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Leo Messi: Genuinely the World's Best

by Al 12. January 2012 08:44

For Barcelona and Argentina's Leo Messi, life at the pinnacle of his profession is becoming routine. Winner of the Ballon d'Or for the third year in a row, there is no questioning his status as the world's best player. The 24-year-old has signed exclusively for Icons since 2006, and our relationship has gone from strength to strength ever since. The world's best player and the home of signed football memorabilia. It makes for a dream partnership.

We first met with Leo Messi as an 18-year-old on May 5th, 2006. The little Argentinian made his debut for both Barcelona and his country the previous season, but had made fewer than 30 first-team appearances in total. It was still more than enough to convince us he had a huge future. Below is a photo of Leo at that first ever signing in Barcelona. Since that day we have conducted six more exclusive signing sessions together. (We have also improved our photography skills considerably!)

Messi's footballing brilliance is not easy to put into words, suffice to say he is beyond hyperbole. A devastating combination of breathtaking speed and power, close control, and extraordinary technical ability lands him in a league of his own. For all his talent, even the outstanding Cristiano Ronaldo cannot get close. So inevitable was Messi's Ballon d'Or triumph that the Portuguese didn't even bother to attend at the ceremony in Zurich.

Messi's hat-trick of Ballon d'Or awards coincides with three consecutive La Liga wins for Barcelona. It's no coincidence. Since the beginning of the 2008/09 season, Messi has fired a remarkable 169 goals in 187 Barcelona appearances, with dozens of assists to boot. Never before has a player dominated world football quite like this at the tender age of 24. He has become only the fourth player to win the Ballon d'Or three times, alongside legends Marco van Basten, Michel Platini and Johan Cruyff. Messi will eclipse them all.

Along with dozens of individual accolades, Messi has accumulated five La Liga titles, three Champions League wins and a Copa del Rey. Indeed, the only piece of silverware missing from his sparkling CV is a World Cup with Argentina. At 24, however, he has time on his side. He will get further chances to emulate the feats of Pele and Diego Maradona at international level. In terms of pure ability though, he is more than a match for the pair of them already.

"Off the pitch I am just normal," said Messi in Zurich. And he's right. Humble, unassuming and polite, he is a pleasure to work with. On the pitch, however, he is unlike any footballer the world has ever seen.

Our most recent meeting with Leo came on December 5th of last year, just over a month ago (pictured below). You can view our fantastic range of personally signed Messi products - including home and away shirts, boots and photos - here.

Follow Icons on Twitter and Facebook for news on our signings, and a chance to win amazing signed football memorabilia!

Leo Messi wins 2011 Ballon d'Or

by Al 10. January 2012 06:36

We are delighted to congratulate Icon Leo Messi on winning his third consecutive Ballon d'Or award. The 24-year-old Barcelona and Argentina superstar beat team-mate Xavi and Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo to land the prestigious title of world's best player. 

After legends Marco van Basten, Michel Platini and Johan Cruyff, Messi becomes the fourth player to win the award three times. And at such a young age, he is perfectly placed to smash the record set by his predeccesors in years to come. 

Messi played the starring role in Barcelona's Champions League triumph last season, and was named man of the match in the final against Manchester United. He also won the Primera División with Barcelona, as well as the the UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup and Spanish Super Cup. 

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Brazil legend Pele and UEFA president Michel Platini were among a host of leading football figures to lavish praise on Messi at the awards ceremony in Zurich. 

At Icons we have enjoyed an excellent relationship with Leo, having conducted our first signing with him when he was just 18. We met up with him for our sixth signing session together in December 2011. You can see our full range of signed Messi products here.

We are also proud to say that six of the FIFA 2011 World XI are on the Icons roster. Iker Casillas; Xabi Alonso; Andres Iniesta; Wayne Rooney; Cristiano Ronaldo; Leo Messi - the world's best six-a-side team?!

The rest of the World XI is made up of Sergio Ramos; Gerard Pique; Dani Alves; Nemanja Vidic and Xavi. We are working on adding more of those names to our list, so sign up to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter for the latest news!

Messi leads Icons named on Ballon d'Or shortlist

by Al 1. November 2011 08:28

We are delighted to see our Icons making up nine of the 23-man shortlist for the prestigious Ballon d'Or. Barcelona and Argentina's Leo Messi is the overwhelming favourite, and will match Michel Platini's record of three consecutive Ballon d'Ors if he is triumphant. Last year there were five Icons on the shortlist. This year we have grown. Let us know who you would like to see next on the site by getting in touch on Twitter or Facebook.

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney is the only Englishman to have been nominated, and is one of only five players connected to the Premier League on the shortlist. Of those five, Manchester City's Sergio Aguero only played half of 2011 in England, while ex-Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas now plays for Barcelona. In Spain, Barcelona lead the way with an incredible eight nominees, while rivals Real Madrid boast five.

