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FIFA’s recent award of the Ballon d’Or 2014 (World Player of the Year) to Cristiano Ronaldo proves that the accolade is more about politics and personal popularity than about performance on the field.

Although players from several nationalities are nominated and win the award, they always all play for European clubs while those active in other leagues such as in South America and Mexico are generally overlooked. The best player is chosen by players and managers based on favoritism rather than merit which often creates unworthy winners. Thus the award has lost its recognition and become the object of amusement and ridicule.

The Ballon d’Or was established by a magazine called France Football in 1956 to recognize the history-makers of the game. But that is not what it has turned out to be.

LA LIGA

Between January 1 and December 31, 2014 in this competition Lionel Messi scored 35 goals in 36 matches (11 with the right foot, 23 with the left and the other with the head) while Cristiano Ronaldo scored 38 but with less versatility as only 4 were with his head and unfavorable left foot.

In addition Messi created 97 chances, 24 more than any other player and completed 164 dribbles, 63 more than the nearest rival Iker Muniain of Atletico Bilbao (MAILOnline – Why Lionel Messi should win Ballon d’Or after a record-breaking year with Barcelona; by Kieran Gill, January 12, 2015).

EUROPE

Messi conquered the continent on November 25 when he became the all-time top goal scorer in the Champions League in Nicosia, Cyprus. It was his 23rd European city, his 16th European country and recorded the 24th different stadium in which he had scored (MAILOnline etc.)

WORLD CUP 2014

At soccer’s most important competition Messi led Argentina to the final, was voted Man of the Match in 4 games (the most of any player in the competition) and won the Golden Boot as the best player of the tournament.

He had the most impact on the competition. His goals were all match-winning goals which propelled Argentina to the final. He was the third joint highest goal scorer with 4 goals and 1 assist, created the most chances, had the most successful dribbling runs, made the most deliveries into the box and produced the most through balls of any player.

In contrast, Ronaldo was a non-factor and only scored a late goal against minnow Ghana and had an assist against the USA.

HISTORY MAKER

Messi’s performance in 2014 was what the Ballon d’Or is all about, namely, history-making performances. On March 16, he became Barcelona’s all-time top goal scorer (371). One week later he became the El Clasico (matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona) top goal scorer (21) with a hat- trick.

He scored his 400th career goal on September 27 against Granada and surpassed a 59-year-old record to become La Liga’s all-time top goal scorer (253) on November 22. Three days later he overtook Raul by scoring a hat-trick to become the top goal scorer in the history of the Champions League (74).

Given all these achievements one would think that of the three nominees Messi was the most deserving to win the award. Instead he not only lost to Ronaldo but he and the other nominee Manuel Neuer got less votes combined (31.48 %) than Ronaldo (37.66%).

In 2013 Ronaldo won nothing and Franck Ribery won everything but nevertheless Ronaldo beat him.

How can all this be explained?

POLITICS BEHIND THE VOTING

FIFA’s criteria call for national managers, captains and media officials to vote for the most outstanding performer of the previous twelve months.

Not unexpectedly players vote for their team-mates and compatriots. In the 2014 contest for example, Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) gave all three spots to Germans, Manuel Neuer, Phillip Lahm and Thomas Muller.

Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid) voted for his former team-mates Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois.

Vincent Kompany (Belgium) voted for team-mates Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard as the world’s two best players with Arjen Robben third.

The best example of the politics in all of this is illustrated by Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) who declared without giving a reason that he regretted voting for Ronaldo instead of his team-mate Neuer. This ‘change of heart’ can only be explained as coming from a player who wants to save face with team-mates in the dressing room rather than from a voter with any real conviction.

The same criticism applies to managers who only vote for national players. For example, Argentina’s manager Gerardo Martino gave all three places to his fellow countrymen namely, Lionel Messi, Angel di Maria and Javier Mascherano, Belgium coach Marc Wilmots voted for Belgian Thibaut Courtous for third place, Didier Deschamps (France) gave the final spot to French striker Benzema and Holland’s Guus Hiddink gave top honor to compatriot Arjen Robben.

Players will get a lot of votes if they are popular ‘with the boys’ and can play to the cameras to advertise commercial products. Those who defend the choice of Ronaldo as best player point to the fact that in the second half of 2014 he scored 32 goals. The problem is that 9 of those goals were penalties so his non-penalty goals were 23, the same amount as Messi who had no penalties. Ronaldo is nicknamed «Penaldo» because of his mastery of drawing and scoring penalties.

