Barcelona and Messi light up Sports Conference in Dubai

Messi-with-Globe-Soccer-AwaDubai , December 28 : European champions Barcelona and their star player Lionel Messi were the big winners at the 6th Globe Soccer Awards held in Dubai on Sunday. FC Barcelona was the centre of attention at the 10th Dubai International Sports Conference.

The La Liga champions won a total of four awards: Best Club, Best President, Best Player of the Year and Best Media Attraction in Football.
The Argentina captain beat off competition from last year’s winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to be named Best Player of the Year.
The Argentine wizard, who travelled to Dubai directly from his native Rosario, Argentina to accept the prize personally, received a large ovation from the audience.
“It is very nice to receive these awards, but I always say that the group is what makes it possible,” Messi said after receiving the award at a glittering ceremony at Madinat Jumeirah.
When asked what he most remembered from last year, he said: “It is difficult to pick a single moment. It has been an extraordinary year and I’ll take the whole year that FC Barcelona had.”
After receiving the award, Messi went quickly to the airport to catch a private flight to Barcelona to be ready for Monday’s training session.
“Obviously I am very happy to be here and delighted to win this award but as always, the most important thing is the collective, the team,”
“It is difficult to pick out one moment from what has been an extraordinary year for Barca. The whole year has been wonderful.”
Following the victory, Messi will also be up against Ronaldo and his Barcelona team-mate Neymar for the Fifa Ballon d’Or on January 11.
Barcelona, who won a historic treble in 2014-15, were named Best Club of the Year, while their chief Josep Maria Bartomeu was awarded the Best President of the Year accolade.
“I am just one of Barcelona’s 140,000 club members and I am extremely proud to be their president,” said Bartomeu.
“But this award really belongs to our club members and the 39 presidents before me during the club’s 116-year history. I would also like to give special thanks to the players for all of the efforts they made this year.
“We enjoy our style of football and our philosophy, and our goal is to make people happy. This year we will try to win again. With Messi and the other players life is easier. They keep playing better and better and hopefully that will continue well into the future.”
Belgium boss Marc Wilmots was named as Best Coach of the Year ahead of Barca’s Luis Enrique and Italy’s Antonio Conte after leading his country to top spot in the Fifa world rankings.
New York City pair Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard were recognised and given Player Career Awards.
Jorge Mendes was handed the award for Best Agent of the Year, while Portuguese club Benfica were named as the Best Academy of the Year.
Yasir Al Shahrani was adjudged the Best GCC player of the year a poll held over the last two months arranged by Kooora.com.
The 23-year old Saudi defender played in the Under 20 World Cup in 2010 and the 2015 Asian Cup.