Royal Sportive Events

04/04/2013

MotoGp 2013 Line-Up... Are you ready???

08/01/2013

Congratulations Messi to make history and let us enjoy!

Leo Messi has been awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year for the fourth year in a row. To celebrate the world's greatest player, we've teamed up with ill...

07/01/2013

Amazing documentary on FC Barcelona in the North American channel CBS. Take a look!

With stars like Lionel Messi and a youth academy bringing up the next generation of athletes, is Barcelona becoming the world's best soccer team? Bob Simon reports.

07/01/2013

Before taking a one-year sabbatical from the game, the Catalan coach did not enjoy the same success in 2012 as he had done in previous years, although he did manage to add the Copa del Rey to his glittering array of trophies and left an indelible mark on Barcelona during his four-year stint at the helm. It could also be said that his players failed to enjoy the run of the ball in the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea. He won 13 trophies in total, three more than Johan Cruyff.

His career
Those who have followed Guardiola’s career closely would argue that he has always had the mindset of a leader. By installing the 20-year-old midfielder in his starting XI back in 1991, Johan Cruyff was among the first to pick up on his will to win, vision and charisma.

Captain of the Blaugrana ‘dream team’ of the 1990s, the Spaniard lifted almost every available trophy in 11 seasons as a player at Camp Nou, making 374 appearances for the side along the way. Since taking the coaching reins, Guardiola has proved himself to be a worthy heir to his mentor, club legend Carles Rexach.

Moving to the bench seemed like the obvious next career move for Guardiola and, six months after retiring from playing, he was duly appointed coach of Barcelona’s reserve side in June 2007. There he played a major part in the development of players such as Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi, who would all go on to become major stars at the club.

On 8 May 2008, he replaced Frank Rijkaard at the helm of the Catalan giants’ senior side. Success would follow quickly, and in 2009 Guardiola led his charges to a historic six trophies within the same calendar year.

Cultured, dignified and respectful to opponents, he is also known as a fearsome disciplinarian. He values effort, ambition and hard work, and has little time for individuals not prepared to give their all for the team. In a matter of months, he won over fans and media alike with a breathless brand of football founded on impeccable ball skills, speed, teamwork and enjoyment of the game.

No Barcelona coach has won as many trophies in as little time as Pep Guardiola. Still only 41, the former cultured midfielder steered his hometown club to 13 titles during his tenure, while making them the benchmark by which all other teams are measured.

A consummate strategist and motivator, Guardiola worked his magic again in 2011 as Barça surged to a La Liga and UEFA Champions League double, seeing off rivals of the calibre of Real Madrid and Manchester United with style and panache, and prompting Sir Alex Ferguson to declare them the best team he has ever seen.

Though Guardiola’s charges lost out to Los Merengues in a gripping Copa del Rey final that year, they went on to claim the Spanish and European Super Cup titles, the prelude to what was his second successful FIFA Club World Cup campaign in December.

07/01/2013

Vicente DEL BOSQUE

Admittedly Vicente Del Bosque has an exceptionally talented generation of players to choose from, which must make his job slightly less onerous, but Spain’s coach had already proved his worth while in charge of Real Madrid, and he has needed to use all his tact and authority to make sure that no Real/Barcelona factions are formed in the national side’s dressing room. And although La Roja were even accused of playing a tad cautiously at UEFA EURO 2012, their luminous performance in the final against Italy won over all the doubters. With two UEFA Champions League titles, a FIFA World Cup™ and now a EURO under his belt, Del Bosque’s record is second to none.

His career
As a player Del Bosque won five Spanish league titles and four Spanish cups with Real Madrid, and was capped 18 times by his country, forming part of the Spain squad that contested the 1980 European Championships in Italy. His coaching career began with a six-year spell with Real Madrid’s reserve teams, during which time he occasionally stepped up as a caretaker first-team coach before being handed the reins on a permanent basis a few months into the 1999/2000 season.

He brought about one of their most successful periods in recent memory. In the space of four years at the club he managed to claim two UEFA Champions Leagues and two La Liga titles, winning one each season, to fully reassert their the club's European dominance that had somewhat dwindled since the 50's and 60's.

Taking charge and overseeing the development of the Galacticos side at the turn of the millennium, his role of playing conductor to a legion of the world's biggest stars was a tough one, but with the talent at his disposal also eternally enviable.

He was sacked in 2003 however, despite going out on an high with a league title win, and less an unsuccessful spell at Besiktas remained out of the limelight before taking charge of the blossoming Spain side who had just triumphed at UEFA EURO 2008.

The transition proved so seamless that La Roja did not drop a single point in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. The only blemish in their preparations for the tournament came in a shock 2-0 semi-final defeat to USA at the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009, a result they would more than make up for 12 months later.

