Barcelona's Lionel Messi
Messi takes Golden Ball
Published 01 December, 2009, 10:11
Lionel Messi won has won Golden Ball or Ballon d'Or, awarded to Europe's best player of the year by France Football magazine.
The Barcelona forward easily beat his closest rival Cristiano Ronaldo to become the first Argentinean to grab the award.
The 96 voters gave Messi 473 points out of a possible 480, allowing him to win with a record margin. Cristiano Ronaldo got just 233 points.
“Honestly, I knew that I was among the favorites because Barcelona had a fruitful year in 2009. But I didn’t expect to win with such a margin. The Ballon d’Or is very important to me. All the players who have won it were great players, and some great players never won it,” Messi told France Football magazine.
Barcelona players dominated the Top 10, with three of Messi’s teammates last season (Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Samuel Eto’o) finishing 3rd through 5th in the balloting, and one of his current partners, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, was 7th.
Arsenal's striker Andrey Arshavin was also among 30 contenders for the Ballon d’Or, but the Russian didn’t make it into the Top 10.
Messi’s victory came as no surprise. The 22-year-old almost won the Spanish League title, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League last year, also contributing to Argentina’s sneak into the World Cup.
The striker is also the leading candidate to be named FIFA’s World Player of the Year, with ceremony scheduled for December 21.
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