Football Talk - Messi retains Ballon d'Or
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has won the FIFA Ballon d'Or award at a ceremony in Zurich. Messi, 23, won the prize - a merger of the FIFA Player of the Year prize and Ballon d'Or - ahead of his Barca team-mates Andres Iniesta and Xavi.
"I'm surprised to win but pleased to be here with my friends," said Messi, who won the two separate awards last year. "To win it makes it even more special. I want to share it with all of my friends, my family, all the Barcelonistas and the Argentinians."
The last player to win the Ballon d'Or award twice in a row was Dutch striker Marco van Basten in 1988 and 1989, while Messi's former Barca colleague Ronaldinho won the Fifa prize in 2004 and 2005.
Messi, 23, scored an astonishing 60 goals for club and country in 2010 and is regarded by many as the most gifted player of his generation. Jose Mourinho, who won an unprecedented Treble with Inter in 2010, was named the Coach of the Year. Whilst Hamit Altintop won the Puskas Award for Goal of the Year for his wonder volley when Turkey played Kazakhstan.
The Ballon d'Or is awarded based on votes cast by journalists from around the world, as well as coaches and captains of national teams. Award list in full:
Player of the Year: Lionel Messi
Coach of the Year: JosÉ Mourinho
World XI: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid and Spain); Maicon (Inter and Brazil), Gerard PiquÉ (Barcelona and Spain), Lucio (Inter and Brazil), Carles Puyol (Barcelona and Spain); AndrÉs Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain), Xavi (Barcelona and Spain), Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan and Holland); Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal), David Villa (Barcelona and Spain), Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina).
Puskas Award (Goal of the Year): Hamit Altintop (Turkey v Kazakhstan)
Fair Play Award: Haiti Women Under-17s
Presidential Award: Desmond Tutu
DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS YEARS WINNERS? WAS LIONEL MESSI THE OUTSTANDING PERFORMER DURING 2010, WAS MOURINHO THE BEST COACH AND WAS ALTINTOP'S STRIKE THE BEST GOAL?
