Leo Messi delighted to win prestigious Balon D'Or award
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Barcelona's Argentine striker Leo Messi has been voted as Balon D'Or for the year 2009 by the magazine France Football.
The prestigious award caps an incredible year for the player who has been fundamental in his side winning five trophies in the 2009.
Barcelona has won the King's Cup and the Spanish Premier League and the Spanish Supercup domestically, while his side also lifted the Champions League and the European Supercup.
The Catalan side is also favorite to round off the year by winning this month's World Club Championship in Dubai.
Messi beat Real Madrid's former Manchester United forward, Cristiano Ronaldo into second place, while third and fourth place in the voting were for Messi's Barcelona team mates Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.
Messi is the ninth Barcelona player in history to win the BalonD'Or and the third Argentinean. However, when Alfredo Di Stefano and Sivori won the award, they had taken up Spanish and Italian nationalities.
Last season Messi scored 38 goals in all competitions and was the top scorer in the Champions League with nine. The last of which was his side' s second and decisive goal in its 2-0 final win over Manchester United.
"I knew I was among the favorites because Barca has had a successful 2009," Messi told France Football.
"However, I didn't expect to win by so much. The Balon D'Or is a very important award for me, because everyone who has won it has been a great player and some great players have never even won it," he added.
"I want to dedicate it to my family. They have always been at my side when they needed me and they feel even stronger emotions than I do," he concluded.