In a World Cup year such as 2014 your performance in that tournament is what defines you. On the world’s biggest stage Ronaldo was a nonfactor and his supporters excuse this by saying he was carrying an injury. If that is true that is unfortunate but injury is a misfortune, not a privilege and he can only be judged on actual performance and not on speculation as to what he might have achieved had he been fully fit.

The Player of the Year award has lost its authenticity. But it does not have to be so. It is not a personality or school prom contest. It is supposed to recognize performance on the field. Maybe the officials of FIFA should themselves become the judges, give more consideration to non-European clubs and use criteria like achievements and fair play to choose the winner. This would not be a perfect system but would be preferable to the present one which is deeply flawed and cannot be taken seriously.

Victor A. Dixon

January 18, 2015

If there is a need to find out which sports produce the most unpredictable results, everyone will agree that soccer is absolutely that kind. The fact has proven. Let’s recall of the UEFA Championship final match in 1999 where Man U surprisingly stroke 2 goals during the 2 minute injury time to overcome the 1 goal deficit and clinched the Champion Cup.

Let’s recall again the South-America Champion final match between Argentina and Brazil in 2007 where over-the-top Argentina suddenly lost to struggling Brazil with the shocking result 0-3. And let’s recall again the underdog Egypt who managed to win the European Champion Cup where the best teams of the world such as Italy, Germany, and England… even failed to reach the final match.

There are a lot more to prove to everyone that everything can happen in soccer, even the most shocking results. As a result, soccer betting is more attractive to punters – the sport is very unpredictable.

But luckily the unpredictable results are not the only thing that matters punters. Soccer itself does have the same natural concept: no matter how high or how low a team is heading, there is always a stop to it. Thus, the rule of thumb is not to consistently place bets on teams that continuously won and expect that they will win. Or, it is not advisable to place bets on teams that consistently lost and expect they will lose.

Beside the unpredictable nature of the game, other factors do affect the final results. They are the weather, a sudden injury, or a decision of the referee.

Weather does play an important role in deciding the match result. For example, raining poses a bad impact to well-performing teams who used much tactical playing methods. A cold weather does the same to away-team who visits the home ground under 0 degree Celsius.

Sudden injury of an important player before or during the match does pose a scaring threat to a team. No soccer player can avoid injury, either it is during the training session or in the actual match. Beside injury, I have also witnesses plenty of important players struck by flu and thus could not attend some critical matches.

Decision of a referee to send off a player is undeniably the sudden bad impact to that team. But who can avoid that or plan to avoid that? Everything under the sun happens in a soccer match.

Augustine Azuka ( Jay-Jay ) Okocha who was born August 14 ,1973 in Enugu ( same day as my mom difference year though is a Nigerian footballer who currently plays for Hull city in the lower league in England a move which was completed in 2007. Nicknamed Jay-Jay for his entertaining and Flamboyant style of play.

Okocha was playing football at the age of just 16 for his first club, Rangers international of Enugu, before a chance encounter whilst on holiday in Germany launched his international career. Okocha tried out for fourth division club Borussia Neunkirchen and they snapped him up.

Via Saarbrucken, he went on to join Eintracht Frankfurt in December 1991 – still before his 18th birthday – where he was to explode on to the Bundesliga scene.

Five years on, he moved to Turkey to play for Fenerbahce where he gained Champions League experience (notably in a shock win against Manchester United at Old Trafford) and hero worship in Istanbul.

In 1998, Jay-Jay became the most expensive African player ever with his £14million move to Paris St Germain.

After seeing out his contract with the French giants Okocha was available on a free transfer – hence the rumoured £3.3million-a-year wages he was rumoured to be demanding. It is testament to Allardyce’s negotiation skills that he was able to convince the midfielder to drop his high demands and join the Barclaycard Premiership outfit.

He has played at the 1994 ,1998 ( where he was named in the tournament best XI ) , and 2002 Fifa world cup and many African Nations cup Tournaments with Nigeria. He won the olympic gold medal with Nigeria in 1996 beating Brazil in the semi finals before seeing off Argentina in the final.

Proudly a member of Fifa 100 , a list of 125 greatest living footballers selected by lengendary Brazilian Pele in conjunction with FIFA’S centenary celebrations.In the 2004/2005 season he won the BBC’s African Player of the Year award (for the second successive year).

