Madrid: Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi has been awarded the 2009 Ballon d'Or at an awards ceremony in Paris on Sunday (December 6th), after the gifted 22-year-old finished ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, last year's winner, by a record 240-point margin - while his Barcelona team-mate Xavi Hernandez came third.
As a result, Messi becomes the first Argentinian to win the prestigious Ballon d'Or - although Argentine-born players Alfredo di Stefano and Omar Sivori, then regarded as Europeans, received the trophy when it was still called the European Footballer of the Year award.
The award caps a brilliant year for the modest left-footer, who helped treble-winning Barcelona lift the Champions League title with nine goals, as well as netting 23 in the league and six in the Copa del Rey (King's Cup) - the France Football magazine award's 96 jurors gave Messi 473 points out of a possible 480, a near unanimous verdict.
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