Lionel Messi won the FIFA Ballon d’ Or for the second consecutive year, ahead of Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez. Iniesta and Xavi were high of choice after helping Spain win the FIFA World Cup 2010, while Messi failed to score a goal or show his finest form in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Messi scored at a rate that no one else matched in the past 20 years and retained the newly named FIFA Ballon d’Or after FIFA merged its World Player of the Year with the Ballon d’Or trophy, the trophy was renamed in 2010. The trophy had been awarded as the best European player by French football magazine since 1956.
Lionel Messi Ballon d’ Or 2010 🔥❤️
— We Futbol Fans (@WeFutbolFans) September 13, 2020
IMAGE CREDIT: AFP pic.twitter.com/iPU6WdvOCi
Messi won 22.65% of the votes cast by the national team coaches, captains, and also invited reporters. There were a total of 23 initial finalists footballers. Andres Iniesta ranked second with 17.36%, and Xavi ranked third with 16.48% for the second consecutive year.
All three finalists for the award Messi, Iniesta, and Xavi played club football under the leadership of Guardiola of Barcelona. Since the Dutchman Marco van Basten won the Ballon d’ Or in 1988 and 1989, Messi became the second player to win the Ballon d’Or for the second successive year (2009 and 2010).
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The 23-year-old Messi scored a staggering 60 goals for the club and the country in 2010 and is regarded by many as the most talented player of his generation.
Lionel Messi after Winning Ballon d’ Or 2010
“It’s great to be with my teammates. To be honest, I didn’t expect to win today, but it’s great to be with my two friends (Xavi and Iniesta). Winning Ballon d’ Or is more special. I want to share it with my friends, all Barcelonistas, Argentinians, and my family.”
Lionel Messi gave amazing performances for Barcelona in the 2009/2010 season. In 2009–10, Barcelona won altogether six major competitions that included FIFA Club World Cup, Copa del Rey, La Liga, the UEFA Champions League, Supercopa de España, and UEFA Super Cup.
Messi scored a total of 47 goals and made 14 assists in 53 matches in the 2009/2010 season with Barcelona. Lionel Messi was also the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League with 8 goals in 11 matches. Similarly, he was rewarded with Pichichi Trophy for his highest number of goals in La Liga where he scored 34 goals in 35 matches. Being the top scorer in La Liga was enough for him to become the top goal scorer all over the European leagues which granted him to win the European Golden Shoe for the 2009-10 season.
Also, World XI Footballers 2010
- Iker Casillas (Real Madrid and Spain)
- Maicon Sisenando (Inter Milan and Brazil)
- Gerard Piqué (Barcelona and Spain)
- Lucio (Inter Milan and Brazil)
- Carles Puyol (Barcelona and Spain)
- Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain)
- Xavier Hernández (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)
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