flywoman | FIFA 2012 Awards Picspam

I can't believe that the FIFA Awards have come around again; seems like only yesterday I was watching Leo Messi attempting to share his third Ballon d'Or with teammate Xavi Hernandez while dressed in a plum velvet jacket worthy of Willy Wonka. Anyway, FC Barcelona had five players named to the Dream Team of 2012, which incidentally consisted entirely of La Liga players. Here is the "before" shot:

Where's Geri?

And here is the after. They do clean up nicely, don't they? With a few exceptions. More on that in a minute.

My favorite moment from the presentation of the players, escorted by a bevy of adorable youngsters:

Kid to Cristiano Ronaldo: "How can I become such a good player as you?"
CR: "It's not easy! [audience laughs] Just be yourself, work hard, and be humble."
I... don't even know where to start.

Vicente Del Bosque won the Men's Coach of the Year Award, which was basically inevitable, and as far as I'm concerned, absolutely the right decision.

Pia Sundaghe accepted the Women's Coach of the Year Award by serenading her players: "If not for you..." God that woman rocks. And I was so happy to see Abby Wambach awarded Women's World Player of the Year, stylish suit and all.

Speaking of suits, Leo's fourth Ballon d'Or proved that not only has his playing continued to get even better...

... his fashion sense has continued to get even worse.

Leo: I make this look even better than Diego.
Andres: This is the last time Xavi will ever let Leo pick out his own suit.
Cris: Would you get a load of these dorks? If only this award were going to the best-dressed male footballer of the year...

Still, we all knew that it was going to be Leo, right? Adorably, he interrupted his own thank-you speech to say, "I'm sorry, I'm so nervous!" You'd think that he'd be used giving this particular acceptance speech by now ;).

Side note: In the pre-award press conference, CR dodged the question of whether he would have voted for one of his rivals by explaining that he couldn't vote because he had been injured during an international match and instructed not to leave the house. On the other hand, Leo uncharacteristically tackled it head-on, saying that he would have voted for Xavi, Iniesta, and Kun. (Previously he had been coy about exactly which Argentinian he would vote for, but aww, we all knew that it was Kun.) He also claimed that this hadn't been a very good year for him (presumably because Barcelona lost La Liga and the CL), so maybe he was really as surprised to receive a fourth Ballon d'Or as he claimed to be.

CONGRATULATIONS TO LEO AND TO ALL OF THIS YEAR'S WINNERS AND FINALISTS!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yesssssss Abby's suit. I loved it.

It really suited her, no pun intended.

Oh Leo is just too precious (and I sort of have stange warm feelings about C.Ron now). Really wanted Andres to win, but understandable. Leo must have been the only person in the world to be suprised.
I'm still not over that suit, not sure I ever will be. This is the trade for bad hair, no?

la liga = better than your favourites
Not that I agree with all those choices (would have had Jordi or Busi in too; or Pirlo and one of the Germans to branch out).

So happy Del Bosque won. :)

Excellent that women's football was represented, good choices and they look so stylish.

Leo voted for Kun, Iker voted for Xavi, Stevie Gerrard voted for Xabi ... my favourite bromances still thriving, so many feelings.

If it was for best dressed footballer then Xabi would win every time, he needs to teach seminars.

I actually would say that last season was not Andres' best, and I thought that Xavi should have been Man of the Match for the Euro final, which probably would have meant that someone else - no idea who - would have been Player of the Tournament. He's been amazing this season, though!

I definitely would have picked Jordi instead of Dani, and I really like Pirlo (but then which awesome midfielder would one drop?).

Aww, Iker <3. Do we know who Xavi voted for? Leo, I assume.

Totally agree, Xabi would win and Cristiano would be standing sadly in second place yet again.

Hmm true, but then when he's not at his best Andres can still outplay most people. Maybe it's more like lifetime achievement award.

Yes, Jordi is a revelation. I like Pirlo as a player, and for his flawless hair (filled a hole in my heart when Puyi was out of the Euros); our neighbour is Italian so we talk football and kind of adopt them as a second team.
Well that's a good point.

He is too precious. Umm I don't know off hand, maybe.

Exactly, any other generation and he would have a chance at awards but no.

I just saw the official ballots. Iker voted for Ramos first, CR second, and Xavi third.

I hadn't realized that only national team captains, coaches, etc. voted, not club (and not motormouth vice captains either). Ah well, still learning...

Oh yes, had heard that before but it was just a rumour then.

Always something new to discover. :)

Abby looked stunning but sadly I had to deal with my brothers talking about how she looked like a man and was in the wrong category. Words cannot express my fury.

I choose to talk only about how Leo's suit was so well-cut xD And the nervous bit was too precious for words... And the way he looked a bit in a haze when he got up.

Leo had already disclosed his votes a while ago, so he just justified it in the interview. Did you see how Kun fanboyed him on twitter when he won? xD Also, about your question in a comment, only captains, coaches and media voted, so Xavi didn't vote? Iker voted for Sergio Ramos, Cristiano and Xavi.

Did you see that pic of Iker having a big laugh with Geri and Xavi?

Well, honestly, Abby is a big, strapping young woman who doesn't try to accentuate her femininity. Which is her right. I thought she looked great.

Leo's suit *was* really well cut. I think that might be the problem - once he figured out that he could get his suits custom-made, he didn't need to be constrained by fashion... or good taste ;).

I don't follow Kun, so I didn't see that tweet, lol. Oh, looks like he's injured, and he has split with his wife. I *have* been out of the loop!

Also, thanks for clarifying what Leo said - I still find him *very* hard to understand. And silly me, I knew that only captains voted. But I figure that someone must have asked Xavi whom he'd vote for if he could... and I'm sure he had an answer!

Oh yes, I saw that photo, although I wasn't 100% sure that it was Iker. Very cute!

Edited 2013-01-08 18:52 (UTC)

The thing is, my brothers don't agree it's a valid choice. They have strict standards for how men and women should look and behave, they don't think women can play real football and women footballers that don't look like princesses are dykes that earn their scorn. Yes, I wish I could beat them up.

Lol, I follow him and didn't know he and his wife were no more.

You do? Well, Argentinian accent is very different... It's the one I speak so I always forget people find it hard overseas.

Yeah, that would be a really obnoxious attitude to deal with. Although Abby Wambach *is* a lesbian. It's the scorn that's so troubling.

Don't know how legit this is, but here's the story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2257059/Sergio-Aguero-splits-Giannina-Diego-Maradonas-daughter.html

Since Spanish is not my native language, it is much easier for me to understand when all of the letters are enunciated. Leo drops a lot of consonants, especially at the ends of words - more so even than other Argentinian players like Mascherano or Higuain.

In case you haven't seen it:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/3ecc74631685ff41ee572e3931da925c/tumblr_mg9uxtfVeM1qid9xyo1_1280.jpg

LEO'S SUIT - lOLOLOLOL! I swear - you are making me love this guy. ♥

Where's Geri? - *snort* - those other guys need to start wearing heels.

CR: "It's not easy! [audience laughs] Just be yourself, work hard, and be humble." hahahahaha! This was nearly my favourite part of this post...but, no, Leo's suit...ftw!

C'mon, he's totally loveable! What a sweet and majestically talented dork.

Yeah, 5'7 is the official Barcelona height limit, but once in a while an exception can be made.

I'm sure that Cris didn't mean it the way it sounded... lol.

FIFA 2012 Awards Picspam

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