Soccer Extreme : Jose Mourinho has been selected FIFA's 2010 men's soccer coach of the year after leading Inter Milan to the European Champions League title.
Mourinho, the self-dubbed "Special One,'' beat Vicente del Bosque of World Cup champion Spain and Pep Guardiola of Spanish champion Barcelona in the inaugural prize, announced during the FIFA player of the year ceremony.
The Portuguese coach also led Inter to the Italian league and cup double before leaving to join Real Madrid.
The award was voted on by national teams coaches and captains plus selected reporters.
Speaking on the special occasion, the 28-year-old said, "I would like to thank everyone. It’s not that bad to write a bit of history like this.
"I am very happy about this award and later on I will have a glass and say cheers to a few of the players here. It might not have been the most important but it was certainly the most spectacular."
Soccer Extreme : Lionel Messi tonight became the inaugural winner of the Fifa Ballon d'Or at an award ceremony in Zurich. The Argentinian forward was selected ahead of his Barcelona team-mates Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, who won the World Cup with Spain last summer.
Messi, 23, scored an astonishing 60 goals for club and country in 2010 and is regarded by many as the most gifted player of his generation.
"To be honest, I didn't expect to win today, but it was already great to be here next to my two mates," said Messi.
"To win it makes it even more special. I want to share with all of my friends, my family, all the Barcelonistas and the Argentinians."
The Fifa Ballon d'Or was created following the merging of France Football magazine's European Footballer of the Year prize with the FIFA World Player of the Year award. It is awarded based on votes cast by journalists from around the world and coaches and captains of national teams.
Messi was the holder of both titles and so joins the former Brazil strikers Ronaldo and Rivaldo and France legend Zinedine Zidane as a multiple winner of the latter accolade.
Alfredo Di Stefano, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Kevin Keegan, Michel Platini, Marco van Basten, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Ronaldo are the only other men to win the Ballon d'Or more than once. Messi also became the first player to come first in a World Cup year without having won the tournament for the first time since 1994.
José Mourinho was named Coach of the Year ahead of the Spain's Vicente del Bosque and Barcelona's Pep Guardiola for leading Inter to an unprecedented Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia treble.
There was disappointment for Glentoran's Matty Burrows in the Goal of the Year prize, with his jaw-dropping backheeled volley against Portadown losing out to Hamit Altintop's volley for Turkey against Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile Brazil's Marta won a record fifth successive Women's Player of the Year award.
Other Award
Men's Player of the Year: Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina). Women's Player of the Year: Marta (FC Gold Pride, Santos and Brazil). Men's Coach of the Year: José Mourinho (Inter and Real Madrid). Women's Coach of the Year: Silvia Neid (Germany).
World XI: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid and Spain); Maicon (Inter and Brazil), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona and Spain), Lucio (Inter and Brazil), Carles Puyol (Barcelona and Spain); Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain), Xavi (Barcelona and Spain), Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan and Holland); Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal), David Villa (Barcelona and Spain), Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina).
Puskas Award (Goal of the Year): Hamit Altintop (Kazakhstan v TURKEY). Fair Play Award: Haiti Women Under-17s. Presidential Award: Desmond Tutu.
Soccer Extreme : FIFA FIFPro World XI award 2010 winners pose during the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2010 soccer awards ceremony in Zurich, January 10, 2011. The FIFPro World XI award honours the best 11 players of the year and is chosen by over 50,000 professional football players from all over the world, who vote for the best player in each position
Soccer Extreme : Nadal became only the fourth man in the Open era to claim a Career Grand Slam - after triumphs in the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in 2010 - and picked up 16 per cent of the vote.
Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta finished second and third, respectively.
Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic picked up the women's award, ahead of skier Lindsey Vonn and tennis mum Kim Clijsters.
Vlasic, who was named IAAF World Athlete of the Year in 2010 and won the European Athlete of the Year trophy, won gold at both the World Indoor Championships and European Championships in the past 12 months.
She was also honoured by European sports writers earlier this year.
Spain were comfortable winners of the team of the year prize for their Fifa World Cup triumph in South Africa, claiming over 42 per-cent of the vote.
Canada's Winter Olympic winning hockey team claimed second while Brazil's volleyball team was third. (yahoo)
The best sportsman 2010
1. Rafael Nadal (Tennis) 758 (16,32%) 2. Lionel Messi (Football) 695 (14,97%) 3. Andrea Iniesta (Football) 684 (14,73%) 4. Sebastian Vettel (Formula 1) 470 (10,12%) 5. David Rudisha (Athletics) 416 (8,96%) 6. Diego Forlan (Football) 229 (4,93%) 7. Ole Einar Bjorndalen (Biathlon) 208 (4,48%) 8. Manny Pacquaio (Boxing) 163 (3,51%) 9. Carlo Janka (Alpine Skiing) 152 (3,27%) 10. David Villa (Football) 149 (3,21%)
Soccer Extreme : Jose Mourinho has been selected FIFA's 2010 men's soccer coach of the year after leading Inter Milan to the European Champions League title.
