FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi was named the winner of the Ballon d'Or, honoring the top player in Europe. He beat out Cristiano Ronaldo by a record margin while Barcelona teammates Xavi and Andres Iniesta finished third and fourth respectively.
The award, presented by France Football and voted by journalists throughout Europe, went to Messi after he led Barcelona to the La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles last season. He scored nine goals in Champions League play while also scoring 23 goals in La Liga play.
What do you think of Messi winning the award? Was it a no-brainer? Who would have gotten your vote? Who do you see winning in 2010?
Share your thoughts below.
to michael wiegand, the excuse about the national team and messi, sounds familiar w/ ronaldo and portugal. he doesn’t do much for his natonal team either. portugal had to go to the playoffs to get to the WC. either way this award has always being giving for what the payer did last term. this season started in august, so they’d give the award for 4 mo. of play?! agreed that drogba is tearing it up this, though.
I feel that xavi and iniesta, while they each provide their share of killer passes that lead to goals, are more vital in terms of their ability to always relieve pressure, be in a position to seamlessly recieve the ball from teammates, and then make the best decision regarding distribution. The Xavi-Iniesta tandem is crucial for Barca because when they are both in the team, you can be sure that the opponents won’t be seeing much of the ball. Their influence is paramount all over the pitch.
the award takes into account the entirety of last season, a season in which messi notched 38 goals in all competition and was the best player on a team that won the treble. absolute no brainer.
Yeah, but any player in consideration (Ronaldo, Drogba, Ibrahimavic, etc) for this award is in the exact same situation as Messi. Top players play on top teams, and top teams always get the top talent. The talent at these teams (Barca, Madrid, Chelsea, ManU, etc) is not just confined to one player, so to say he wouldn’t do this with Hull City is a bit nearsighted. None of the players receiving votes would have been near the levels of players they are on a team like Hull City.
and he cuts to his left more then a merging lane.
he’s one of the best with the ball on his feet, but were talking about complete players.
put it this way, if you were to stick messi in hull city would he still shine like he does with xavi, iniesta, henry, zlatan(or eto’o) ?
The question is will he continue to stay motivated and in shape into his 30’s or will he follow the path of other FOYs like Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.
Messi plays as if the ball is glued to his foot. Sublime.
if that’s the case, where’s Samuel Eto’s award. Fernando Torres can hold a candle somewhere in between ibra and Drogba; what do u say?
I agree with the selection — there really wasn’t any other serious challenger for the award. However, when the votes come in next year, I do think a couple of strikers will be in the running — Ibrahimovic and Drogba. It’s harder to be seen as a total player when you’re just a striker, but those two are setting new standards for the position. It’s not just that they score goals — it’s the remarkable skills (strength, touch and vision) they display while they’re doing it.
I like to call him messi messiah…
One word: Messi*ah*
never thought about that. He still has 2 or 3 more world cups.
I don’t agree with Messi being top of the year.
Well, I thought it was for last years perfomance. They just happen to vote for it during the end of the calendar year.
Don’t get me wrong, Messi deserves it for last season’s performance.
I just think them crowning him the best player in Europe right now – when Barcelona have struggled in UCL and when Argentina gasped mightily to qualify for the World Cup – is kind of silly.
They should vote on these things closer to the end of Champions League final.
You have to give Xavi and Iniesta some more credit for last season. If you take the both of them out of that team, they don’t win the trible.
Dont think UEFA wouldve liked Drogba to win. especially since that incident following the Barca game last year and screaming “its a effing disgrace” into a TV camera during prime time. Based on the calendar year from last December until now, messi clearly has the best body of work out of all contenders. They tend to give these awards to players who have won something the previous year so Drogba not winning was not a surprise.
Hard to believe he is the first Argentinian to win this award. They only allowed non-EU born players to be eligible for this in like the last 20 years I think. Quite an accomplishment for the lad. The guy has won almost all major titles in world football save for the world cup at 22? that is un-freaking-believable.
Messi was on a team of gods among mortals in La Liga.
Granted he had a fantastic campaign last year, especially given his age – but his inability to put Argentina on his back in a big game during World Cup Qualifying shows how far he has to go still in becoming a truly transcendent player.
This season, I’m not even sure he’s the 3rd best player on Barcelona. Xavi and Ibrahimovic have looked better in the few impressive wins FCB has had.
Right now, Drogba is the best player in Europe and would’ve gotten my vote. He’s looking even better than he did in 2006 both for Chelsea and for Ivory Coast.
zlatan, drogba should have gotten some recognition. xavi and iniesta are good but lets not kid ourselves. 3rd and 4th there not (and this is coming from someone who views the set up pass just as valuable as the goal)
as far as messi..mehh, give it to him and let the media get of the jock riding. he had a wonderful season this past year and deserved it ill admit.
It iss always difficult to deal with a left sided player. His quality is beyond reproach, his workrate dwarfs Ronaldo. Clearly the best in the world and a stinging indictment of Maradona’s managerial skills. I could win with 2 dogs, 4 training cones, Aguero,
Messi, Maxi, a mannequin and Abodonzieri
In other news, Barca practically destroyed Real even when they had 10-men Sunday…
Yup no big surprise there. Amazing to think he isn’t even close to his prime considering he is only 22