Which Icon will be crowned World Player of the Year? Here is the complete shortlist:

Eric Abidal (France), Barcelona

Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Manchester City

Karim Benzema (France), Real Madrid

Iker Casillas (Spain), Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Real Madrid

Dani Alves (Brazil), Barcelona

Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Anzhi Makhachkala

Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Barcelona

Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Inter Milan

Andres Iniesta (Spain), Barcelona

Leo Messi (Argentina), Barcelona

Thomas Muller (Germany), Bayern Munich

Nani (Portugal), Manchester United

Neymar (Brazil), Santos

Mesut Ozil (Germany), Real Madrid

Gerard Pique (Spain), Barcelona

Wayne Rooney (England), Manchester United

Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Bayern Munich

Wesley Sneijder (Holland), Inter Milan

Luis Suarez (Uruguay), Liverpool

David Villa (Spain), Barcelona

Xabi Alonso (Spain), Real Madrid

Xavi (Spain), Barcelona

The Great Icons Summer Sale 2011: Viva España!

by Finbarr 11. July 2011 11:47

 

Not only is it a great time to be a fan of Spanish football, it's also bloody hard not to be. Having spent the best part of fifty years as perennial bottlers, the national side have established themselves as the best in the world, patenting their thrilling, incomparable brand of tiki-taka, to the delight of all and sundry.

The emergence of La Furia Roja has coincided with the dominance of Barcelona, who many commentators have described as the "greatest team ever." So taken with what they've seen emanating from the Iberian Peninsula, the English media have demanded that the FA do everything in their power to emulate what the Spanish have done at a grassroots level, but whether we'll ever see Englishman grace a field with such elegance is questionable. 

We at Icons have championed the Spanish game and the finest purveyors of it for many years. Given the current zeitgeist for Spanish memorabilia, we thought there would be no better way to kick off The Great Icons Summer Sale by slashing prices on some of our favourite pieces from some of our favourite Spanish or Spanish based players.

There can be little doubting the fact that La Liga plays host to the best players in the world. For the past four seasons, the top three players of the FIFA World Player of the Year either ply or have plied their trade in the Spanish top flight. Last year, the top three were all based in La Liga, a statistic reflected in the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or results. 

We're delighted to present discounted goods from many of those featured. We've got some beautiful, signed action photos of 2008's World Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo (many going at half price) playing for Real Madrid.

From last year's Ballon D'Or runner up, Andres Iniesta, we've got a signed picture of his thrilling last minute winner for Barcelona against Chelsea in the Champions League a few years back (again, 50% off).

From the 2007 World Player of the Year Kaká, we have a fantastic signed and numbered Real Madrid shirt and signed boots. Alongside Kaká, Sergio 'Kun' Aguero has also established himself as one of the best foreign imports to La Liga and we've got a range of his shirts and goodies to give away at a big discount. 

But the Spanish revolution of the past five years isn't just about individual awards. Lest we forget, this is one of the only sides in history to win successive major international tournaments.

To mark their dominance, we've assembled a range of cut-price merchandise from some of the stars of their all-conquering squad, including a Real Madrid shirt signed by Iker Casillas, an amazing signed photo of Cesc Fabregas lifting the World Cup, signed photos of Xabi Alonso and Pepe Reina in their pomp for both Spain and Liverpool and their erstwhile Merseyside teammate Fernando Torres, also in his Liverpool heyday. 

We'll be running the sale for a number of weeks, with a new theme every seven days. If you fancy yourself as a bit of a Spainophile, then, this is your chance to pick up some great stuff at a fraction of the retail price. 

Messi wins Ballon D'Or

by Dan 1. December 2009 04:47

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi won the European Footballer of the Year award yesterday topping a poll of journalists from across the world. In a stellar year the little Argentinian won La Liga, El Copa del Rey and the Champions League and helped his national team qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Below is a special commemorative signed 'Campeones 2009' shirt we asked him to do for us at the last signing session we had with him in September.

He won the poll by 240 votes from his nearest challenger Cristiano Ronaldo, another of icons.com star signings. Bareclona and Real Madrid players dominate the poll as the top seven players all played for the Spanish clubs in this calendar year. Steven Gerrard was 10th, Fernando Torres 11th and Cesc Fabregas came in 12th.

For the full list click here

Cristiano Ronaldo heads Ballon D'Or nominees list

by Dan 19. October 2009 11:46

The list of nominees for the Ballon D'Or was announced yesterday with Cristiano Ronaldo leading the way. The Ballon d'Or is awarded to the European footballer of the year, and is voted for by journalists and organised by France Football magazine. The winner will be announced on 1 December.

The full list of nominees is below, featuring as many as nine players featured on the icons.com site.

Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Diego (Juventus), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg), Samuel Eto'o (Internazionale), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona), Andreas Iniesta (Barcelona), Julio Cesar (Internazionale), Kaka (Real Madrid), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Maicon (Internazionale), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Luis Fabiano (Seville), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), David Villa (Valencia), Xavi (Barcelona), Yaya Toure (Barcelona).

Hopefully, over the coming year we can add big names to the site from this illustrious list and bring you products from as many of the world's best players as possible. Let us know who you would like to see on the site by emailing us at icons.com

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About Icons Memorabilia

Welcome to the icons blog, we'll be regularly posting here about what's going on with our star signings and what new products have arrived

We love what we do so we'll also be talking about what's going on in the world of football and sport in general.

We'd really appreciate your feedback and comments too.

Cheers - The icons.com team.

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