• Their Matchday 2 reverse had left the Italian giants lagging in Group C, and their prospects looked even worse when Raúl González gave Madrid a 19th-minute lead at the Santiago Bernabéu. However, two goals in quick succession from Andrea Pirlo (62) and Pato (66) turned the match around. Substitute Royston Drenthe looked to have earned Madrid a point, yet Pato volleyed a winner with two minutes remaining to leave Milan and Madrid level on six points at the top of the table.

Previous meetings
• The teams’ first competitive contest was a semi-final encounter in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup debut season of 1955/56. Madrid edged that tie 5-4 on aggregate on their way to the first of five successive crowns.
• Milan have won all five home games against Madrid and have only conceded one goal. That came in their first meeting, the second leg of the semi-final 53 years ago which they won 2-1.
• Madrid’s last visit to Milan was in November 2002, a 1-0 defeat in the second group stage. They have since made six visits to Italy, losing on four occasions. Their only victory in that period came in December 2004 when they won 3-0 at AS Roma.

Match background
• Milan’s defeat by Zürich means they have lost two in a row in the UEFA Champions League at San Siro. Their previous home game resulted in a 2-0 loss to Arsenal FC in the 2007/08 first knockout round.
• This is the fourth time in three seasons that Los Merengues have been drawn against Italian opponents and they have lost the last five matches. They had won just one of the previous eight meetings.
• After their Matchday 1 victory at Zürich, Madrid are looking to make it successive away wins in the competition. Last season they won two away group games, at FC BATE Borisov and FC Zenit St. Petersburg, but lost at Juventus.

Team ties
• Several players are facing their former team. Kaká spent six seasons at Milan before his summer move to the Santiago Bernabéu while Clarence Seedorf won this trophy with Madrid in 1998. Klaas Jan Huntelaar had a seven-month spell with Madrid from December 2008.
• Xabi Alonso scored at the second attempt from the penalty spot for Liverpool FC against Milan to make it 3-3 in the 2005 final in Istanbul.
• During the penalty shoot-out in that same game, Jerzy Dudek saved from Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko to help Liverpool earn the continental crown for the fifth time.
• While at Juventus, Filippo Inzaghi lost the 1998 final to Madrid in Amsterdam but scored both Milan goals in their 2-1 victory against Liverpool in the 2007 showpiece in Athens. Alonso and substitute Álvaro Arbeloa were in the opposing side that day with Dudek on the bench.
• Ronaldinho spent five years with Madrid’s arch-rivals FC Barcelona, winning the UEFA Champions League in 2006.
• Gianluca Zambrotta spent two years at Barça between 2006 and 2008, while Christian Abbiati spent 2007/08 on loan with Club Atlético de Madrid.
• Leonardo was on the bench when Milan visited Madrid in the 2002/03 second group stage.
• Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Manchester United FC in their 2006/07 semi-final first leg 3-2 win against Milan, before the Italian side won the return 3-0. He and Ruud van Nistelrooy also played for United against Milan in the first knockout round in 2004/05, which the Rossoneri won 2-0 on aggregate.
• Mathieu Flamini played for Arsenal FC in both legs of the 2005/06 first knockout round tie with Madrid and celebrated a 1-0 aggregate triumph.
• At UEFA EURO 2008™ a Spain team containing Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos defeated Italy, featuring Zambrotta and Massimo Ambrosini, on penalties in the quarter-finals. Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso were both suspended for the game.
• Italy also fielded Christian Panucci in that defeat. Panucci was a UEFA Champions League winner with Milan in 1994 and Madrid four years later. Fernando Redondo also featured for both teams and like Clarence Seedorf and Panucci, was crowned European champion with each.
• Fabio Capello had separate spells as coach of Milan and Madrid. The Italian led the Serie A side between 1991 and 1996 as well as in the 1997/98 campaign. He was in charge at the Santiago Bernabéu in 1996/97 and again in 2006/07.
• David Beckham spent four seasons with Madrid between 2003 and 2007 and played on loan for Milan last year.
• Brazilian internationals Thiago Silva (Milan) and Marcelo (Madrid) both joined their teams from Fluminense.

At the beginning of December, FIFA will announce the names of the five men and five women who have received the most votes and the winners will be revealed at the 19th FIFA World Player Gala at the Zurich Kongresshaus on 21 December 2009.

It should be noted that coaches and captains may not vote for players from the national team they coach or play for.

