Messi has beaten the world’s most expensive player, Christiano Ronaldo, by a massive margin to be named the European Player of the Year, and win the coveted Ballon d’Or. The Argentine reversed the result of last year, when he came second to Ronaldo, by securing an extraordinary 473 out of an available 480 points compared to the Portuguese winger's 233.
The competition, which began in 1956, is run by France Football and aims to discover the player who has performed best in the past calendar year. The result is decided by polling journalists from all over the world. Messi is the first Argentine to win the award, which was opened up to non Europeans in 1995, as two-time winner Alfredo di Stéfano had already acquired Spanish citizenship by the time of his victories.
The result caps an incredible year for the Barcelona forward who scored 38 goals to help his team sweep to victory in the Copa del Rey, La Liga and Champions League. Four members of this historic treble winning squad were named in the top five, with Messi being joined by teammates Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Samuel Eto’o (who transferred to Inter in the summer). Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the English Premier League and reached the Champions League final with Manchester United before transferring to Real Madrid, is the only player not in last seasons dominant Barcelona side to make the top five.
Players now plying their craft in Spain dominate the list, with Kaka and Ibrahimovic who made big money moves to Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively during the summer, placed sixth and seventh. Three players from the English Premier League, Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba and Steven Gerrard complete the list.
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