Defeat in their opening game game against Switzerland was their only blemish in the entire campaign, putting out the likes of Portugal and Germany, which climaxed with Andres Iniesta's extra-time goal against the Netherlands sealing the nation's first ever FIFA World Cup title.

Having been victorious, del Bosque continued to demand the very highest standards from his Spain side, which sealed its place at UEFA EURO 2012 after winning all of their matches for the second qualification campaign in a row. In the meantime the unruffled coach has sought to safeguard La Roja’s future by bedding down new players, while calmly preventing the tensions generated by Real Madrid and Barcelona’s fractious rivalry from affecting relations in his squad.

A 2-1 friendly defeat by Italy was the only blemish in 2011 in which del Bosque’s side went unbeaten in their official games, ending their run to Ukraine and Poland with a perfect record of eight wins in as many games, scoring 26 goals and conceding just six.

07/01/2013

José MOURINHO

The Portuguese coach’s second season at Real Madrid saw his team crowned Spanish league champions for the first time since 2008. The figures speak for themselves: 100 points won, 121 goals scored and a nine-point margin over Barça. Mourinho thus added to his extraordinary list of achievements, having also won league titles in every other country in which he has managed (Portugal, England and Italy). Nevertheless, he failed to achieve his other objective of winning the UEFA Champions League for Real Madrid for the first time in a decade, with Real going out in the semi-finals on penalties to Bayern.

His career
Mourinho is a contentious figure about whom it is hard to remain indifferent. Ever since his Porto side’s surprise victory in the 2004 UEFA Champions League final, his stock in the coaching world has continued to rise. Son of a Portuguese international goalkeeper, Mourinho enjoyed a modest playing career from 1980 to 1987, before deciding to try his hand at the tactical side of the game.

Starting out as an interpreter at Barcelona, he gradually grew into the role of assistant coach, first alongside Bobby Robson and then Louis van Gaal. When he took charge of Porto in 2002, he had less than two years’ experience as a first-team coach in Portuguese football to his name.

Noted for his creative, innovative approach and for his refusal to adopt one single system, Mourinho gave fans of Os Dragões a taste of things to come in his first full season, impressively leading his charges to victory in the 2003 UEFA Cup.

But it was Porto’s Champions League win the following year that truly made the football world sit up and take notice. No sooner had he lifted the trophy, however, than Chelsea came calling. His controversial declarations there were invariably lapped up by the English press, but in taking the spotlight in such a way, Mourinho ensured that his players were largely spared from criticism.

After securing two league titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups in England, the Setubal native packed his bags for Italy in 2008, where he would further add to his reputation by leading a talented Inter Milan squad to the Italian title in 2009. But the best was yet to come.

During the 2009/10 season, his second in the Lombard capital, I Nerazzurri completed a historic treble, topping Serie A once again, as well as winning the Italian Cup and, most notably, the Champions League. The Portuguese supremo became the first man to achieve such a feat with an Italian club and only the third to win Europe’s premier trophy with two different teams.

These successes were not sufficient to keep an ambitious Mourinho in Milan, however. At the end of May 2010, he took over at Real Madrid, setting himself the goal of winning the championship in a fourth different country.

The inaugural winner of the FIFA Men’s Football Coach of the Year award, Jose Mourinho is in the running yet again after bringing his impressive credentials to bear in his first two seasons in the Real Madrid hotseat.

In fashioning a formidable unit, the charismatic and controversial Portuguese oversaw the club’s first Copa del Rey triumph in 18 years and pushed a virtually unbeatable Barcelona all the way in the league, while also reaching the last four of the Champions League.

Los Blancos were even more impressive form last campaign though, executing Mourinho’s meticulous strategies to perfection in a string of ruthless and stylish performances to finally dethrone Barcelona in La Liga and reach the Champions League semi-finals once again.

07/01/2013

Lionel MESSI
(24/06/1987)

Even though Barcelona did not lift a major trophy in 2012 – the Copa del Rey aside – Lionel Messi continued to go from strength to strength, amassing goals and records along the way. His achievements in 2012 included becoming Barça’s all-time leading goalscorer in official matches when he scored his 233rd goal on 20 March, breaking the record for the number of UEFA Champions League goals in a single season (14) and, with his 82 goals in all competitions, he edges ever closer to breaking the record held by the legendary Gerd Muller (85 goals). The three-time Ballon d’Or winner was no less impressive for Argentina either, helping them dominate the South American FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

His career
The diminutive Messi has come an awful long way since making his first-team debut for Barça in 2004. In amassing a glittering array of team honours and individual accolades since then, the Argentinian genius has often been compared with his illustrious compatriot Diego Maradona, and has proved a worthy bearer of the famous Albiceleste No10 jersey.