The lists of 23 male and ten female candidates for these prestigious awards have been drawn up by football experts from the Football Committee and the Committee for Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA World Player 2009;

Michael Ballack (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Diego (Brazil), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Michael Essien (Ghana), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Steven Gerrard (England), Thierry Henry (France), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Kaká (Brazil), Frank Lampard (England), Luis Fabiano (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Carles Puyol (Spain), Franck Ribéry (France), Wayne Rooney (England), John Terry (England), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).

The following ten women (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA Women’s World Player 2009;

Nadine Angerer (Germany), Sonia Bompastor (France), Cristiane (Brazil), Inka Grings (Germany), Mana Iwabuchi (Japan), Simone Laudehr (Germany), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany), Kelly Smith (England) and Abby Wambach (USA).

Smisek and Korbel were appointed during the meeting of the board of trustees of the Organising Committee at the headquarters of the German Football Association (DFB). Jones also named Rolf Hocke, chairman of the Hessen Football Association and DFB vice-president, as head of the OC venue office in Frankfurt.

“Tradition and top international performance are what make Frankfurt a veritable trademark for women’s football and for the Women’s World Cup 2011,” said Jones. “Sandra Smisek and Karl-Heinz Korbel give our team two more famous names who have done a great deal for the development of football in Frankfurt thanks to their commitment and personalities. Both of them will play a crucial role in helping to further stoke the anticipation in Frankfurt ahead of the Women’s World Cup.”

Born on 3 July 1977 in Frankfurt, Sandra Smisek was capped 133 times for her country, scoring 34 goals in the process. Her crowning glory on the international stage was when she helped Germany win the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2003 and 2007, while she also won the UEFA Women’s EURO in 1997, 2001 and 2005. The 1. FFC Frankfurt striker retired from the international game on 1 October 2008.

“I am incredibly proud to have been given the task of acting as an ambassador for Frankfurt,” said Smisek. “The success of 1. FFC Frankfurt has been a major factors behind our city becoming one of the most important centres for women’s football. The final of the Women’s World Cup will also be held in Frankfurt, and I am really looking forward to taking part in an event of that magnitude.”

Karl-Heinz Korbel was born on 1 December 1954 in Dossenheim (Baden-Wurttemberg) and holds the record for appearances in the Bundesliga, having played no fewer than 602 times for Eintracht Frankfurt between 1972 and 1991. During his long and storied career, Korbel won the UEFA Cup in 1980 as well as the German Cup in 1974, 1975, 1981 and 1988. “Charly”, as he was affectionately known, played six times for his country and is currently head of the Eintracht football academy.

“The city and the region will be involved in the World Cup and this gives us another incredible opportunity to position Frankfurt as one of the major sporting cities in the world,” Korbel added. “I’m sure Frankfurt will come across as an open and welcoming city in 2011.”

A number of ambassadors have already been appointed for other cities, namely Franziska van Almsick and Hansi Flick for Sinsheim, Dunja Hayali and Rainer Bonhof for Monchengladbach, Shary Reeves and Dariusz Wosz for Bochum, Britta Carlson and Roy Prager for Wolfsburg and Kerstin Stegemann and Oliver Welke for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup venue of Bielefeld.

“Without volunteers, a major event like a FIFA Women’s World Cup would be inconceivable. The 2006 volunteer movement was fantastic, and I’m sure plenty of people from a variety of backgrounds will once again join and make a valuable contribution to the successful running of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011. The volunteers are the ones in direct contact with our guests, thus making them part of the wonderful and joyful family atmosphere at a Women’s World Cup. They are “unpaid, but priceless”,” said Steffi Jones.

A total of 4,000 volunteers, with approximately 400 in each of the nine venues, will be required to make sure that the first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany passes off without a hitch. Volunteers can support the Organising Committee in 12 different departments: Accreditation, Visitor Services, Hospitality, IT and Telecommunication, Logistics, Marketing, Media and Communications, VIP Services, Ticketing, Transportation and Traffic, Tournament and Match Organisation and Volunteer Management.

Many famous names are lending their weight to the project, including OC President Steffi Jones and actor Joachim “Blacky” Fuchsberger, also a member of the board of trustees of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011. Both will be the patrons of the programme. “It’s great the extent to which people from all sorts of backgrounds join forces through the volunteers programme to make a concrete contribution to this big sports event. It’s particularly nice to realise that all kind of people, young and old, priests and university professors, housewives and mothers, trainees and CEOs, can play their part. I’m especially looking forward to the international applicants. The volunteers programme underlines the fact that the World Cup is the result of teamwork”, commented Fuchsberger.

Those interested in taking part can find the application form on the official web site www.FIFA.com/Germany2011. Applicants must be 18 years old and speak German as well as having a basic knowledge of English.

