That’s right.

The FC Barcelona star grasped his third successive Ballon D’Or trophy today, beating out teammate Xavi Hernandez and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (who couldn’t attend due to match preparation.)

The Argentinean said at the FIFA World Players Gala, “It is a pleasure and honor to win this for the third time. Thanks to those who voted and all my teammates.”

Congrats to the other two nominees Xavi and Cristiano for having fantastic seasons as well.

Not only was the winner of the Ballon D’Or awarded but so was the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year. The nominees were Abby Wambach (USA), Marta (Brazil) and Homare Sawa (Japan).

This year’s award goes to Homare Sawa of Japan. Sawa led her national team to victory this year in the Women’s World Cup in Germany where she won the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe award.

Sawa’s country of Japan also won the FIFA Fair Play Award due to their reaction of the devastating earthquake and tsunami the country faced earlier in the year.

Mexican legend Hugo Sanchez presented Neymar the FIFA Puskas Award, which is determined by the player with the “most beautiful” goal of the year. Neymar beat out both Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.

“I am very happy to be part of this party and have been competing with this two great players. I’m very grateful to God and all you. Enjoy this party.”

You can see Neymar’s outstanding goal here!

Now to the coach awards. Let’s start out with the FIFA Women’s Coach of the Year.

The nominees were Bruno Bini of France, Norio Sasaki of Japan and Pia Sundhage of Sweden.

Japan’s Norio Sasaki claimed the award with his efforts of leading his national team to victory when Japan beat the US in the final.

The FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year was won by FC Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola, who managed to win Champions League and the La Liga title last year. Pep beat out MUFC manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho.

Guardiola was quite humble after winning the award saying, “I would like to share this award with Mourinho and Ferguson. It is an honor. And all the coaches around the world who share this passion. And also to the thousands of people that over 100 years have worked and develop Barcelona. It is a privilege to be part of such an incredible club. And finally, I would like to dedicate this award to Tito Vilanova, my assistant, my colleague, my friend who can’t be here tonight. This is for you.”

Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t leave the Gala empty-handed. The MUFC legendary manager won the prestigious FIFA Presidential Award, presented by FIFA president Sepp Blatter. “This is very much appreciated. No matter the honor I get, I feel it’s been the recognition for the 25 years of Manchester United. They always shared my vision and passion. I’ve been a very lucky manager. That makes Manchester United such a special club. The courage to play and the courage to try and win is more important than anything.”

Individual awards aside, eleven players were selected to the FIFA/FIFAPro World XI which was presented by three-time World Cup Champion and football legend, Pele. The players selected are as follows:

Iker Casillas (Spain)

Sergio Ramos (Spain)

Gerard Pique (Spain)

Nemanja Vidic (Serbia)

Dani Alves (Brazil)

Andres Iniesta (Spain)

Xavi (Spain)

Xabi Alonso (Spain)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

Wayne Rooney (England)

Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane and Emilio Butragueno accepted players Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo and Iker Casillas‘ awards on behalf of them due to preparation for their match against Malaga this week.

Stay tuned to Aerys Soccer for all your international football news!

All photos courtesy of FIFA.com

As the weekend comes to a close, the football world still manages to create headlines. Today’s headlines feature FC Barcelona, once again, lifting up another Championship trophy, the secret success to Van Persie’s goal-scoring streak and racism in the French league.

La Liga

Real Madrid faced Sevilla FC yesterday, beating them 6-2. Cristiano Ronaldo showed up his critics after he scored a hat-trick for his side, giving them the top spot in the league. Seems like the ONLY club Madrid can’t beat is Barcelona. For a more in-depth recap, click here!

Speaking of Barcelona, the Catalan side won the FIFA Club World Cup against the very young Brazilian side Santos, which is the home of Neymar. However, thanks to Lionel Messi, who scored both the first and last goal, and brought the trophy home back to Barcelona with a 4-nil victory. I guess a congratulations is in order.

Barcelona striker David Villa will undergo surgery for his broken tibia on Monday. Villa broke his tibia, AKA shinbone, during the semi-final Club World Cup match against Al-Sadd in Japan last week. ‘El Guaje’ is expected to miss 5-6 months of action and could miss Euro 2012. No bueno for his national team, Spain, where he is the all-time record scorer. No, no, no bueno!

English Premier League

Manchester United regain the #1 spot, albeit temporarily, one point ahead of crosstown rivals Manchester City, after a 2-nil victory over QPR. Our own Kayla Knapp has the full recap!

