FIFA Awards 2010, Messi pleasantly surprised
On 10th January 2011, the FIFA award ceremony for the year 2010 was held in Zurich. The award ceremony threw up some pleasant surprises.
Argentine sensation, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296, was named FIFA World Player of the year, also known as Ballon d’Or, for the 2nd time in a row.
He was competing with his Barcelona team mates Andreas Iniesta and Xavi for this honour.
The award to Messi was a surprise to many as 2010 was a World Cup year and in previous campaigns a player from the winning World Cup team has been given the Ballon d’Or.
In 2002 Ronaldo was named the FIFA World Player of the year as he helped http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Inter-c39567 Milan that season, Ronaldo was given the accolade based entirely on his performances
at the World Cup.
In 2006, Cannavaro was presented with the Ballon d’Or as he helped Italy claim the ultimate title. He won this award ahead of the likes of Zidane and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ronaldinho-c31733.
Zidane was named Player of the tournament in the World Cup and Ronaldinho had a wonderful season with Barcelona and was widely considered the best player at the time but both still could not win the Ballon d’Or.
Considering the previous trend of the Ballon d’Or in the World Cup years, many expected Andreas Iniesta to be named the best player on the planet as he scored the winning goal in the final against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011 their 1st FIFA World
Cup.
Messi himself had earlier suggested that Xavi deserved the award.
Xavi had a tremendous season with Barcelona and was ever present in his team’s march towards the La Liga crown. He was also instrumental in Spain’s success at the World Cup as he was the architect behind most moves created by Spain. He was named part of
the FIFA World Cup 11 after the tournament.
After winning the award Lionel Messi was very joyous yet a little surprised, when he said:
“I’m happy, but I didn’t expect it because everyone had been talking so much about Xavi and Andres [Iniesta]. They also deserved it for the wonderful year they had. They won the World Cup, which usually goes a long way to deciding who wins this award, and
they both had big parts to play in that. That’s why I thought one of them would be going up to collect the trophy. It was a wonderful surprise”.
On the nomination of Xavi, Iniesta and himself, Messi said:
“It was a great thing for the three of us and the club (Barcelona) to have got this far. I think we all enjoyed the gala”.
There is no denying the fact that Lionel Messi has had a great year. He has been the central figure in Barcelona’s domination of European football. Barcelona is considered the best club team on the planet and Messi has been vital in making them such a formidable
force.
In the 2009-10 season, Messi scored 47 goals in 53 appearances for Barcelona with 11 assists and even this season he has been nothing short of fantastic. Already he has scored 28 goals in 26 appearances combined with 14 assists in the ongoing season.
The one blemish on an otherwise spectacular year has been his goal scoring form for his country, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Argentina-c2841. Messi only scored 2 goals in 10 international appearances in 2010. He did not manage to score a single goal in the FIFA World Cup.
Despite his lack of goals for Argentina, Messi still is an essential part of the team and plays in a deeper role than he does for his club team. Playing in a deeper role enables him to create chances for his team mates resulting in lesser goal scoring opportunities
for himself.
One thing is for sure, amidst immense competition from Iniesta and Xavi, very few can argue with the fact that Messi was the deserving winner of the Ballon d’Or. The Argentine superstar may yet win many more awards as he is destined to become one of the
greatest players the world has ever seen.
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