VIDEO: Lionel Messi Vs Japanese Robot Goalkeeper

It is known that the Japanese love crazy TV game shows. Here an example with a robot goalkeeper, who has been send to Barcelona to test Lionel Messi's penalty skills. Messi's first two attempts are blocked, but then the Argentinian scores, showing his class and ability to adopt his game to the situation.

VIDEO: Isaksson's brilliant bicycle save against Messi

Here the footage from an amazing overhead bicycle goalline clearance from Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson after Argentina's Lionel Messi had lobbed the ball over him goal wards. The clearance didn't help as in the end Argentina won 3-2.

Andres Iniesta named as UEFA Best Player in Europe!

Spain and FC Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta was today chosen and then handed the 2011/12 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Iniesta won the award ahead of club team mate Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo from CF Real Madrid.

The FC Barcelona midfielder, who helped Spain defend their 2012 UEFA European Championship title this summer in Poland and Ukraine, deservingly got the award for his great performances across the season for club and country. What makes it special is that Andres Iniesta finally won an award ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who normally stand ahead of him in rankings and votings.

In a live poll of sports journalists representing each of UEFA's 53 member national associations, Andres Iniesta received 19 votes while Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both received 17 votes.

It is interesting to note that no player from 2011/12 UEFA Champions League champions Chelsea FC and beaten finalist FC Bayern Munich made it into the top three with former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba coming seventh and his club mate Petr Cech as joint eighth within the top 10.

Positions four to ten were finalised after each journalist provided a list of their top five players, with the first receiving five points, the second four points and so on:

4. Andrea Pirlo (Juventus, ITALY) (90 points)
5. Xavi Hernández (FC Barcelona, SPAIN) (57 pts)
6. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid CF, SPAIN) (53 pts)
7. Didier Drogba (Chelsea FC; IVORY COAST) (31 pts)
8. Petr Cech (Chelsea FC, CZECH REPUBLIC) // Falcao (Club Atlético de Madrid, COLOMBIA) (14 pts)
10. Mesut Özil (Real Madrid CF, GERMANY) (10 pts)

Germany suffer 1-3 friendly loss against Argentina

Germany hosted Argentina in a high profile friendly last evening in Frankfurt/Main and suffered a rather unlucky 1-3 defeat against the South Americans which could have ended differently.

On a hot-and-humid evening both teams made a quick start into the game as die Mannschaft and the Albiceleste showed their attacking intent, but both set of defences stood their ground with Mesut Özil having the only real look at goal early on.

Germany had to make an early change after defender Mats Hummel and striker Gonzalo Higuain banged their heads with the German having to go off while Higuain got a turban-like bandage. The match got more intense and then on the half hour mark goalkeeper Ron Robert Zieler brought down Jose Ernesto Sosa, which resulted in a penalty and a red card, the first-ever red card for a German goalkeeper in the 864th match. In came another young keeper in Marc-Andre ter Stegen, whose first act was to easily collect Lionel Messi's terribly taken penalty. But Argentina went into the break with a lead as Ángel Di Maria's corner was put into the German goal by his Ream Madrid team mate Sami Khedira a minute into injury time.

Germany had the better start into the second session, but Marco Reus' long distance shot only hit the right post while at the other end Lionel Messi scored Argentina's second in the 52nd minute off a Higuain pass. Now Argentina looked in control, but Germany fought back into the match though the goal for them remained elusive while Argentina scored their third off a thundering shot from Ángel Di Maria in the 73rd minute.

Down three goals the young German side, whose oldest player by now was only 24 year old in Benedikt Höwedes still continued to attack and got their goal of the night when Höwedes headed in a Mario Götze shot in the 81st minute though more was possible even with 10 men for over an hour of play.


