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The 2014 Ballon d'Or will be decided in Zurich on Monday, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer all battling for the top prize. Ronaldo, who is the current Ballon d'Or holder, scored 17 goals as Real Madrid won their 10th Champions League title, overcoming Atletico Madrid 4-1 after extra-time in the final in Lisbon. Messi meanwhile scored four times as Argentina reached the World Cup final, only to be defeated by Germany and a Mario Gotze goal in the Maracana in Brazil. Manuel Neuer was on the right side of that result, his stellar performances for Germany guiding his nation to their fourth World Cup crown. Other awards handed out at the ceremony include the Coach of the Year, where the three candidates are Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti, Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone, and Germany boss Joachim Low. The Goal of the Year award will also be decided, with Stephanie Roche taking on the might of Robin van Persie and James Rodriguez. Source:  http://www.goal.c...

As the Portuguese returned to the summit of world football on Monday with his third Golden Ball victory, Goal takes a look at his long and arduous road to the top SPECIAL REPORT By Ben Hayward in Zurich Cristiano Ronaldo was visibly emotional as he was crowned the world's finest footballer for a third time , but for those who saw him growing up in a poor part of Madeira's capital Funchal, it was a familiar sight.  Raised in the mountainous outskirts of the island's largest town in an area called Santo Antonio, Ronaldo's childhood was anything but easy. The fourth child born to Dolores and Dinis, his arrival had been unplanned. His mother, a cook, and his father, a municipal gardener who lost his long battle with alcoholism in 2005, struggled to put food on the table. Given the name Cristiano by his mother and Ronaldo by his father after Ronald Reagan (Dinis' favourite actor and then President of the United States), the young boy soon sought distraction on the footba...

Former Barcelona player Bojan has criticised the Spaniard's style of management, while offering his support to Lionel Messi Luis Enrique  is "an uncommunicative coach" who doesn't talk to his players, according to former  Barcelona forward  Bojan Krkic . The Spaniard, who now plays his football in the Premier League with Stoke City, worked under the current Blaugrana boss when he was in charge of the club's 'B' side. Luis Enrique has come under-fire for dropping Lionel Messi in the defeat Real Sociedad and Barcelona's inconsistency in performance levels in the first half of the season. And Bojan has added further fuel to the fire by hitting out at his style of leadership. "He is a very uncommunicative coach," he told  L'Esportiu . "Luis Enrique lacks understanding with the players. He has also been a player and he should know what it feels like to be in a locker room. At the end of the season we will see if his way of managing things...

The Barcelona captain criticised the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to uphold a transfer ban for the Camp Nou club until 2016 Xavi  has blasted the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) decision to reject  Barcelona 's appeal against a Fifa transfer ban placed upon the club. The Blaugrana were initially handed the two-window sanction as a result of signing underage players from outside of Spain and appealed to CAS, but had their argument turned away. The  decision renders the Blaugrana unable to make any signings in 2015,  and the club captain feels it is an unfair punishment. "We have all been screwed by the CAS decision. I expected them to be more lenient," Xavi told Sport. "As a 'cule' I find it a huge injustice because no club in the world takes better care of their young players. This will make us even stronger." However, the midfielder believes the team still have more than enough talent to be a threat in every game, labelling ...

Following a draw at St Mary’s at the start of January, The Tractor Boys and Saints meet in a FA Cup 3rd round replay, with our tipster backing the Premier League side to progress Championship high-flyers Ipswich Town host Southampton this evening with a place in the fourth round at home to Crystal Palace awaiting the winner. A week and a half ago these two met at St Mary’s, with an early Darren Ambrose strike cancelled out by Morgan Schneiderlin. Mick McCarthy’s side held their own against the Premier League surprise package this season, with the Saints struggling to turn their 69% possession into chances. Ronald Koeman’s men come into this match off the back of a superb result away to Manchester United, beating them 1-0 at Old Trafford.  In a match which Fraser Forster didn’t have a shot on target to save, the Saints put in a professional performance to claim their first victory against United away for 27 years. bet365 price them at  17/20 (1.85) to win this evening and progr...

