“The candidates were announced last week for the Fifa World Player of the Year award. Am I the only one out there who’s not too interested? My problem with the thing is that this concentration on the individual can tend to overshadow one of the fundamental truths of the game – the stars shine brightest when the collective balance of the team is right. The point is proved by a brief look at the performances this year of one of the favourites. Based on what he has done for Barcelona, Lionel Messi would be a worthy winner – but that would certainly not be the case if the criteria was restricted to his form with Argentina. How can this be true?” (BBC – Tim Vickery)