MATCH STATS

Germany 1-3 Argentina - Goals: 0-1 Sami Khedira (45+1', own goal), 0-2 Lionel Messi (52'), 0-3 Angel di Maria (73'), 1-3 Benedikt Höwedes (81')

Germany
Ron Robert Zieler - Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels (25' Benedikt Höwedes), Holger Badstuber, Marcel Schmelzer - Lars Bender (69' Mario Götze), Sami Khedira (69' Ilkay Gündogan) - Thomas Müller (32' Marc-Andre ter Stegen), Mesut Özil (69' Toni Kroos), Marco Reus - Miroslav Klose [C] (62' Andre Schürrle)

Argentina
Sergio Romero - Pablo Zabaleta (65' Hugo Armando Campagnaro), Federico Fernandez, Ezequiel Garay, Marcos Rojo - Fernando Gago, Javier Mascherano (79' Rodrigo Brana) - Ángel Di Maria (73' Pablo Guinazu), Jose Ernesto Sosa (46' Sergei Aguero) - Lionel Messi [C], Gonzalo Higuain

Referee
Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

Iniesta, Messi, Ronaldo nominated for UEFA Europe award

European football governing body UEFA has named the three finalists for the 2012 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. The trio of Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who all play in Spain, have made it to the final list and the winner would be announced on August 30 in Monaco.

Defending champion Lionel Messi, who won last years inaugural award, had an exceptional campaign scoring an incredible 50 goals, 14 of those coming in the UEFA Champions League which is a new record. Cristiano Ronaldo also scored an impressive 46 goals which won Real Madrid their first Spanish La Liga title in years, but the UEFA Champions League remains elusive to the record champions for over a decade now. Barca midfielder Andrés Iniesta is the third amongst the finalists, a team mate of Messi and a key player for Spain in their Euro2012 winning campaign.

It is interesting to note that no player from UEFA Champions League champions Chelsea FC and beaten finalist FC Bayern Munich made it into the top three with Chelsea striker Didier Drogba coming seventh and his club mate Petr Cech as joint eighth within the top 10.

The top three will now go into a deciding vote in Monaco during the UEFA Champions League group stage draw on 30 August. In Monaco the journalists will vote live, via an electronic system, for their best player from the shortlist of the final three.

Positions four to ten are already finalised after each journalist provided a list of their top five players, with the first receiving five points, the second four points and so on:

4. Andrea Pirlo (Juventus, ITALY) (90 points)
5. Xavi Hernández (FC Barcelona, SPAIN) (57 pts)
6. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid CF, SPAIN) (53 pts)
7. Didier Drogba (Chelsea FC; IVORY COAST) (31 pts)
8. Petr Cech (Chelsea FC, CZECH REPUBLIC) // Falcao (Club Atlético de Madrid, COLOMBIA) (14 pts)
10. Mesut Özil (Real Madrid CF, GERMANY) (10 pts)

Beckham continues to be Best Paid Footballer

Former Manchester United and Real Madrid star David Beckham continues to be the best paid footballer in the world as per the latest rich list from Forbes magazine. Now playing for MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy Beckham earns an astonishing US$ 46 Million from salaries, bonuses and endorsement deals.

Next to Beckham are Real Madrid's Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo with US$ 42 Million and FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi from Argentina with US$ 39 Million ahead of England's Wayne Rooney from Manchester United and Brazilian Kaka of Real Madrid.


2012 Forbes' list of the Best Paid Football

1. David Beckham - 46 Million USD
2. Cristiano Ronaldo - 42 Million USD
3. Lionel Messi - 39 Million USD
4. Wayne Rooney - 24 Million USD
5. Kaka - 21 Million USD
6. John Terry - 18 Million USD
7. Yaya Toure - 18 Million USD
8. Fernando Torres - 17 Million USD
9. Frank Lampard - 16 Million USD
10. Steven Gerrard - 16 Million USD

Pele critical of Messi's achievements so far

Brazilian legend Pele is one of the greatest footballers to have played the game, some regard him as the best of all time. And the now 71 year old is open and direct with his opinions when asked by the media.

The French newspaper Le Monde has recently interviewed Pele and when asked about 24 year old Argentinian Lionel Messi being compared to him Pele simply said, "When Messi's scored 1,283 goals like me, when he's won three World Cups, we'll talk about it."

Now that is Pele at his best and he has a point here which he reiterated by adding, "I like Messi a lot, he's a great player! Technically, we're practically at the same level. He's a great player for (FC) Barcelona, but when he plays for Argentina he doesn't have the same success."

Messi's club coach Pep Guardiola was critical of Pele's assessment of his star player, but Messi has often not been able to recreate that magic for Argentina which he shows when he wears a Barca jersey.

Many say Messi is only as good as he is at FC Barcelona due to the blind understanding he has with long-time team mates like Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Carlos Puyol and the others; which is simply not there in the Argentinian team.

