010

Last Friday I posted ( see below ) news from Barcelona Sports paper "Mundo Deportivo" that mentioned that FC Barcelona midfielder XAVI HERNANDEZ would be the winner of the 2010 FIFA Golden Ball Award according to a survey done to 75 Football personalities. The second place was for team-mates Andres Iniesta & third place for Lionel Messi. The interesting news was that Inter Milan player Wesley Sneijder was not mentioned as being in the Top 3. 

This time we get news from Italy via "La Gazzette Sportiva" which assures that they have inside information that gives ANDRES INIESTA as the winner of the FIFA Golden Ball 2010, with team-mates Xavi Hernandez second & Lionel Messi third. The Italian press also places Inter Milan player Wesley Sneijder out of the Top 3.

Iniesta scores Spains winning goal in the
World Cup Final 2010

This is pure speculation until tomorrow when FIFA announces the three candidates that will be considered when FIFA makes public the Golden Ball Winner the 8th of January 2011. Only thing certain tomorrow will be if Messi or Sneijder male the Top 3 cut, & the winner will still be an unknown until 2011. Tweet

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