After seeing out his contract with the French giants Okocha was available on a free transfer – hence the rumoured £3.3million-a-year wages he was rumoured to be demanding. It is testament to Allardyce’s negotiation skills that he was able to convince the midfielder to drop his high demands and join the Barclaycard Premiership outfit.

In the 2004/05 season – his third for the Trotters – he made 33 appearances and scored 7 goals, including two in the first game of the season – a 4-1 victory against Charlton.

He was relief of his captainship band with Bolton in early 2005/06. This is Much attributed to his public admittance that he is interested in a move away to Quatar. He finally left the team after the final game of the season when Bolton announced they will not be renewing his contract , manager sam allardyce shaking Okocha’s hand before he came on the field in his last game.

After a lucrative year playing for Qatar Sports Club, Jay-Jay returned to England to take up a new challenge at the KC Stadium.

In 2004 he released a DVD called «superskills with Okocha » where he teaches children at a football school the most difficult football tricks.

He is happily married to Nkechi , a native of his country, Nigeria. Blessed with a son who he Named «A-J Okocha.

PERUVIAN ANCESTRY:

Benjamin Bratt (actor): His movies include: Shadown Hunter (1992), Demolition Man (1993), Kill or Be Killed (1993), Woman Undone (1995) and Exiled (1998).

Yma Sumac (actress and singer): Sumac was born in Peru. She has American citizen.

Helena Christensen (Model): Like Fernanda Tavares, Elsa Benitez and Juncal Rivero, she was a spectacular super-model in Europe in the United States in the 1990s. In 1986 Helena had been elected Miss Denmark.

Alejandro «Alex» Olmedo (tennis player): Was born in Arequipa (Peru). Like Mary Jo-Fernandez, Richard «Pancho» Gonzalez, Alex became American citizen. He came to the United States from Lima as a schoolboy. He is the only Latin American who has won one Wimbledon Tournament (1959).Alejandro played many times for the United States and he won at the 1958 Davis Cup

DID YOU KNOW THAT ….

Peru is the first country which has had a President of Japanese ancestry. From 1990 to 2000, Alberto Kenya Fujimori, best known as «Chinese», was President of Peru. In 1992, Fujimori made history when he became dictator. During his dictatorship, he rewrote the Constitution.

Opposition and human rights groups accused Fujimori of violating human rights. Ironically, his government was an advocate for the women’s rights, anti-terrorism and tourism. In 1996, Miriam Schenone became minister of the Woman and Human Development.

Under his authoritarian rule, Fujimori received aid from the People’s of China and Japan. Protest marches against the dictatorship took place in 2000.That year, Fujimori fled to Japan, where he received asylum.

His style has been compared to Ferdinand Marcos, former dictator of Philippines….

FAMOUS ATHLETES:

Juan Carlos «Johnny» Bello (swimming): The most famous swimmer in the Peruvian history. Johnny decided to learn to swim at the age of seven. From 1965 to 1973, he won several international medals.

Teofilo Cubillas (football): Cubillas, best known for his nickname «Nene», has played in three World Cups (Mexico-70, Argentina-78 and Spain-82). Certainly, Peru was one of the best teams in the 1970s.He is now recognized as a symbol of South American football.

Cecilia Tait (volleyball): Peru’s most talented player appeared as a sub aged 18 at the Pan American Games in San Juan (Puerto Rico).Like Lang Ping (the People’s Republic of China) and Flora «Flo» Hyman (United States),she is one of the best players in the volleyball history. She has played more than 300 games for Peru in the 1970s and 1980s.Tait has become an icon for the Peruvian sport. She was a congresswoman.

Gabriela Perez del Solar (volleyball): She was one of the World’s most popular players because of her all out effort and humble personality. Made her debut in the 1984 South American Youth Cup in Chile. She, best known as «Gaby», has been described as one of the best athletes by Peruvian journalists. The 1993 South American Championship was her last international tournament. Currently, she is a congresswoman since 2006. She has projects about Olympic sports.

Edwin Vazquez Cam (shooting): Edwin made history when won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1948.He was one of the best shooters in the Third World. Latin America has produced many shooters, but none as Edwin Vazquez Cam. Like Marlene Ottey, Marlene Arehns, James Gilkes and Lloyd Labeach, he has become a symbol in the Latin American sport.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Shining Path, a group terrorist in Peru, has been called «The Khmer Rouge of Latin America. Abimael Guzman Reynoso, terrorist leader, has been compared to Pol Pot. The indigenous were victims of a delivete policy of genocide by Shining Path. More than 50,000 Peruvians have been killed by Shining Path.

