Barcelona has reached such heady heights in 2009 that it must be prepared for a fall, coach Pep Guardiola said after its Club World Cup victory. The European champion beat Argentina's Estudiantes 2-1 after extra time to lift its sixth trophy this year, adding the world crown to La Liga, Champions League, King's Cup and Spanish and European Super Cups. “Now we're going to descend a bit from our stardom, but we have talent and we got here with hard work. We're going to be alright,” he told the post-final news conference Saturday. “Six titles is unequalled, this brings more responsibility ... We have to continue working to remain among the elite. “I'll never forget it's the players who achieved this and the ones who gain me my prestige (as a coach),” added Guardiola, who had lost a world club final once before with Barcelona, as a player in 1992 in the former Intercontinental Cup. Guardiola's big off-season signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic said: “Playing always to win, you have more chances of winning. “One of the reasons I came to Barca was to win titles ... I hope we continue to win many more trophies”. Estudiantes coach Alejandro Sabella, whose team was looking for its second world title, praised Barcelona's “tactical variety” and “calmness”. Estudiantes has won the world title way back in 1968. Messi in line for FIFA honor Barcelona's Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is the hot favorite to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award, which will be announced by world football's governing body in Zurich Monday. He has already been honored with the prestigious Ballon d'Or, the European Player of the Year trophy, and he picked up his sixth prize of an unforgettable year with Barcelona after scoring the winning goal in the final of the World Club Cup. Real Madrid pair Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, the reigning award-holder and world's most expensive player, complete the five-man list of nominees but Messi is widely expected to pip them both, having already beaten Ronaldo to the Ballon d'Or earlier in the month. The only black mark on Messi's year was the struggle endured by Argentina in World Cup qualifying, but it eventually squeezed through and next summer's South African showpiece will give him the opportunity to join the pantheon of the truly great alongside his national boss Diego Maradona. Aside from the men's prize, FIFA will select the Women's World Player of the Year from a shortlist featuring Germans Birgit Prinz and Inka Grings, England's Kelly Smith and Brazilian pair Cristiane and favorite Marta. FIFA will also unveil its inaugural Team of the Year, while the Ferenc Puskas prize – named in honor of the 1950s Hungarian great – will be presented to the scorer of the year's best goal.