During the first phase the OC will also be looking for volunteers for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, being held from 13 July – 1 August 2010 in Augsburg, Bielefeld, Bochum and Dresden.

Messrs Schmitt and Blatter, both IOC members, concurred on the urgency to recognise and respect the specific characteristics of sport in Europe in line with Article 165 of the Lisbon Treaty and on the basis of the document presented in 2008 to the European authorities by the Olympic and Sport Movement under the title of ‘Position of the Olympic and Sports Movement on the Specificity and Autonomy of Sport’.

Moreover, Mr Schmitt, who fully supports the FIFA-proposed 6+5 rule, accepted the role of ‘6+5 ambassador’ to the European Parliament in order to promote and defend this rule intended to protect national teams, the training of young players, training clubs as well as the national identity of football clubs.

Messrs Blatter and Schmitt defined an action plan to be implemented in coordination with the programme of the next three rotating presidencies of the European Union – Spain and Belgium in 2010, and Hungary during the first semester of 2011.

At the conference, also attended by IOC Executive Board member and IIHF President René Fasel, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter made the following suggestions: the number ‘6′ – which corresponds to the minimum number of players that a club must select at the start of a match in a club competition who must be eligible to play for the national team of the association in which the club plays – would include players, irrespective of their nationality, who have been registered for clubs belonging to the association in which the club plays on a continuous basis since the age of 12 or earlier. It would also include players, irrespective of their nationality, who have played professional football for clubs belonging to the association in which the club plays on a continuous basis for five years since the age of 18.

Prime Minister of Hungary Gordon Bajnai: “I do support the specificity and the autonomy of sport. I and the Hungarian government wish to congratulate FIFA on its initiatives towards the protection of national teams.”

European Parliament Vice-President Pál Schmitt: “I look forward to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, which represents historic recognition for sport and its specific nature and autonomy. It is my personal conviction that sport is part of national identity and culture, and the ‘6+5′ rule is a symbol for all team sports and gives an opportunity to young talents to take part in the highest level of competition. I expect that besides football, other team sports will also support this initiative since local stars in the line-up make sport more popular and attractive, therefore it draws young people back to the grounds.”

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter: “I’m particularly pleased that such a high-level and diversified group of participants at the conference called for a recognition of the specificity and the autonomy of sport. We are not alone in sharing these views, which speak for themselves. The ‘6+5′ rule which FIFA defends is nothing but a fair rule to maintain the integrity, the balance and the uncertainty of competitions. These values are crucial to football.”

The FIFA Puskás Award, created in honour and in memory of Ferenc Puskás, the captain and star of the Hungarian national team during the 1950s, will be inaugurated in December during the 2009 FIFA World Player Gala and presented to the player – man or woman – who has scored the “most beautiful goal” during the past year.

“It is important to preserve the memory of those footballing greats who have left their mark on our history. Ferenc Puskás was not only a player with immense talent who won many honours, but also a remarkable man. FIFA is therefore delighted to pay tribute to him by dedicating this award to his memory,” said the FIFA President during the inauguration ceremony.

Mrs Puskás added: “It is truly an indescribable honour that FIFA, which in the area of our youth is already one of the world’s most prestigious organisations, names such an important award after Ferenc Puskás. I thank you in the name of ‘Öcsi’ and on behalf of all those who admired Ferenc Puskás’ ability and personality and who appreciated and respected my husband around the whole world. In particular I would like to welcome here our old friend, Mr Sepp Blatter, who has done so much to create this award. I am very grateful to the Puskás Academy and the Hungarian Football Association, which assisted in the creation of the Puskás Award. I trust that the men and women who will win the FIFA Puskás Award in the future will be appreciative and that football supporters will also be proud of them.”

The winner of the FIFA Puskás Award will be selected via FIFA.com in the last two weeks of November. Videos of the ten most beautiful goals of the year, as chosen by FIFA’s Football Committee, will be posted on the website and the final decision on the winner will be the result of an online poll.

The name of the player who has scored the “most beautiful goal of the year” will be announced at the FIFA World Player Gala on 21 December 2009. The player in question will receive the FIFA Puskás Award trophy engraved with his or her name.

The criteria for selecting the goal of the year are as follows:

1. It should be a beautiful goal (subjective – the spread of goals should include long-range shots, team goals, overhead kicks, etc.).

2. The importance of the match should be taken into account (objective – limited to “A” international teams, confederation championships and national top-division club matches: the more important the goal, the better).

3. The goal should not be the result of luck or mistakes by the other team.

4. The goal should support fair play, i.e. the player should not have behaved badly in the game or have been charged with doping, for example.

