"Congratulations to Lionel Messi, World Soccer’s World Player of the Year for 2019. It is hard to argue with Barcelona’s Argentinian superstar being the most feted footballer of the past 12 months, although it was one of the tightest votes of recent times... Meantime, there are more than enough events and people from the past 12 months to reflect upon in this issue. Let’s hope that 2020 is as eventful a year as 2019.” - Gavin Hamilton, Editor
