Messi named FIFA Player of the Year

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi has been honored as the FIFA World Player of the Year. The Argentinian helped lead Barca to the treble (Champions League, Spanish League and Cup) last season. Messi easily outdistanced his fellow candidates in the voting with 1,047 points. Last year’s winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, was second with 354 points. Messi’s Barcelona teammate Xavi was third with 196 points. Earlier this month, Messi also claimed the Ballon D’Or as the top player in Europe. It’s a well-deserved award for Messi as he has the ability to make a game-changing play every time he touches the ball (the most recent example being his extra time winner in the Club World Cup final).

On the women’s side, Brazil’s Marta was voted Women’s World Player of the Year for the fourth year in a row. That’s an incredible feat, but even more so when you realize that she’s only 23 years old.

FIFA also announced the World XI, which features six players based in Spain and five from England:
GK – Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Defenders – Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Dani Alves (Barcelona)
Midfielders – Xavi (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Forwards – Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

Terrible outing by Liverpool

After dominating the first half hour against Portsmouth, the wheels completely fell off for Liverpool on Saturday.  Midfielder Javier Mascherano picked up a dubious red card, as well as an injury, towards the end of the first half.  From that point on, the Reds looked completely out of whack.  Although it was nice to see Fernando Torres back in the starting lineup, he got increasingly frustrated and kept talking back to the ref, something he doesn’t usually do.  The passing wasn’t crisp and they hardly challenged the Portsmouth goal at all in the second half.  Keep in mind, they were playing Portsmouth, the team in LAST PLACE in the league, a team Liverpool should be able to beat.  It’s a extremely frustrating loss in an increasingly disappointing season for Liverpool.  

Fulham pulled off another upset on Saturday as well, knocking off Manchester United, 3-0.  League leader Chelsea failed to take advantage of United’s slip-up and were only able to take a point from a 1-1 draw with West Ham.

Premier League Schedule – December 5-6

Fernando Torres will not feature in Liverpool’s game at Blackburn this weekend due to an ongoing groin injury.  It was rumoured that he would play this weekend, however I suppose we will have to wait a little bit longer for the services of the fantastic Mr. Torres.

Saturday, December 5
Portsmouth vs. Burnley – 7:30 a.m. ET/ESPN2 (Live)
Arsenal vs. Stoke – 10 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Aston Villa vs. Hull – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Blackburn vs. Liverpool – 5 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
West Ham vs. Manchester United – 9:30 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Wigan vs. Birmingham – 8:30 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Wolves vs. Bolton
Manchester City vs. Chelsea – 12:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Sunday, December 6
Fulham vs. Sunderland – 9:55 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Everton vs. Tottenham – 11 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Crunch time in Champions League

This week’s Champions League games will go a long way in deciding the final spots in the knockout stage.  Liverpool need a miracle, namely they need to beat Debrecen and they need some Lyon (who’s already in) to beat Fiorentina.  If Fiorentina wins or draws either of their final two games, Liverpool is out.  The Reds will be without Fernando Torres, who’s still battling a groin injury.  Fellow striker Ryan Babel also picked up an injury in the draw with Manchester City this weekend. Defending champion Barcelona finds themselves in a similar boat.  They need to beat Inter Milan at home to keep their chances at advancing alive.  Barca will likely be without Lionel Messi due to injury.  Several players are also ill with the H1N1 virus.

Tuesday’s games
Rubin vs. Dynamo
Arsenal vs. Standard – 9 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
AZ vs. Olympiacos
Barcelona vs. Inter – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Debrecen vs. Liverpool – 2:40 p.m. ET/Setanta (Live); 5 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Fiorentina vs. Lyon – 2:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Rangers vs. Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni vs. Sevilla

Premier League TV Schedule – Nov 21-22

After another international break, the Premier League is back in action this weekend. The injured stars of Liverpool will also be back on the pitch this weekend (thank goodness). The injured Reds were: Steven Gerrard, David Ngog, Daniel Agger, Glen Johnson, Fabio Aurelio, Albert Riera, Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun. Torres is the only one still out, so yay for that international break. Man City is one point up on Liverpool in the table, so it’s a must-win game for Liverpool if they want to work their way back into the top four. The Reds have only won one game since Sept. 26 so they need to start winning now to get things back on track.

Saturday, November 21
Liverpool vs. Manchester City – 7:30 a.m. ET/ESPN2 (Live)
Birmingham vs. Fulham – 8:30 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Burnley vs. Aston Villa – 5 p.m. ET/Setanta (Delayed)
Chelsea vs. Wolves – 9:30 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Hull vs. West Ham – 7 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Sunderland vs. Arsenal – 10 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Manchester United vs. Everton – 12:30 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)

Sunday, November 22
Bolton vs. Blackburn – 8:25 a.m. ET/Setanta (Live)
Tottenham vs. Wigan – 5 p.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Stoke vs. Portsmouth – 11 a.m. ET/Fox Soccer (Live)