5. Only goals scored from July 2008 to July 2009 will be considered.

Previous meetings
• High stakes tend to be involved whenever these teams cross paths. Their first competitive meeting was a semi-final encounter in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup debut season of 1955/56. Madrid edged that tie 5-4 on aggregate on their way to the first of five successive crowns.
• Remarkably, the designated home team has come out on top in nine of the eleven fixtures that have been played over the years, the sole exceptions being the 1988/89 European Cup semi-final first leg in the Spanish capital, which finished 1-1, and the 1957/58 showpiece in Brussels, won 3-2 by Madrid.
• Their most recent games came during the second group stage in 2002/03, Milan triumphing 1-0 at home before Madrid prevailed 3-1 in the return. Raúl González scored twice and Guti, a second-half substitute, added a third in the latter match.

Match background
• Madrid have been drawn against Italian opponents three times in this competition over the past two seasons, winning once, drawing once and losing the last four.
• Before their 3-0 victory over Olympique de Marseille last time out, Los Merengues had lost two of their previous three UEFA Champions League home matches. They went down 2-0 to Juventus in last season’s group stage and 1-0 to Liverpool FC in the first knockout round first leg en route to a 5-0 aggregate defeat.
• Before their victory at Marseille on Matchday 1 Milan had won only three of their last ten away fixtures, losing three and drawing four.

Team ties
• Several players are facing former teams. Kaká spent six seasons at Milan before his summer move to the Santiago Bernabéu and Clarence Seedorf won this trophy with Madrid in 1998. It will be a quick return to the Spanish capital for Klaas Jan Huntelaar, who had a seven-month spell with Los Merengues from December 2008.
• Xabi Alonso scored at the second attempt from the penalty spot for Liverpool FC against Milan to make it 3-3 in the 2005 final in Istanbul.
• During the penalty shoot-out in that same final, Jerzy Dudek saved from Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko to help Liverpool earn the continental crown for the fifth time.
• Filippo Inzaghi, playing for Juventus, lost the 1998 final to Madrid in Amsterdam but scored both Milan goals in their 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the 2007 showpiece in Athens. On the opposite side that day was Alonso, while Álvaro Arbeloa came on as a substitute and Dudek was on the bench.
• Ronaldinho spent five years with FC Barcelona, winning the UEFA Champions League in 2006. In November 2005, Ronaldinho scored twice as Barcelona defeated Madrid 3-0 away and received a standing ovation from the Madrid fans.
• Gianluca Zambrotta spent two years at Barça between 2006 and 2008, while Christian Abbiati spent 2007/08 on loan with Club Atlético de Madrid.
• Leonardo was on the bench when Milan visited Madrid in the 2002/03 second group-match stage.
• Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Manchester United FC in their 2006/07 semi-final first leg 3-2 win against Milan, before the Italian side won the return 3-0. He and Ruud van Nistelrooy also played for United against Milan in the first knockout round in 2004/05, which the Rossoneri won 2-0 on aggregate.
• Mathieu Flamini played for Arsenal FC in a 1-0 triumph at Madrid in the 2005/06 first knockout round.

On Wednesday, October 21, Fox Sports en Espanol will showcase a live doubleheader starting with CSKA Moscow vs. Manchester United followed by the exciting match-up between Real Madrid and AC Milan, all beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Comprehensive coverage of every UEFA Champions League Group Stage match is available to U.S. viewers for the first time ever, thanks to a unique content-sharing agreement between Fox Soccer Channel, FSN, Fox Sports en Espanol, Setanta Sports and DirecTV. For a complete telecast schedule visit www.championsenfox.com, where links to live online video streaming of all UEFA Champions League contests are also accessible. Available on a subscription basis for $14.95 per month or $99.95 for a season pass, matches can also be purchased individually for $9.95 each.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 20
FC Barcelona (ESP) v FC Rubin Kazan (RUS) 02:30 ET/11:30am PT

Wednesday, October 21
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS) v Manchester United FC (ENG) 12:30 ET/ 9:30 am PT
Real Madrid CF (ESP) v AC Milan (ITA) 2:30pm ET/ 11:30am PT

*For a complete telecast schedule, visit www.championsenfox.com.

WHERE: Fox Sports en Espanol

After a weekend full of tough matches, cold winds, and heavy rains, New Jersey’s PDA Pele U12 boys soccer team (Zarephath, NJ) has been crowned the U.S. Champions of the Volkswagen Junior Masters Tournament (www.vwjrmasters.com). Following the team’s 2-0 win over the Lower Merion Magic (Lower Merion, PA) at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C., the next stop for the PDA Pele will be Cape Town, South Africa in May 2010 – just prior to the FIFA World Cup – where they will battle to become World Champions. The team’s once-in- a-lifetime trip will be provided by Volkswagen of America, the presenting sponsor of the Junior Masters in the U.S. and the official automotive partner of Major League Soccer (www.mlsnet.com). The Volkswagen Junior Masters is a 20-country, international youth soccer tournament created by Volkswagen AG, and is the first competition of its kind for teams here in the United States.

