As expected Lionel Messi succeeded Cristiano Ronaldo as the winner of the Ballon d’Or award. The Barcelona star comfortably won the prize but he admitted his surprise at the margin of victory as he received 240 points more than Cristiano Ronaldo who finished second.

Messi was quite close to winning all 480 points  possible as he finished with a near perfect 473 points while Real Madrid’s Ronaldo got 233 points which is less than half of Messi’s total! There is no doubt the Argentinian deserved to win since he was one of the main driving forces behind Barca’s treble winning season. He led all scorers in the Champions League with nine goals and scored in the final triumph against none other than Ronaldo’s Manchester United. The Catalan club’s star also scored 23 times in la Liga and was on the score sheet six times in the Copa del Rey.

The goals scored by Messi do not tell the whole story since his contributions transcend beyond the occasions he found the back of the net to include the assists he provided his fellow Barca players with. Messi’s assists totalled 18 in all competitions. The top spots on the list were dominated by Barca players which is also not surprising considering the influence of the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta as well as current Inter striker Samuel Eto’o.

Messi mentioned to France Football he is honoured to win the award and dedicated it to his family. He also said he was delighted to become the first Argentina to win the Ballon d’Or. Given the performances of Messi the past year, it is near impossible to find any other player more deserving of the individual award. It will not be a shock if Messi repeats next year, but his chances will be hindered if his country continues to struggle  under Maradona’s leadership and fails to impress in South Africa 2010. Despite the concerns over Argentina and Maradona, who can bet against Messi repeating as the award winner?

Sevilla defender Aquivaldo Mosquera will be out for three weeks due to an ankle sprain.  In the MRIs that were done Mosquera’s absence will allow Ivica Dragutinovic to once again be a part of the nervionense  Starting XI. The Colombian international was carried off the pitch after a hard foul by Chica should have earned Espanyol midfielder his walking papers.  Sevilla ended up winning their match 2-0 at the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuan on Wednesday evening in the fourth week of the Spanish La Liga.  MRIs indicated that Mosquera suffered a second degree sprain in his right ankle but did not suffer any damage to the lateral malleolus.    The injury will force Mosquera to be out for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers when the Colombians face Paraguay and Brazil.  He will be the second player missing for the Colombians after River Plate forward Radamel Falcao García suffered a muscle tear a few weeks ago as well.    

Atlético Madrid forward will be out for approximately three after injuring his right thigh in Tuesday night’s Champions League opener against PSV Eindhoven.    Forlán injured the medial portion of his quadriceps in the 26th minute of the Colchoneros´ 3-0 win at Philips Stadion.  

The injury will see Forlán miss out on the Madrid derby as well as clashes against Sevilla, Recreativo, Barcelona, and Getafe in La Liga.  He will also be out Champions League match against Liverpool and Olympique Marseille.  Uruguay will also suffer a huge blow as he will miss out on the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in October when Uruguay cross the River Plate to play Argentina and then head to Bolivia.    

Oscar Washington Tabárez not only has to deal with the pressure that the Uruguayan media is putting on him, but he will have to play two vital games against direct rivals that are fighting for one of those direct spots to South Africa 2010.   Uruguay is currently in sixth place and depending on how they do in matchdays seven and eight they could see themselves in the driver’s seat or on the way out with Tabárez looking for employment.  What stands out the most in his call up is the fact that six players from Spain were on that list.

Uruguay will head to Colombia where they will face the only unbeaten team in the CONMEBOL qualifiers up to now.  The last time that the <em>Charrúas</em> played in Colombia, they were torched by 5-0, but that game was in the heat of Barranquilla instead of the altitude of Bogota.   They will then head back home to take part in a midweek clash against an Ecuador side that is no longer just a team that obtains their points in Quito.  They were 30 seconds away from obtaining their first-ever victory in Buenos Aires until Rodrigo Palacio’s miracle header salvaged a point for the <em>Albiceleste</em>.

GOALKEEPERS: Juan Castillo (Botafogo-BRA); Fabián Carini (Murcia-ESP), Martín Silva (Defensor Sporting).

DEFENDERS: Diego Lugano (Fenerbahce_TUR ); Diego Godín (Villarreal-ESP), Martín Cáceres (Barcelona-ESP); Jorge Fucile (Porto-POR); Bruno Silva (Ajax-NED), Carlos Valdez (Reggina- ITA), Andrés Scotti (Argentinos Juniors-ARG).

MIDFIELDERS: Diego Pérez (Mónaco-FRA); Maximiliano Pereira (Benfica-POR); Alvaro González (Boca Juniors-ARG); Walter Gargano (Napoli-ITA); Sebastián Eguren (Villarreal-ESP); Cristian Rodríguez (Porto-POR); Ignacio González (Valencia-ESP), Robert Flores (River Plate), Jorge Rodríguez (River Plate).

FORWARDS: Diego Forlán (Atlético Madrid-ESP); Luis Suárez (Ajax-NED); Sebastián Abreu (Beitar Jerusalem-ISR); Vicente Sánchez (Schalke 04-GER), Carlos Bueno (Peñarol).

Daniel ¨Cata¨ Díaz got the call from coach Alfio Basile as a replacement for Inter defender Nicolás Burdisso.  Burdisso suffered a calf injury and will be out of action for approximately 45 days. The Getafe defender  will

This injury ocurred in this weeks Italian Super cup final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.  The injury  excerbates the crisis for Jose Mourinho´s side as Burdisso as well as Iván Córdoba, Marco Materazzi, Walter Samuel,  and Cristian Chivu will be out of action from extended periods of time.

In addition to Díaz, Newcastle´s Jonás Gutiérrez, and Napoli´s Germán Denis will be part of Alfio Basile 23-man squad that will take on Paraguay and Peru.