Three UEFA Champions League titles with Barca are good to have, but the legends of the game are matched by at least one FIFA World Cup triumph. Argentina and Messi have not been close to such a feat since Diego Maradona in 1990, when Argentina lost out to West Germany in the finals.

Here Lionel Messi has to prove his international class in the years to come...

VIDEO: Messi aims to kick-off Indian love affair with football

Even Qatari international news channel Al Jazeera has done a news story on Messi's (or rather Argentina's) visit to Kolkata titled 'Messi aims to kick-off Indian love affair with football'. It will be interesting to see if there is any lasting effect from this visit and friendly international.

Here the link to the video

Have such high profile matches any value for Indian football?

It is a hard hitting question and I differ from views expressed by numerous people in the media over the last few days. Surely there are some positives, but not really big one's which will take Indian football forward.



One is surely that 10,000s of fans were able to see a player of the calibre of Lionel Messi live at the Saltlake Stadium for a full international friendly along with other international stars whom they normally see on television or read about in newspapers.



Another positive is the money and effort spend on the Saltlake Stadium to improve facilities at the ground. I know through my past involvement that only due to such high profile matches the stadium has been getting a facelift and repairs over the last few years. Be it ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying match India vs Japan in September 2004 or the Oliver Kahn farewell match between FC Bayern Munich and Mohun Bagan in May 2008. Our own Indian boys will benefit from the better dressing rooms, a proper dugout and the improved players tunnel.



If such games do happen in the future, then such visiting sides should play our own boys; even if we get beaten heavily, it is great exposure which will help our football in the long-term.



But is it worth spending such money on an international friendly which does not even include Team India? Certainly not, then none of the people who follow such a game or rather in this case Lionel Messi will convert and become Indian football fans. One might actually alienate fans even more from Indian football due to given ground realities.



Surely football got more then the usual coverage in the Indian media, but once Messi is gone, all things will go back to normal with little to no coverage of Indian football with especially the I-League suffering.



In the end I have to say that except the money spend on the infrastructure there is no real value for Indian football. The overall budget of such a game would keep most of the I-League teams running over a 12 month period, to put things into perspective. But on the other side I doubt this money would have come into football without a star like Messi playing in such a high profile friendly.



Maybe some food for thought...

Argentina scrape to lone goal win against Venezuela

Argentina won their international friendly 1-0 against South American rivals Venezuela in Kolkata. A lot had been expected from the Argentina vs Venezuela game at the Saltlake Stadium, but the match never rose to any great heights with Venezuela giving their more famed rivals a tough time.



Actually today wasn't about the game but mainly about 'World Player of the year' Lionel Messi and his visit to Kolkata to play infront of his legion of fans. Every touch, move of the little maestro was cheered by the crowds but the stadium was far from capacity which will come as a surprise if one looks at the media coverage the game has received in the last few days.



It was an even first session with numerous half chances on both sides as it was a slow paced match were Venezuela looked threatening on the counter while Argentina had some nice build-ups, but finishing wasn't up to the mark on both sides.



Things remained the same after the break with Argentina's attacks having more purpose, but the same can be said about Venezuela's counters which continued to worry Sergio Romero in the Argentina goal. The winner for Argentina came in the 67th minute when centre-back Nicolás Otamendi headed in a Messi corner. That was the best phase of the match for Argentina but they couldn't take advantage of the situation.



Towards the end of the game it was even again with Argentina having throughout more of the ball, while Venezuela looked for the direct approach towards goal especially over the flanks. It remained 1-0 for Argentina at the final whistle.



Messi played a solid game, but not really spectacular which his fans would have liked, but many can now at least say, we have seen Messi live in action and that in Kolkata.





MATCH STATS



Venezuela 0-1 Argentina - Goals: 0-1 Nicolás Otamendi (67')



Argentina

Sergio Romero; Pablo Zabaleta (79' Federico Fernandez), Martin Demichelis, Nicolás Otamendi, Marcos Rojo; Lucho Gonzalez (68' Jose Ernesto Sosa), Javier Mascherano, Ricky Alvarez (61' Javier Pastore); Lionel Messi [C], Gonzalo Higuain (74' Sergei Aguero), Ángel Di Maria



Venezuela

Rafael Romo, Fernando Amorebieta, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo, Angel Flores, Gabriel Cichero, Nicolas Fedor, Tomas Rincon [C], Frank Feltscher (68' Yohandry Orozco), Csar Gonzlez, Roberto Rosales, Jose Salomon Rondon



Referee

Dinesh Nair (Gujarat, India)



Yellow Cards

Fernando Amorebieta (Venezuela); Javier Mascherano (Argentina)

VIDEO: Magical Messi ready to dazzle

A report by news channel Times Now on the Venezuela vs Argentina match with the focus on Lionel Messi, who is to captain Argentina tonight.

