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21.01.2009 13:15
Messi, Xavi and Puyol in the uefa.com team of the year
www.fcbarcelona.cat
Carles Puyol, Xavi and Lionel Messi have been included in uefa.com's team of the year for 2008.
More than 3.3 million people voted to decide the ideal eleven for the UEFA website and Barça came out on top with three players in the side. No other team had that many and there was an added bonus as Xavi Hernández was voted to be captain.
The ideal XI
The uefa.com team of the year is: Casillas, Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid),
Terry (Chelsea), Lahm, Ribéry (Bayern Munich), Puyol, Xavi, Messi (FC Barcelona), Cesc Fàbregas
(Arsenal), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Fernando Torres (Liverpool).
According to the voters, Sir Alex Ferguson was the best coach of 2008.
Iniesta not included
Andrés Iniesta was the only one of the four candidates for place that was not included in the ideal team. 60 candidates were put forward to chose the side from.
Puyol makes it number four
Puyol being named in the team is nothing new as the Barça defender has been included on three other occasions as he was part of the eleven in 2002, 2005 and 2006.
Xavi and Messi were making their debuts in the uefa.com side.
In the FIFA team too
The three FC Barcelona players named in the uefa.com team of the year are the same trio that were
named in FIFA's ideal side for 2008. In fact, nine players were in both sides with only Cesc
Fàbgregas and Fernando Torres not in the FIFA side, while Steven Gerrard and Kakà were.