Below are the full results from this weekend’s inaugural U.S. Finals matches:

Final Rank / Team Name City / State:
—————————————————–
1. PDA Pele Zarephath, NJ
2. Lower Merion SC Magic Lower Merion, PA
3. TAP FC Milan Alexandria, VA
4. Arlington Impact Red Arlington, VA
5. Baltimore Bays Hurricanes Baltimore, MD
6. Lee Mt. Vernon Soccer Patriots Alexandria, VA
7. Lehigh Valley United 97 Whitehall, PA
8. Penn Legacy 97 Black Landisville, PA
9. PA Classic Panther Revolution Lititz, PA
10. Lake Norman 97 LNSC Black Mooresville, NC
11. FCCA Huntersville 97 Highlanders Huntersville, NC
12. Soccer Domain Royals Montclair, NJ

“The team has shown amazing character and perseverance throughout the entire Volkswagen Junior Masters tournament,” said Samuel C. Nellins, head coach of the PDA Pele. “All of the other teams were nothing short of fantastic, and each player should be proud for what he has been able to do. But the Pele were able to stick it out and play some phenomenal soccer, despite the difficult weather, to move on to the World Championships. This kind of opportunity is something I couldn’t even imagine when I first played.”

“The Volkswagen Junior Masters has offered youth soccer teams both in the U.S., and the world, a challenge unlike any they could have ever experienced before,” said Tim Ellis, Vice President of Marketing for Volkswagen of America, Inc. “Volkswagen is proud of the PDA Pele’s teamwork and determination, which not only brought them to the U.S. Finals, but will now place them into the world spotlight as they head to South Africa for the World Championships. This team represents the nation’s best, and the soccer stars of tomorrow.”

Fox Soccer Channel captured all of the action and spotlight moments from the U.S. Finals weekend, and will premiere a special documentary on the Volkswagen Junior Masters Tournament at www.vwjrmasters.com, starting later this month. A special five part series highlighting the Tournament will also be televised nationally on Fox Soccer Channel, beginning in early November.

The Volkswagen Junior Masters Tournament began in the U.S. back in July, with a series of six preliminary regional tournaments that qualified twelve teams (the winner and runner-up from each tournament) for this weekend’s inaugural U.S. Finals. All of the participating teams had to meet the specified U12 age requirements in order to compete in the Volkswagen Junior Masters. The U.S. Finals team matchups for Saturday’s quarterfinal round were determined via a special, random drawing. The semi-final match occurred today, and was followed by the final match between the PDA Pele and the Lower Merion Magic.

Globally, Volkswagen has been a long time supporter of soccer. The brand is the title sponsor of Volkswagen arena in Wolfsburg and owns the VFL Wolfsburg football club at its global headquarters. In the U.S., Volkswagen of America is the official automotive partner of Major League sponsor and is a sponsor of D.C. United. The brand also launched this year the Footballers’ Clubhaus, presented by Volkswagen and MLS: A 19-city mobile marketing tour showcasing Volkswagen’s product family at local youth soccer tournaments.

For more information on Volkswagen, visit media.vw.com. For more information on the Volkswagen Junior Masters, visit http://www.vwjrmasters.com/.

Source: Volkswagen of America, Inc.

The two projects inaugurated were the second FIFA Goal project at the EFA headquarters (expansion and enhancing of the sports facilities at the National Technical Centre) and a new football turf pitch built as part of FIFA’s Win in Africa with Africa initiative.

FIFA has so far supported 386 Goal projects around the world, each of them worth USD 400,000, mainly to build technical centres, football facilities and headquarters for its member associations. The continent with the most completed projects is Africa, with 114 so far. More information about the Goal Programme can be found on FIFA.com: http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/worldwideprograms/goalprogramme/index.html

The Win in Africa with Africa programme was unveiled in July 2006 and is focused on ensuring that the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ will have a long-lasting effect on the entire African continent.

The programme’s overall budget is USD 70 million and includes various initiatives in the areas of football development, health promotion and education, each designed to provide Africa with the tools to enhance its own development.

One of the initiatives is the construction of football turf pitches in each of the African member associations (44 have already been completed, including the one in Cairo, and eight more are under construction).

Source: Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)