EURO 2021

Already considered one of soccer’s greats at age 24, Lionel Messi on Monday became the first to win FIFA player of the year three times in a row. The Barcelona and Argentina forward received the FIFA Ballon d’Or award for 2011, beating club teammate Xavi Hernandez and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. “It’s a huge honor,” Messi said after accepting the trophy from retired Brazilian great Ronaldo. The only other three-time winners are Ronaldo (1996-97, 2002) and Zinedine Zidane (1998, 2000, 2003). The FIFA award was renamed last year when it […]

  But wait a minute…have UEFA been smoking too many Jamaican cigarettes, or something?We watched with baited breath as UEFA president, Michele Platini (above), stood on stage in Cardiff, Wales, and slowly tore open the envelope. It was between Croatia/Hungary, Italy and Poland/Ukraine. Everyone expected Italy. Half of me didn’t want Poland to win, as I knew I would have to throw together something about the story in about half an hour. The other half of me – the footballing half (the bits with legs and feet) – wanted Poland […]