Messi still the man to beat for top award

THIS WEEK the Fifa Ballon D’Or (‘‘Golden Ball’’) will be awarded to the best player in the world of 2012. The finalists are Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi, each of whom can lay a strong claim to the title.

Ronaldo led Real Madrid to victory in La Liga, breaking Barcelona’s stranglehold on the title, Iniesta starred for Spain in their Euro 2012 success, being named best player of both the final and the tournament, and Messi set, among other records, the record of an incredible 91 goals in the year.

Awards like these tend to go to players of the most successful teams, the theory being that ‘‘you can’t give it to Joe Bloggs, his team didn’t win anything’’. For this reason, Ronaldo and Iniesta could end Messi’s three-year streak to take the award.

However, in team sport, it’s illogical to assume that the best player always plays for the best team. And anyone who kept their eyes open in 2012 would have seen that the best player, by the length of the Nou Camp stadium, was the magical Messi.

There’s a common theory that Messi scores so many goals only because the Spanish league is relatively weak. According to the theory, Messi wouldn’t score so easily in England’s Premier League.

Inconsistent with the theory is the fact that Messi scores against the best teams put in front of him. He banged in three against Brazil, including a stunner, and he also broke the record for most goals in the European Champions League.

Last year featured its share of memorable quotes. Here are the three finalists in the unofficial SST Football Quote of the Year contest.

‘‘Like me or not, I am the only one who has won the world’s three most important leagues. So maybe instead of calling me ‘The Special One’, people should start calling me ‘The Only One’.’’ – Jose Mourinho.

‘‘If I had not gone out so much (partying), I would have scored 2000 goals. But 1000 is still good, right?’’ – Romario.

‘‘Neymar is the kind of guy who could perform at the Bolshoi Theatre if he were a ballet dancer or could win an Oscar if he were an actor. I want Neymar to stay until he is 80 years old. I will even offer his son a contract. Barce-

If I had not gone out so much (partying), I would have scored 2000 goals. But 1000 is still good, right? Romario

lona’s interest? They can go and harvest potatoes in Catalonia.’’ – Luis Alvaro Ribeiro, Santos president (this before Santos accepted £10 million from Barcelona as a down payment on Neymar after the World Cup).

Wellington Phoenix striker Benjamin Totori needed a stormer last night to get out of the bind he’s in. Coach Ricki Herbert has him labelled as a super sub, a player who, because of his pace and trickery, is good for bringing on late in the game against tiring defenders. So what’s Totori to do? Play well and confirm Herbert’s theory? Or not play well, disprove the theory, and risk slipping even further off the radar?

Totori is no doubt wondering how it is that fast, tricky players around the world get a starting position in their teams every week. Their coaches presumably feel that pace and dribbling skills are useful commodities to have at any time in a match. If Totori can’t get in the first XI, it’s not because he’s fast and tricky.

But due to Paul Ifill’s injury and Tyler Boyd’s suspension, Totori was named to start last night against Melbourne Victory. He needed a good 90 minutes to work his way up the pecking order.