Ballon d’Or: Messi wins for fifth time

Lionel Messi has won FIFA’s world player of the year award, a.k.a. the Ballon d’Or, for a record fifth time.

The Argentine and Barcelona superstar took the honour after receiving over 41% of the vote from journalists, national team coaches and captains. His Portuguese and Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo had to be content with second place after receiving nearly 28% of the vote. Messi’s Barcelona teammate Neymar came third with nearly 8% of the vote.

Over the course of 2015, Messi scored 52 goals in 61 games for club and country, and helped Barcelona to victory in both La Liga and the UEFA Champions league. He then lead Argentina to a runners-up spot in the Copa America tournament, where they were beaten on penalties by Chile.

Messi had made history by winning four consecutive Ballon d’Or titles from 2009-2012, making him the first player in history to win the award four times, although he had to make do with second place in the last two years as Ronaldo took the honours on both occasions. The Real Madrid star remains on three Ballon d’Or titles overall.

“It’s a very special moment for me to be back here on this stage, winning again another Ballon d’Or after seeing Cristiano win it,” Messi stated. “It’s incredible that it’s my fifth. Much more than anything I would have dreamed of as a kid.”

Elsewhere, United States midfielder Carli Lloyd secured the Women’s world player of the year award for the first time in her career. The 33-year-old had earned the Golden Ball award for best player at the 2015 Women’s FIFA World Cup, and scored a memorable hat-trick in the final against Japan as the USA went home with the trophy. Celia Sasic of Germany and Aya Miyama of Japan finished came second and third respectively.

While Messi picked up his fifth crown, his Barcelona manager Luis Enrique secured his first ever Coach of the year award, beating Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola and Chile’s Jorge Sampaoli in the process. The Women’s equivalent was won by USA Coach Jill Ellis, who beat off competition from Japan’s Norio Sasaki and England’s Mark Sampson.

The night however was once again all about the little genius that is Lionel Messi. There was a period from around 2012-2014 when it seemed his best days may just have been behind him as the injuries began to pile up and Barcelona’s success began to wane, and he is still yet to win a major international tournament with Argentina.

All of this, coupled with Ronaldo’s recent Ballon d’Or successes, seemed to offer definitive proof that Messi was no longer quite the force he once was, but in the last 18 months he has well and truly returned to his best, even if he is being rapidly caught up as Barcelona’s most important player by the likes of Neymar and Luis Suarez.

At 23-years-old, Neymar’s time will almost certainly come, but few would seriously begrudge the uncontroversial Messi gaining his fifth world crown, and at 28-years-old himself, there is still every possibility that he may yet add to his bulging collection of personal awards.