Arsenal captain Robin van Persie revealed his ‘secret’ to his amazing scoring streak. RVP states it’s his ‘willpower’ and that he doesn’t ‘give a damn’ on how he gets the ball in the net. As long as he keeps scoring goals, I don’t give a damn either! Arsenal faced Manchester City today, and lost 1-0, giving City back the top spot in the league.

Bundesliga

Yesterday Schalke 04 demolished Werder Bremen 5-0 thanks to a hat-trick by former Real Madrid captain, Raul. Raul, my personal hero, scored a hat-trick earlier this season against Bremen in November, making him the only player to score 2 hat-tricks in one season. The Real Madrid supporter inside me still wonders why we ever let him leave….

Ligue 1

AJ Auxerre wants the French league to investigate an alleged racial slur made by an assistant referee to midfielder Kamel Chafni in yesterday’s match against Brest. Perhaps they should just shake each other’s hands, I mean after all, that’s what Sepp Blatter would do.

Transfers, transfers and you guessed it…more transfers! As the new year approaches, teams across Europe are looking to shuffle their rosters to improve for the second half of their season. Here is Wednesday’s Daily Kick Around.

La Liga

Spanish newspaper Marca, which is not always the most reliable source for football news, claim that Barca super star David Villa may be made available for a January transfer.  Manager Pep Guardiola denied the report and I can see why, given Villa has scored 32 goals in 75 appearances since his move to the club in summer 2010.

Real Madrid seem to have recovered from their defeat against Barcelona over the weekend.  On Tuesday, they beat Ponferradina 2-0 in the 4th round of the Copa del Rey.

English Premier League

Czech Republic native Tomas Rosicky may make a move to Bundesliga Club Wolfsburg in January.  The 31 year old is currently with Arsenal but has only made three appearances with the Gunners.  His manager has played down the rumors, which have been circulating since summer.

Roman Pavlyuchenko, currently of Tottenham, has failed to secure a regular role in the starting 11 for his team.  His frustration led him to seek out other opportunities, which include a possible return to his former club Spartak Moscow.  Reports indicate he has been offered to Queens Park Rangers.

The biggest rumor out this week, although probably not too surprising, is that Chelsea are looking to rid themselves of the out-of-form striker Fernando Torres.  Chelsea stole the spotty Spaniard from Liverpool last January in a whopping £50million move, yet supposedly Chelsea is set to let him go for a mere £20 million.  Ouch!

Unfortunate news for Manchester United’s Darren Fletcher, who has been diagnosed with a chronic bowel disease.  The midfielder was out from March to September, due to complications from the illness, which has no cure.  His ailment went into a brief remission and allowed the midfielder to get back into the lineup.  However, Fletcher is out once again, adding to United’s already growing list of injured players, and is aggressively seeking a way to keep the disease from affecting his ability to remain an active player.

Major League Soccer

NY Red Bulls player Tim Ream has been training with EPL clubs West Brom and Bolton since the end of the MLS season.  Both teams are showing an interest in the young starlet for a possible spring transfer.  Erik Soler, sporting director for the Red Bulls, has clearly stated that Ream is not available.

Argentine midfielder Mauro Rosales is staying with the Seattle Sounders after signing a multi-year contract with the club.

Women’s Professional Soccer

Big news today as the U.S. Soccer Federation has given a provisional approval to WPS as a first division league come 2012.  The rules require a minimum of eight teams, but they are making an exception considering WPS has only five teams.  The approval will become final once undisclosed conditions have been met.

Serie A

 Inter Milan has moved up to 7th place, mostly due to Japan international Yuto Nagatomo’s spectacular performance.  His second half goal clinched the match against Genoa, pleasing the Nerazzurri manager Claudio Ranieri.

FIFA Club World Cup

Neymar, whose growing reputation as a formidable striker continues to impress, as he helped Santos defeat Kashiwa Reysol and advance to the finals.

La Liga

Eat your heart out Barca fans because your manager just committed blasphemy! Yes, that’s right, Pep Guardiola stated that Real Madrid boss and my personal hero, Jose Mourinho, is the best coach in the world. Excuse me while the die-hard Madridista inside me is giggling like a crazed fan-girl right now.

Zlatan Ibrahiumovic, AC Milan star, said in an interview with AS that upon his exit at FC Barcelona, he told the club he wanted to join Real Madrid. The conversation went as follows: Sandro Rosell (Barca’s president) “What club do you wish to join?” Zlatan: “Madrid.” Rosell: “Yea, that’s not going to happen.”

