New Delhi: Lionel Messi is now officially the best footballer in Europe after being announced as the winner of this year's Ballon D'Or, one of the most prestigious awards in the game. The Barcelona striker was quick to thank his teammates for his award.
"I want to thank my colleagues, as I always say, this is thanks to them too, they are what made me win this. I am happy to have won the award also because of the way I won it. The voting was overwhelmingly in my favour and that was very nice. I am very proud to be the first Argentinian to have won this award. Even though Diego (Maradona) didn't win it because at that time we couldn't enter the contest. Otherwise he would certainly have won it more than once for sure," said Messi.
For Messi, it doesn't matter if it is Manchester United in the Champions League final or Atletico Madrid in the Copa Del Ray.
The Argentine has summoned his magic all the same to leave his opponents mesmerised, stunned by a craft that has no parallel on the football field now.
Barcelona have won everything in sight with Messi leading the line and his selection for the Ballon D'Or couldn't be more justified.
The year 2009 started with one of the most stunning displays in the La Liga - a brilliant hat-trick grounded Atletico Madrid and with it started a magnificent seven-game winning streak for Barcelona.
After slaying all opponents, it was time for the big stage - the Champions League where Messi orchestrated one of the most compelling 43 minutes of total football ever seen as Bayern Munich was smashed.
Within days, the El Clasico was reduced to a Messi show as Barcelona blew away Real Madrid 6-2.
Stamford Bridge wailed in frustration as the impudent Argentine conjured a heart-breaker in the dying minutes for Andres Iniesta to find the leveller.
The Spanish giants never had it so good as Messi would go on to strike 38 times in the 51 games he would play last season, coupled with 18 assists.
After pocketing the La Liga and the Copa Del Ray came Messi's finest moment, tormenting Manchester United before eventually leaping high to power Xavi Alonso's cross past Edwin Van der Sar to cap a fine performance as Barcelona completed an unprecedented, glorious treble.
Touted to carry forward Maradona's legacy for Argentina, Messi is now well on his way to script an entirely new place for himself in football history.
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