Messi Wins His 3rd Ballon d'Or

[Bojan]

With Lionel Messi’s third successive win this evening, FC Barcelona are now the club with the most Ballon d’Or awards – with a total of nine winners.

Barca pulled ahead of Milan and Juventus who have eight winners each.

Over the last ten years the Club have provided four of the winners –including Messi’s historic last three.



Since Luis Suárez won the award in 1960, Barça have continued to provide winners for the Ballon D'Or and with Messi's third successive win this evening, they have now overtaken Milan and Juventus to become the Club with most winners –nine. Messi, with three; Cruyff with two as a Barça player, three total; Stoichkov, Rivaldo,Ronaldinho and Suárez with one apiece, are the players who have won the award at the Club.

Most winners over the last 10 years

Over the last 10 years, two Barça players have won four Ballon d'Or awards –Ronaldinho (2005) and Messi (2009, 2010 and 2011) to pull ahead of the two Italian clubs as the leading provider of winners.

Messi overtakes Cruyff

With his third Ballon d'Or, [B]Leo Messi has equalled Platini as the only player to win the award three years on the run and also become the first Barça player to take the award on three occasions- Johan Cruyff won twice whilst at the Camp Nou, in 1973 and 1974, and once at Ajax in 1971.[/QUOTE]

(fcbarcelona official website)

[Andersen22]

Was there really any doubt?
I really hoped for Xavi... but congratulations Leo- Greatest forward in history.

[Corb]

Was there really any doubt?
I really hoped for Xavi... but congratulations Leo- Greatest forward in history.

The podium was: Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi.

[MagIX]

The real podium:

[FCBarca]

The Legend grows

[Flavia]

Messi: “It's incredible”

Roger Bogunyà

01-09-2012 20:25

The Argentinean admits that he’s very happy about winning his third FIFA Ballon d’Or and he highlights his friendship with Xavi. For Rosell, the dedications made by Messi and Guardiola “demonstrate the human quality of the people in Can Barça”

"I knew that if won that I would dedicate it to Xavi"
"We have a friendship that goes beyond any award"


Minutes after the conclusion of the FIFA awards ceremony, Leo Messi reiterated the speech he gave on the podium: “it’s incredible. I want to dedicate this to all of my teammates. Like Guardiola said, if we don’t win anything collectively, we can’t hope to win individual awards.” He once again had words of praise for Xavi: “I knew that if won that I would dedicate it to him. It’s the fourth year that we’re here together. He also deserves it, because he's even better each year and he also wins a lot of titles, like the World Cup last year. We have a friendship that goes beyond any award.”

Rosell, beyond awards

On Messi’s praise of his teammate, FC Barcelona President, Sandro Rosell said: “as a Culé and as president, I’m very proud of all the awards that they’ve given us, but what I liked the most is how Guardiola and Messi shared their awards. These are the qualities that we teach at the Masia.” It’s worth noting that while Messi dedicated his award to Xavi and the rest of his teammates, Guardiola dedicated his award to his assistant coach, Tito Vilanova. For Rosell these things “demonstrate the human quality that we have at Can Barça.”

Xavi: “I’m the happiest man in the world”

Third-place finisher, Xavi Hernández, also talked about Messi’s award dedication: “Messi and I are united by a great friendship. He’s timid and it’s difficult for him to express himself, for him to recognize me is worth more than any award. I’m the happiest man in the world.” The midfielder dedicated his third-place finish to “those that never fail, to Barcelona and its fans and to those that recognize my work. Above all, to my teammates, because we mutually make ourselves better. I want to enjoy this with all of them.”

Andrés Iniesta, who finished fourth in the Ballon d’Or, views Barça’s massive presence in Zurich as a very positive sign: “this means that the team is doing things correctly, and we as individuals are too. Hopefully we can be here in the years to come. I’m very happy for them. They (Messi and Xavi) are people that deserve it.”

Guardiola: “Just to be here is a success”

For Josep Guardiola, the mere fact of having two FC Barcelona players on the FIFA Ballon d’Or shortlist is a complete success: “it was a success to have three players last year, and this year we have two more. Leo and Xavi should be happy.” He also issued a reminder that award ceremonies like tonight’s are positive only after success is achieved: “it’s good that we are recognized for our efforts, but the day-to-day work puts you in your place. It’s getting more difficult to win and they know us better.” Furthermore, the Barça boss once again had words for Tito Vilanova: “when he’s not around, I miss him tremendously.”

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/...t-s-incredible

[impeh]

Messi

fully deserved it, another super-human season.

[MagIX]

Leo: “I knew that if won that I would dedicate it to him. It’s the fourth year that we’re here together. He also deserves it, because he's even better each year and he also wins a lot of titles, like the World Cup last year. We have a friendship that goes beyond any award.”

Xavi: “Messi and I are united by a great friendship. He’s timid and it’s difficult for him to express himself, for him to recognize me is worth more than any award. I’m the happiest man in the world.”

[UEFA_Barça_Chris]

the way ronaldo said Lionel Messi....oohhhhhh yeaaaaaaaaa! ♥♥♥♥♥

[Het_fenomeen_Messi]

the way ronaldo said Lionel Messi....oohhhhhh yeaaaaaaaaa! ♥♥♥♥♥

En Zurich, Neymar también coincidió con otro brasileño que lo ha sido todo en el mundo del fútbol: Ronaldo. Y el ya ex goleador, tiene muy claro cuál debe ser el futuro del jugador del Santos. "Neymar puede alcanzar o incluso superar a Messi. Tiene un talento demasiado grande para que lo disfruten solo en Brasil. Es un talento que hay que exportar y hacer que domine el mundo, que sea el dueño del mundo jugando con el balón como él lo hace. La importancia y la competitividad del fútbol europeo son muy grandes".

http://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barc...pecial-1312405

[UEFA_Barça_Chris]

En Zurich, Neymar también coincidió con otro brasileño que lo ha sido todo en el mundo del fútbol: Ronaldo. Y el ya ex goleador, tiene muy claro cuál debe ser el futuro del jugador del Santos. "Neymar puede alcanzar o incluso superar a Messi. Tiene un talento demasiado grande para que lo disfruten solo en Brasil. Es un talento que hay que exportar y hacer que domine el mundo, que sea el dueño del mundo jugando con el balón como él lo hace. La importancia y la competitividad del fútbol europeo son muy grandes".

http://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barc...pecial-1312405

obviously brazilian biasness. Neymar will never get there IMO.

[jairzinho]

Congrats to Lionel. Totally Deserved it. I feel proud just as if i were his mom.

[dalitis8]

We need another CL for him to get a 4th.

[jairzinho]

We need another CL for him to get a 4th.

And he needs to be the top scorer in Europe this season.

[Flavia]

obviously brazilian biasness. Neymar will never get there IMO.

That's more of money bias. Ronaldo's company, 9ine, controls Neymar's image.