Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi bas been awarded the 2009 Ballon d’Or, French magazine France Football has revealed.
The 22-year-old finished ahead of last year’s winner Cristiano Ronaldo by a record 240-point margin, with his Barcelona team mate Xavi in third.
Messi has become the first Argentine to win the Ballon d’Or. “It’s a great honour for me to be voted Ballon d’Or and to become the first Argentine in history to receive this award,” Messi was quoted as saying on the France Football website. “I knew I was among the favourites, because Barca have had a prolific year and we won everything, but I didn’t expect to win it by such an important margin,” Messi added.
The awards voting panel gave Messi 473 points out of a possible 480, with 89 of 96 jurors selecting Messi as 1st.
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