2010 FIFA Ballon d’Or: Lionel Messi Wins FIFA World Player Of The Year

January 10, 2010 Lionel Messi, Argentine footballer who currently plays for Barcelona as forward, won FIFA Ballon d’Or award (2010 FIFA World Player) in the inaugural award ceremony held at Zurich Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland on Monday evening. Messi beats 23 other candidates for the 2010 Ballon d’Or award including his teammates Xabi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta. He had obtained a total of 22.65% while Iniesta got 17.36% votes and Xavi got 16.48% votes from captains and head coaches of international teams and sports journalists around the world.

Messi, standing in front of thrilled fans, said:

“To be honest, I didn’t expect to win today, but it was already great to be here next to my two mates. To win it makes it even more special. I want to share with all of my mates, my family, all the Barcelonistas and the Argentinians.”

This is his second straight Ballon D’Or title. Messi first appeared in the Ballon d’Or in 2007 where he got the third place with Kaka (1st place) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2nd place). He received the 2nd place Ballon d’Or award in 2008 with Cristiano Ronaldo (1st place) and Fernando Torres (3rd place). In 2009, he finally beats Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo who was down to the second place while midfielder Xabi got the third place.

There’s no question and it was not a surprise at all when Messi was named as the best fooball player of 2010. Although Argentina didn’t qualify in the semifinal round in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Messi was able to lead his team to the quarterfinal round. He played the entire game in their first game against 1-0 victory against Nigeria (View: Argentina vs Nigeria). In their game against South Korea, he was one the main man who assisted all goals of his team including Gonzalo Higuain’s hat-trick (View: Argentina vs South Korea). He was also voted man of the match in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Greece in the last group stage game (View: Argentina vs Greece).

Aside from his great plays in the 2010 World Cup, he had incredible games last year winning the Spanish league with Barcelona FC.

Meanwhile, Marta Vieira da Silva won the “FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year.” It is her five straight title since 2006. Jose Mourinho, Portuguese football manager and Real Madrid’s coach, has won the “FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football” award and Silvia Neid,Germany women’s naional football team head coach, has won the “FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football” award.

IMAGE SOURCE: teamtalk.com

Topics: 2010 Ballon d'Or award, 2010 FIFA World Player, 2010 World Cup, Andres Iniesta, award, awards, Ballon d'Or, FIFA, FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Player, Jose Mourinho, Lionel Messi, Marta, Marta Vieira da Silva, Silvia Neid, Soccer, sports, Xabi Hernandez