Barcelona's Lionel Messi wins the Fifa Ballon d'Or

Lionel Messi was officially feted as the best soccer player in the world Monday, winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or award at a special gala in Zurich.Messi beat out fellow FC Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi, both of Spain, to claim the honour.

Lionel Messi holds his trophy after winning the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or.

The Argentine is the first repeat winner of the FIFA world player of the year award since Ronaldinho in 2004 and 2005.Messi received 22.65 per cent of the votes cast by coaches and captains of national teams plus invited journalists in polling for the award. Iniesta finished second with 17.36 per cent and Xavi received 16.48 per cent.Still, though, he was left surprised by the honour. “To be honest, I didn’t expect to win, but it was already just great to be here next to my two mates,” he said. “To win it makes it even more special” 

Still, though, there are widespread sympathy for the under-appreciated Xavi. Even Uefa president Platini had declared last month that he deserved the award but at 30, despite being chief orchestrator of his club’s domestic double and being even more influential than Iniesta, the final match-winner, in his country’s historic triumph in South Africa, it is probably too late for the great conductor now.

Another source of controversy about the awards night had been the fact that no player from any other team than Barcelona had managed to make the three-strong shortlist. Platini, for one, had been dumbfounded that Wesley Sneijder, the inspiration behind Inter Milan’s treble and Holland reaching the World Cup final, had been ignored. He came fourth, with 14.4 per cent of the vote. 

Meanwhile Brazil's Marta won a record fifth successive Women's Player of the Year award.