Leo Messi Wins Ballon D'Or

Well, it was to be expected, and the unanimity of the vote leaves no doubt that Leo Messi is the best player in the game today. Having come 3rd in 2007 and second last year, Messi's continued development last season was reflected in the 38 goals scored and Barça's success in winning La Liga, La Copa and the Champions League. Since the change in the voting system Kaka achieved 444 votes to win in 2007, while Cristiano Ronaldo won in 2008 with 446, Messi's dominance this year has seen him earn an incredible 473 votes which left second place Cristiano Ronaldo with 233.

In previous seasons critics had argued that Messi got injured too often and was yet to play a complete season but Messi responded in the 2008/09 season with no injuries, 38 goals in all competitions, he was top scorer in the Copa del Rey and also in the Champions League. The critics said that Messi didn't perform in the big games, that he couldn't head the ball and that he never scored against English opposition; Messi responded in the Champions League final with a great performance including a headed goal against Manchester United. They said he couldn't control games and that he was too individualistic, 16 assists last season and a total dominance in the 2-6 win in the Bernabeu and in Rome proved otherwise. He has always been a fantastic player to watch but he has an added maturity now despite only being 22 which makes him the youngest player to win the Ballon d'Or since Ronaldo won it in 1997 at the age of 21.

If Messi was dominant in winning, Barça also dominated the votes with Xavi Hernandez coming in third with 170 votes, Iniesta was fourth with 149 votes, Ex-blaugrana Samuel Eto'o was fifth with 75 votes while Zlatan Ibrahimovic was seventh with 50. There were also seven votes for Thierry Henry who came 15th. Congatulations to Leo and all our players who deserve the recognition for providing us last season with what can only be descibed as the greatest season ever.

Here is the list of the top twenty:

1 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 473
2 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Real Madrid 233
3 Xavi Hernández Spain Barcelona 170
4 Iniesta Spain Barcelona 149
5 Samuel Eto'o Cameroon Inter Milán 75
6 Kaká Brazil Real Madrid 58
7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic Sweden Barcelona 50
8 Wayne Rooney England Manchester Un. 35
9 Didier Drogba Ivory Coast Chelsea 33
10 Steven Gerrard England Liverpool 32
11 Fernando Torres Spain Liverpool 22
12 Cesc Fabregas Spain Arsenal 13
13 Edin Dzeko Bosnia Wolfsburg 12
14 Ryan Giggs Wales Manchester Unt. 11
15 Thierry Henry France Barcelona 9
16 Iker Casillas Spain Real Madrid 8
17 Luis Fabiano Brazil Sevilla
18 Nemanja Vidic Serbia Manchester Un.
19 Diego Forlan Uruguay Atlético Madrid 7
20 Yoann Gourcuff France Burdeos 6