COMMENT: Despite producing one of football’s biggest miracles last season, Diego Simeone's warriors received little acknowledgement in Zurich – unlike their city rivals By Carlo Garganese Real Madrid dominated the awards at the 2014 Fifa Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday to cement their status as the best team in club football. Cristiano Ronaldo roared his way to yet another Ballon d’Or  in the main category – becoming only the fourth player in history to win the prize three times.  James Rodriguez scooped the Fifa Puskas Award  for best goal of 2014,  Carlo Ancelotti took silver  in the Fifa World Coach of the Year, while four Madrid players were selected in the  FIFPro World XI  (including Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria). A further three Madridistas made the  FIFPro reserve XI . Despite clinching a stunning Liga title win on a limited budget, Real’s city rivals Atletico - who they welcome to Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday in the Copa del Rey - e...

The Brazil defender and Spanish midfielder were surprisingly selected in the best team of 2014, along with Ballon d’Or trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer Real Madrid  and  Bayern Munich  dominated the 2014 Fifa FIFPro World XI, but there were surprise inclusions including  Andres Iniesta  and  Paris Saint-Germain  centre-backs  David Luiz  and  Thiago Silva . Champions League winners Madrid have three current players in the team - Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Toni Kroos - as well as their former star Angel Di Maria, now at Manchester United. Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich provide World Cup winners Manuel Neuer and Philipp Lahm, in addition to Dutch attacker Arjen Robben. PSG duo David Luiz and Thiago Silva both make the backline, while Barcelona are represented by Iniesta and Lionel Messi. The Fifa FIFPro World XI is the best team of the year as voted for by professional footballers all over the world. Each vot...

The FCB director has taken a dig at the Premier League outfit and has made it clear the German champions will judge each case individually Bayern Munich  technical director Michael Reschke has defended the Bundesliga champions' transfer policy, saying that when it comes to loaning out players they have a different attitude to  Chelsea . The Premier League giants have received their fair share of criticism in recent years over their tendency to stockpile talent, only to send new signings out on loan again right away. Players such as Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku are examples of new signings who eventually left Chelsea again after loan spells elsewhere, without making much of an impact at the Blues. Bayern, however, have stressed that they never bring in players with the intention of immediately sending them out on loan again, but will judge each case individually. "Sending players out on loan is not part of our philosophy. It's a decision we make case by case," Res...

The winger is yet to commit his long term future to the club and BVB admit there will be little they can do if he decides to move on With  Marco Reus'  future at  Borussia Dortmund  still yet to be resolved, the club's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has admitted they will be powerless to prevent him from departing if he chooses to do so. The winger's current deal expires in 2017 but a €25 million clause inserted into his contract upon signing for BVB in 2012 means the 25-year-old will be allowed to leave this summer if a club meets that valuation. " My big hope is that he will stay here for a long time," Watzke said on Wednesday. "If he decides differently, that's the way it is. One of the challenges in football is to benefit from staff changes in any way and create new things." Reus is out of action for the foreseeable future after tearing ankle ligaments in the 2-2 draw with Paderborn on November 24 and has stated he wants to return to fitness before maki...

The Spanish midfielder is struggling to cope with life on the sidelines, but is slowly nearing his comeback after a lengthy spell out of action due to injury Javi Martinez  has admitted that it is not easy for him to watch  Bayern Munich  from the sidelines due to injury, but he is optimistic about his recovery and hopes to be back with the squad come March. The Spain international ruptured the cruciate ligament in his left knee in the German Supercup loss to Borussia Dortmund in August and has since been out of action. The 26-year-old is nearing his return, but he has acknowledged that he's finding it hard not being able to play yet. "Watching my team-mates play sometimes makes me sad. My exercises are much more boring [than playing a game]. It hurts in the head," the Spaniard was quoted as saying on the official Bayern website. "Building up muscles again is the most difficult bit. It takes a lot of hard work. But I’m a little bit better with every passing day. I wo...

The Spain international feels the Bayern coach is not the right man for the position of sporting director, while also insisting he is happy at his current club Bayern Munich  midfielder  Javi Martinez  believes  Pep Guardiola  would be driven crazy if he became sporting director at  Barcelona . The current Bayern coach has been touted as a potential replacement for Andoni Zubizarreta, who saw his contract terminated earlier this month. However, Martinez has insisted that Guardiola is happy at the Bundesliga champions and would not be suited for the position anyway at this stage of his career. "I have read what people have said, but I know that Pep is really happy at Bayern," Martinez told  Sport Bild . "He loves the city of Munich, the people here and the club itself.  "Plus, I honestly cannot imagine Guardiola in the role as sporting director. He needs to be on top of things on a daily basis and needs the smell of grass, or he will not be happy....