FAMOUS PEOPLE BORN IN PERU:

Mario Vargas Llosa (writer)…Hernando de Soto (economist)…Cesar Vallejo (writer)…Daniel Alomia Robles (composer)…Fernando Belaunde Ferry (ex President)…Fernando de Szyslo (painter)…Chabuca Granda (singer)… Susana Baca (singer)…Luis Flores (designer)…Victor Delfín (sculpter)…Jose Carlos Mariategui (writer), Javier Perez de Cuellar (diplomatic), Alfredo Bryce Echenique (writer)…

REFERENCES

-Bach, Caled. «Mario Vargas Llosa mundo sin limites», Americas, Washington DC, abril 2004

-Bowen, Sally. El expediente Fujimori, Perú Monitor, Lima, 2000

-Compendio Histórico del Perú. Historia Política y Económica (1820-1998), Editorial Milla Batres, Madrid, 1998

-Diccionario Histórico y Biográfico del Perú Siglos XV-XX, Milla Batres, Lima 1986

-Elton, Catherine. «El retorno de Ayacucho», Americas, Washington DC, diciembre de 1999

-Enciclopedia Ilustrada del Perú, Peisa, Lima, 2001

-Guevara Onofre, Alejandro. Historia de la Mujer de los Estados Unidos, Cecosami

-Lama, Abraham. «Perú: difícil sendero», Nueva Sociedad, Caracas, septiembre-octubre 1988

-Lizarburu,Raúl. «El documental del terror», La República, Lima, 4 de julio 2005

-Orbegoso, Manuel Jesus. «Pérez de Cuéllar a Ghali: entrego la posta», El Dominical del Diario El Comercio, Lima, 5 de enero de 1992

-Perry, Ellen. Documental: La caída de Fujimori/ Estados Unidos/ 2005

-Yates, Pamela. Documental: Estado de miedo / Perú-Estados Unidos/2005

The 1995 tournament held in Canada was a bitter pill in the mouth of the Golden Eaglets, and they were determined to make amends at the 1989 tournament which was hosted by Scotland. In a group comprising 1987 host Canada, China PR and tournament favorite Argentina, the Golden Eaglets were expected to progress to the Quarter-finals with ease. Book makers were already tipping the Nigerians to clinch the trophy before the tournament even began.

They lived up to their billing in their first match, when they stunned Canada 4-0, with Kayode Keshinro scoring a brace in the 27th and 75th minutes before Babajide Oguntuwase and Victor Ikpeba put the game beyond the Canadians with two superb goals in the 56th and 78th minutes. They then drew 0-0 with Argentina in their second match. In their must win last group game against China, the Golden Eaglets defeated China PR with an emphatic 3-0 bashing, and they sent jitters down the spine of other countries who were already avoiding the Golden Eaglets. Olusegun Fetuga, Victor Ikpeba and Sunny Umoru were on the scorers sheet in an encounter that saw the Nigerians completely dominating proceedings.

In the Quarter-finals, the Golden Eaglets were paired with Saudi Arabia, and most sports analyst labeled the encounter as a rematch of David versus Goliath.

They were referring to the physically big Saudis, compared to the smaller sized Nigerians. The Golden Eaglets were however not going to be intimidated, as they battled the Saudi Arabians to a 0-0 score at regulation time.

The game had to be decided via penalties as it happened two years ago.

It was a game filled with so much intrigues, as the Golden Eaglets were face to face with the giant goalkeeper from Saudi Arabia. The game eventually ended 2-0 in favor of the Saudis, who went ahead to lift the Trophy. The Nigerians were so unlucky, as Bobolayefa Edun, Sunny Umoru, Patrick Mancha and Chiedu Anazonwu all missed their spot kicks, while Saud Al Hammali and Jabarti Al Shamrani scored for Saudi Arabia to take the game beyond the hopeful lads from Nigeria.

Some players from the Nigerian team to Scotland 1989 later progressed to the senior national team after blossoming in their various club-sides. Top on the list was Victor Nosa Ikpeba who was nickname «The prince of Monaco». Victor Ikpeba eventually won the African footballer of the year award in 1997. Benedict Akwuegbu, Godwin Okpara and Precious Monye are also notable names who excelled both in club and country.