VIDEO: Messi mesmerizes one and all in Kolkata

Messi-mania has hit Kolkata and here the latest from CNN-IBN on the craze in and around the City of Joy.

VIDEO: Messi arrives in Kolkata

Here a news item by news channel Times Now on the arrival of Lionel Messi in Kolkata. Interesting here too, no footage of Messi's arrival but only still pictures.

VIDEO: Messi arrives in Kolkata, but no show to fans & media

Here a report filed by NDTV from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Airport in Kolkata on the arrival of Lionel Messi in the City of Joy or rather the anticipation from fans of his arrival.

Messi-Mania in Kolkata as the superstar arrives

The little Argentinian maestro Lionel Messi landed in Kolkata in the early hours of the day to end speculations if he would be coming for an international friendly to be played against Venezuela on Friday evening at the Saltlake Stadium.



And as one would expect there were a few thousand fans with the entire local and national media present to get a glimpse of Messi, but as one would expect he got his immigration and customs work done and was whisked away through a separate entrance.



"I can only say that Messi is in town," said Bhaswar Goswami, executive director of Celebrity Management Group.



The hype around Messi's visit to the City of Joy has been building for weeks and it was geared up towards the arrival of one of the world's best current footballers. Sometimes one feels that Lionel Messi could have come on his own, shown some of his tricks and that might have been enough rather then a full international friendly between Argentina and Venezuela.



However Messi and his Argentina team mates are now in Kolkata with a likely visit to Mothers Teresa's on the cards besides some pre-match training, but the media shy Messi might not give Kolkata what they would expect from such a superstar. So hopefully for the fans they will get to see on the field, live in their own backyard what Lionel Messi is all about - class football...

Messi's Argentina to play in Kolkata & Dhaka

In great news for fans of top class football the national teams of Argentina and Venezuela will face each other in a South American derby on September 2, 2011 at the Saltlake Stadium in Kolkata. This was officially announced yesterday at a press conference by the tour organisers Celebrity Management Group at the Oberoi Grand hotel in Kolkata.

Kolkata's CMG have signed a contract with Argentina to organise two international friendlies for the South Americans in the subcontinent. So besides the game on September 2 against Venezuela in Kolkata, the Argentinians would play at Dhaka's Bangabandhu National Stadium against Nigeria on September 6. Both the matches are taking place on international FIFA match dates.

"The Argentina Football Association has indeed signed a contract to bring in the full-strength squad including Messi and Carlos Tevez among others," said CMG's Bhaswar Goswami.

"The contract guarantees their participation," he added.

The Argentinians are set to arrive on August 30 on a four/five day visit before flying across to Dhaka. The team would not only play the match; but also have some obligations as per the contract while in Kolkata like attending a charity program, a gala dinner, a football clinic for children and an open public training session.

Though the game is on a FIFA match date, how Argentina can guarantee the participation of their stars will have to be seen as due to the Copa America next month the quota of international matches will be close to full.

For both Kolkata and Dhaka it would be the biggest international friendly in their history with a former World Cup winning side to play, though Kolkata has been Argentina, Uruguay and other nations in action in the Nehru Cup in the past.

A big stumbling block ahead of the game could be the venue, the Saltlake Stadium. But there new West Bengal Sports Minister Madan Mitra has guaranteed all possible help to bring the stadium up to a certain standard which is suitable for the football stars. Focus would be laid on the changing rooms, toilets and the media enclosure, while there are also plans for special VIP hospitality at the game. But the stadium needs to be cleared by FIFA and for own India matches the stadium does not fulfil the minimum criteria.

VIDEO: Messi's goals from last night

The FC Barcelona take a 2-0 advantage home after the second UEFA Champions League semifinal against archrivals Real Madrid. Two quality goals from little Argentinian Lionel Messi sealed the game and maybe even the time for the Catalans.


Here a video of both the goals