Lionel Messi has been crowned European Footballer of the Year for 2009 in the award organised by France Football Magazine. There is surely no debate that those who cast their vote selected a worthy winner, with the Barcelona maestro winning by a record margin and collecting a total of 473 points out of a possible 480.
Messi had as close to a perfect year at his club as you could wish for. Top scorer in last season's Champions League, where he scored the winner, and earning his team a La Liga title with 23 goals along the way: the stats speak for themselves, even before you consider the heady mixture of flair, grace and power that he exudes on a football pitch - those abstract yet critical elements that you can't boil down to a number.
Glancing down the list of the top 30 shortlisted players, and the order in which they were finally placed, it's hard to argue against any of it. The list is dominated by those plying their trade in the Champions League, but then how many players outside of Europe's marquee competition would merit inclusion based on their performances over the last year? Perhaps only Luka Modric, Gareth Barry or Shay Given could claim to have merited representation from the Premier League, but certainly not at the expense of any of the players who made the cut. Barcelona players flood the top 10, but then who would argue that they have not been the overwhelmingly dominant force over the past 12 months?
The journalists of Europe therefore, seem to have done themselves proud and it is a credit to them that they have come up with a list which proves so difficult to pick holes in. Nods to the emerging talents of Wolfsburg's Edin Dzeko and Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcuff prove that this list is not purely the preserve of Europe's "big three" leagues, or indeed that of its poster-boy players, but the impact of these players on Europe has not been overstated (positions of 13 and 20 seem fair).
The fanfare surrounding the announcement of Fifa's World Player of the Year award will follow in the coming days - and surely Messi will match Ronaldo from 2008 in winning both awards in the same year. Despite all the hype though, it is the European award, voted for by the critics, that carries more weight than it's Fifa counterpart. Just like the Football Writer's Player of the Year in England compared to the Player's Player award, there is a certain credibility in the winning the journalists' approval that just cannot be matched.
So for now, thanks to Lionel Messi for a wonderful year of football, and thanks to the journalists, who continue to get it right!
2009 Ballon d'Or - the full list:
1 Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona), 473 points
2 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid), 233
3 Xavi (Spain, Barcelona), 170
4 Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona), 149
5 Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, Internazionale), 75
6 Kaká (Brazil, Real Madrid), 58
7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Barcelona), 50
8 Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United), 35
9 Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea), 33
10 Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool), 32
11 Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool), 22
12 Cesc Fábregas (Spain, Arsenal), 13
13 Edin Dzeko (Bosnia, Wolfsburg), 12
14 Ryan Giggs (Wales, Manchester United), 11
15 Thierry Henry (France, Barcelona), 9
16= Luis Fabiano (Brazil, Sevilla) 8
16= Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, Manchester United), 8
16= Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid), 8
19 Diego Forlan (Uruguay, Atlético Madrid), 7
20 Yoann Gourcuff (France, Bordeaux), 6
21= Andrey Arshavin (Russia, Arsenal), 5
21= Júlio César (Brazil, Inter), 5
21= Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea), 5
24 Maicon (Brazil, Inter), 4
25 Diego (Brazil, Juventus), 3
26= David Villa (Spain, Valencia), 2
26= John Terry (England, Chelsea), 2
28 Franck Ribéry (France, Bayern Munich), 1
28= Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast, Barcelona), 1
30 Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid), 0
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