The most elusive of dribblers, Messi has a devastatingly quick turn of pace and a sixth sense when it comes to scoring goals. The winner of numerous titles already with his club, all that is missing on his extensive roll of honour is a FIFA World Cup™ winner's medal.

In 2011 he was promoted to the captaincy of his national side, with whom he ended a scoring drought of two years and seven months in official matches, while the Argentinian superstar reeled off the trophies again with Barcelona. The Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish League, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Champions League all came Barça’s way last year, with Messi ending the continent’s premier club competition as the leading scorer for the third season running.

Messi also picked up the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, ahead of team-mate Xavi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

07/01/2013

Andres INIESTA
(11/05/1984)

Still a spectacular and impressive figure in the Barcelona midfield, and often standing head and shoulders above the rest, Andrés Iniesta took centre stage for Spain once again in June, winning his second European Championship title and being named as the best player, not only of the final, but also of the entire tournament. As if that were not enough, he recently received the UEFA Best Player in Europe award, ahead of Messi and Ronaldo, from UEFA President Michel Platini.

His career
“I don’t play the game to be number one,” Andres Iniesta once said, “I play to be happy.” So adept is the Barcelona and Spain midfielder with the ball at his feet, however, that it is only natural his name should feature high on the shortlist for any individual award.

Spotted by Blaugrana club scouts at a youth tournament at the age of 12, within months Iniesta had made the move to the Catalan giants’ famed youth set-up. One of a long line of gifted midfielders to have come off the Culé production line, by the age of 18 the youngster had broken into the club’s first team, where his telepathic understanding with fellow Can Barça graduate Xavi has continued to grow and flourish. Indeed, the duo’s on-the-pitch chemistry has been one of the key ingredients of the phenomenal success achieved by both Barcelona and Spain in recent years.

The diminutive wizard is still warmly applauded wherever he goes in Spain, national appreciation for his FIFA World Cup™-winning goal at South Africa 2010 remaining as high as ever. While others may be bigger, faster and stronger than Iniesta, his strengths have always come from a combination of his delightful creativity and his innate understanding of how a game ebbs and flows.

Former Argentina captain Roman Riquelme, an adept reader of the game himself, said last year of the Spaniard: "The one who plays this game the best is Iniesta: he knows exactly when to go forward and when to drop back. He picks the right moment to do everything: when to dribble, when to speed things up and when to slow things down. And I think that’s the only thing that can’t be taught or bought."

With the mix of cognitive brilliance, quick feet and cutting edge, it's no wonder that Iniesta challenges for supremacy in every team, game and tournament he is involved in, and consistently provides the inspiration that simultaneously leads sides to victory and leads supporters rise to their feet to applaud his efforts.

07/01/2013

Cristiano RONALDO
(05/02/1985)

2012 was yet another glorious year for the irrepressible Cristiano Ronaldo. With Portugal, he scored twice against the Netherlands and another against the Czech Republic to propel his side to the semi-finals of EURO 2012, while with Real Madrid, he won La Liga – scoring 46 goals along the way – and played a key role in their run to the Champions League semi-finals, where he scored twice in the second leg against Bayern Munich. Winner of the Ballon d’Or in 2008, he has again started this season as he means to go on, scoring the winner against Manchester City in the Champions League before claiming a hat-trick against Ajax. In domestic action, he also scored twice against Barcelona to become the first man to score at least one goal in six consecutive clásicos.

His career
There is something almost balletic about Ronaldo’s play that transforms mere possession of the ball into a footballing pas-de-deux. Much as he is restless whilst others enjoy the limelight, the graceful Ronaldo comes to life with the ball at his feet, pirouetting away from opposing defenders with poise, and gliding across the stage with an uncommon elegance.

From his early days with local club Andorinha, where his father was kit man, it was clear that the young Cristiano was destined for greatness. After a short stint with Nacional, he left Madeira to follow his dream and, as it has turned out, to become one of the greatest players in the world.

Sporting’s fans were the first to bear witness to the young genius. He made his first team debut at the age of 17, scoring twice in the process. As it turned out, he would only wear the famous green-and-white hoops for one complete season; at the start of 2003/04, English giants Manchester United came to the Portuguese capital to play Sporting in a friendly to mark the opening of the new Jose Alvalade Stadium. It was love at first sight and Sir Alex Ferguson swooped to bring the youngster to Old Trafford.

With the world at his feet, Cristiano Ronaldo blazed a trail through English football on his way to becoming a global superstar. Adulation and awards followed in equal measure: he was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 2008, and he managed to fill the Santiago Bernabeu single-handedly as Real Madrid’s fans turned out in force to welcome their latest acquisition in 2009.

