In a colourful ceremony held in Zurich, Switzerland, the Barcelona
superstar brushed aside competition from Portugal and Real Madrid
hitman, Cristiano Ronaldo and his Nou Camp teammate, Neymar, to win the
biggest individual prize in world football for a record fifth time.
“It’s a very special moment to come back, to get a Ballon d’Or again
after the two years in which Cristiano Ronaldo won each time.
“This Ballon d’Or means a lot more than I could have ever dreamed of as a child,” said the 28-year-old Messi.
Messi also won the award in 2009, 2010 2011 and 2012.
Messi had 41 per cent of the vote Ronaldo getting 28 per cent and Barca’s Neymar eight per cent.
Messi was the star player as Barcelona won the treble of Champions
League, La Liga and Spanish Cup last season, before also adding the Club
World Cup last month.
Although he became the first ever player to win the award five times,
Messi had said earlier that he would swap all those individual
accolades for a World Cup success.
“Team awards are more important than individual ones,” he said,
before adding that the World Cup “is every player’s objective, it’s
really the pinnacle”.
Messi and his Argentina teammates came close to winning the World Cup
in Brazil in 2014 but were beaten 1-0 by Germany in the final.
United States striker, Carli Lloyd, won the Women Player of the Year
award, while Brazilian Wendell Lira went home with the Ferenc Puskas
award for the best goal scored in 2015.
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