Real Madrid at the FIFA gala

José Mourinho walked away with the coach of the year award at the FIFA gala in Zurich last night, but sadly not for his work at Real Madrid (there’s always next year, right?)  And Iker and Cristiano both made the FIFA/FIFPro ideal starting XI of 2010, along with ex-madridista Wesley “Welly” Sneijder (or Whiskey, as Iker called him yesterday).

Our award winners

Cristiano and Iker were deserved members of the ideal starting XI.

Iker said of the recognition, “I’m happy to be among the best.  This is the second consecutive year for me and it’s not easy.  It’s the icing on top of the cake for this unforgettable year.  You always hope that each year will be better than the last but I don’t know if anything could top last year.”

And Iker was very diplomatic last night, saying, “Leo, along with Cristiano, is the best in the world.”

The ‘special’ coach of the year

Mou hugged and kissed Cris and Iker and his former players from Inter (Sneijder, Maicon, Lucio) before going up to receive his award, and during his acceptance speech, congratulated the two other finalists – Pep Guardiola and Vicente del Bosque – and said, “I’ve worked very hard to get here, but I didn’t do it alone.  I want to thank my players and the people that love me.”  He went on to thank “my wife, my children, all those that I love and everyone who helped me to win.  Some players from Inter are here, I love these players and I hope to love those from Real Madrid in this way shortly.”  [Oh, I’m sure the love is mutual already!]

Here’s Iker and Cris during Mou’s speech.  Lucio looks very touched, doesn’t he?

Sneijder had good words for his former coach, as well as the quote of the night, when he asked after being honored as a member of the ideal starting XI to name one unforgettable memory of this year.  His answer?  “Definitely the wedding with my beautiful wife.  Oh you mean in football?  To win the Champions League… it was a pleasure to work with José Mourinho.  And I want to tell him this on stage, it was a pleasure to work with him and for me he is the best coach in the world.”  This made Mou almost break down in tears – his eyes were definitely wet!

Interestingly enough, neither Cristiano nor Iker, who had voting rights as the captains of their respective national teams, voted for Mou.  In fact, Iker’s first place vote was invalid, probably because he voted for VDB, and you’re not allowed to vote for someone from your own country.

In terms of player votes, Cris put down Xavi for first, Iker for second and Wesley for third.  Iker opted for three former/current teammates:  Robben (to make up for shutting him down twice in the World Cup final?), Wesley and Cristiano.  By the way, Xabi Alonso finished tenth in Ballon d’Or voting.

The delegation from Madrid was made up of Mou, Iker, Cris, JV and Emilio Butragueño.  They arrived late and Mou missed the press conference with his two coach of the year fellow finalists and the three finalists for the Ballon d’Or award.

The fashion

I thought Cristiano looked great; I love his three-piece suit!  Shame about the pose though.  And Mou also looks wonderful, but why didn’t he opt for a pair of black shoes?  It really bothers me.

The tweets

The bromance basically said the same thing, while Sergio opted for “I want to say it’s an honor to be able to work every day with a coach like Mourinho, who was chosen as the best coach of 2010 by FIFA.  Congratulations míster!”

The cute moment

Awww, Iker and Welly exchanged numbers!  Or else they were comparing whose significant other is hotter.

The portraits

I don’t know the purpose behind these, or why the camera gets progressively closer to Cristiano’s face, but these are nice, aren’t they?

More on Iker here.