Leonov, Bukhlistkiy, Likhachev, André, Schirinzi, Stankovic, Meier, Wenger and Gabino Renales, invited to the ceremony
Beach Soccer had its place in one of the most prestigious Footballing events of the year, the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala, held yesterday evening at the Kongresshaus in Zurich. Many representatives of the modality were invited to the ceremony, as the representation of the most outstanding performers in the last FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, held this last september in Ravenna (Italy).
As a clear symptom of the gain of weight of Beach Soccer in the core of the Football Governing Body, FIFA, up to 9 players and coaches were invited to the ceremony, together with Joan Cuscó, FIFA Beach Soccer CEO and FIFA Board Member, and FIFA and Beach Soccer Ambassador Christian Karembeu, who are regular attenders to all FIFA cellebrations. Beach Soccer Wordlwide General Manager, Gabino Renales, was another of the personalities attending the Ballon d’Or Gala
Obviously, as the recently crowned World Cup Champions, Russia had in Zurich a good representation, with coach Mikhail Likhachev, captain Ilya Leonov (Awarded as the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2011 MVP) and goalkeeper Andrei Bukhlistkiy (awarded with the FIFA Golden Glove in Ravenna). The competition’s top scorer, André, had also his place in the Cellebration, as well as the Swiss national team, who were represented by Dejan Stankovic, former FIFA Golden Ball and Golden Shoe, Stephane Meier, player-coach Angelo Schirinzi and the team’s Manager, Reto Wenger.
Picture: fifa.com