Former Real Madrid prospect Neymar has chosen to stay at his current club, Santos of the Brazilian league due to accusations by Santos president Luis Alvaro Ribeiro stating that if Neymar moved to Real Madrid, that coach Jose Mourinho would force him to cut his signature fauxhawk. Yeah, because I’m sure that would happen.

English Premier League

Former Arsenal FC captain turned Barcelona superstar, Cesc Fabregas, made a bold statement about the future of his former club saying that “Arsenal can’t afford to lose Robin Van Persie.” As an Arsenal supporter, one can agree with the remarks made by Fabregas. RVP has been the hope that Arsenal and their supporters need this season, without him, who’s the future of the Gunners? Only time will tell.

Why is there so much racism in football these days? Police are currently investigating a racist tweet sent to Sunderland striker Fraizer Campbell after he tweeted his cheers for Estonia during their Euro 2012 playoff match against Ireland on Saturday. Campbell isn’t the only Premier League player being racially abused. Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge apparently was taunted by a supporter of the Blues.

Major League Soccer

The New England Revolution announced today that Jay Heaps will take over as coach for the 2012-2013 MLS season. Heaps, who formally played for the Revs after retiring in 2009 after an impressive 11-year career, was a fan favorite and one of the Revs’ best defenders in club history. Heaps will also be the second-youngest active coach currently  in MLS. A press conference is scheduled for tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET at Gillette Stadium with a live stream available on the Revs website.

What a way to retire. Kasey Keller, who played his last professional season with the Seattle Sounders, was named as the 2011 MLS Keeper of the Year. Keller was in goal for every Sounders match and lead the MLS in save percentage at 76%. The Rave Green Army will miss you Keller.

 UEFA Europa League

Celtic FC will face disciplinary action from UEFA officials on December 8th over “illicit chanting” in the EL win over Rennes on November 3rd.

Euro 2012

The second leg of the first round of playoffs for 2012 will finish today. For a full list of fixtures go here.

2014 World Cup Qualifying

For a list of all the matches for today you can check out the FIFA website. All World Cup Qualifiers are available to watch on Pay Per View.

International Friendlies

Some key friendly matches that will take place today are:

Spain vs Costa Rica

USA vs Slovenia

Germany vs Netherlands

France vs Belgium

Uruguay vs Italy

England vs Sweden

Champions League

A stoppage time goal gave Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City their first Champions League win this season. Yesterday’s match ended in a final score of 2-1.

By scoring two penalty kicks yesterday, Manchester United super-star Wayne Rooney became the highest scoring Englishman in Champions League, overtaking former teammate Paul Scholes with 26 goals.  Rooney’s goals clinched a 2-0 victory over the unremarkable Romanian champions, Otelul Galati.

Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema contributed a hat trick to his team’s 4-0 home victory over his former team, Lyon yesterday. Check out these highlights from the match.

English Premier League

Today, Arsenal visit Olympique Marseille at Stade Velodrome for the Gunners most challenging Champions League match this season.

With a Champions League win and a draw under their belt, Chelsea hope to snag additional points as they host Genk today at Stamford Bridge. Earlier in the week, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas vowed to bring home trophies this season and believes Champions League is not beyond their grasp.

QPR confirm DJ Campbell will be sidelined for up to two months due to a fractured metatarsal.

La Liga

League champions FC Barcelona face Czech Republic’s Vikoria Plzen in back-to-back Champions League matches starting tonight at Camp Nou.

Athletic Bilbao leapfrogged Osasuna in the Primera Division standings with a comprehensive 3-1 win at San Mames on Monday night.

I, for one, am happy to see that Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas has returned to training after an injury to his right thigh.  He is unlikely to play in today’s CL match.

Major League Soccer

Toronto FC clinched a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals with a 3-0 victory over FC Dallas last night.

Tonight, tune in to watch Santos vs. Colorado Rapids on Fox Soccer Channel at 8pm ET.

Serie A

Juventus announced that this will be the final season for their captain, Alessandro Del Piero.  With 36 goals, Piero is the all-time leading goal scorer for the club since joining them in 1993.  There is still no word on whether Piero will retire at year end, when his contract is set to expire.

Italian Leagues suspended Genoa defender Kakha Kaadze for four games.  A three-game suspension was also handed out to Cesana striker Adrian Mutu, who is no stranger to disciplinary action.