MONACO: Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribery won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for the 2012-2013 season on Thursday, beating Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo by a big margin.
Ribery earned 36 votes in the poll of journalists from across Europe, 23 more than four-time reigning world player of the year Messi. Real Madrid star Ronaldo won three votes.
The 30-year-old Ribery was instrumental to Bayern Munich’s incredible season in which the team won the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup.
The three-man shortlist was selected by a panel of 53 journalists drawn from each of UEFA’s member nations. The same journalists then voted for the winner immediately after the draw for this season’s Champions League group stage.
UEFA created the award after France Football magazine combined its traditional European accolade with FIFA’s world player prize.
Ribery wins UEFA Best Player in Europe award
Ribery wins UEFA Best Player in Europe award
Messi bags 899th goal as Miami down DC United
- The Argentine superstar’s 80th goal for Miami takes his career tally to 899, leaving him just one away from reaching the 900-goal milestone
WASHINGTON, United States: Lionel Messi moved to the brink of another goalscoring milestone as Inter Miami bagged their second win of the Major League Soccer season with a 2-1 victory over DC United on Saturday.
Messi, who scored twice in Miami’s Florida derby win over Orlando last week, bagged his third goal of the season with a deft chipped finish in the 27th minute at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
The Argentine superstar’s 80th goal for Miami takes his career tally to 899, leaving him just one away from reaching the 900-goal milestone.
The eight-time Ballon D’Or winner, who turns 39 in June, scored 672 goals for Barcelona earlier in his career and 32 at Paris Saint-Germain, with a further 115 international goals for Argentina.
Saturday’s win moved the reigning MLS champions up the Eastern Conference standings into third place with six points from three games.
Miami, who on Thursday were guests of President Donald Trump at a White House reception, took the lead in the 17th minute with a superb curling shot from the edge of the area by Messi’s Argentina team-mate Rodrigo De Paul.
Messi then doubled Miami’s lead 10 minutes later, latching on to a sublime through ball from Mateo Silvetti and dinking a first-time finish over the advancing DC United goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
United rallied after half-time, and were given hope when Israeli forward Tai Baribo pulled a goal back in the 75th minute.
Miami though were able to hold off United in the closing stages to seal victory.