Ronaldo has never been deterred by seemingly impossible objectives and long-standing records. Take Ferenc Puskas’s single-season haul of 47 goals in all competitions for Real Madrid in 1959/60, for example. The Portuguese smashed that club record in 2010/11, hitting the back of the net approximately every 70 minutes to chalk up 53 goals in all, 40 of them in the league, at the point another all-time high.

Despite amassing a host of team and personal accolades, among them the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2008, and the Puskas Award the following year, the Portugal and Real Madrid star shows no signs of letting up in his continuing quest for excellence.

07/01/2013

FIFA Ballon d'Or countdown begins... live like never before... Today we are going to know ... 20:00 pm in Zurich!

In many places around the world the beginning of January is a time of giving, not least Zurich, where the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala will take centre stage on Monday 7 January.

And like the Three Kings Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior, FIFA.com will be bearing some wonderful gifts for the big occasion.

Football fans around the globe are eagerly waiting to see if it will be Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta or Lionel Messi stepping up to collect the 2012 FIFA Ballon d’Or a little before 20:00 CET on Monday, though there will be plenty to keep you entertained in the build-up to that crowning moment, all of it broadcast live at FIFA.com.

Once again this year, the press conferences given by the FIFA Ballon d’Or nominees will be going out live on the site, with the women online at 14:00 CET and the men an hour later. This time, however, we will also be offering a simultaneous live blog complete with your comments, tweets and retweets from stars around the world, as well as photos, videos, links and special polls.

Running from 14:00 to 20:30 CET approximately, the blog will tell you everything you need to know about the 2012 FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala.

And that’s not all. For the very first time FIFA.com will this year be out and about on the red carpet before the ceremony gets under way, broadcasting live from 17:00 CET and bringing you interviews with the evening’s glittering array of guests, from the nominees themselves to stars of yesteryear and former Ballon d’Or winners. Rest assured, FIFA.com has a surprise or two up its sleeve for you.

The high point of the evening, the Gala itself, will go out live from 18:30 CET right through to its conclusion at around 20:00, during which time you will find out who has made off with the FIFA Ballon d’Or for 2012.

The most prestigious awards in soccer - for best goal, best players and coaches - are handed out on 7 January in Zurich at the FIFA Ballon d'Or. Watch it LIV...

07/01/2013

Book early - spaces are limited for our 2014 World Cup Brazil packages!

The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014 and will be conducted in 12 Brazilian cities.

18/12/2012

Brazilians selected the name “Fuleco” for the armadillo mascot for the 2014 World Cup after a three-month vote derided by fans as undemocratic.

FIFA said Sunday more than 1.7 million people in Brazil took part in the vote to select the name. The other choices were Zuzeco and Amijubi.

Polls across the country had shown the vast majority of Brazilians were not pleased with the names picked for public voting, and critics said organizers should have allowed fans to choose other names. There was even an online petition demanding a more democratic approach in which the public could make suggestions.

Fuleco comes from the Portuguese words “futebol” (football) and “ecologia” (ecology), and FIFA said it “seamlessly represents the way in which the FIFA World Cup can combine the two to encourage people to behave in an environmentally friendly way.”

Soccer’s governing body said Fuleco received 48 per cent of the vote, while 31 per cent went for Zuzeco and 21 per cent for Amijubi.

Amijubi comes from the words “amizade” (friendship) and “jubilo” (joy), while Zuzeco comes from “azul” (blue) and “ecologia” (ecology).

FIFA said the three options were chosen by a “high-profile judging committee” that included former Brazil player Bebeto and Brazilian celebrities and politicians. Organizers said it wouldn’t have been feasible to allow fans to send in suggestions because the names needed to fulfill several legal requirements involving trademarks and other rights.

FIFA said studies showed that the top terms used by the public to describe Fuleco included “Brazilian,” `’nature,” `’friendly” and “passion for football.”

“This clearly shows that Brazilians already recognize the significance of the armadillo as an important ambassador for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and his role in inspiring fans all over the world with his passion for the sport and his country,” FIFA said in a statement.

The armadillo, which is in danger of extinction, has three distinctive bands on its shell and is found in northeast Brazil. It was introduced as the mascot in September.

The armadillo rolls up into the shape of a ball when threatened. The mascot carries the colors of the Brazilian flag – the armadillo is yellow, with green shorts and a blue shell and tail. It is dressed in a white shirt with the words “Brazil 2014” written on it.

The mascot of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was a leopard called Zakumi. The 2006 tournament in Germany featured a lion called Goleo.