SAN FRANCISCO, January 11, (THEWILL) – Barcelona superstar, Lionel Messi, has been named the world footballer of the year to earn an unprecedented fifth Ballon d’Or award in Zurich on Monday
The Argentine reclaimed the prize from three-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo who won it from Messi for two consecutive years.
Brazil striker Neymar, who plays alongside Messi at Barca, and Real Madrid’s Ronaldo were included on the three-man shortlist.
Messi propelled Barcelona to five trophies in 2015, including a second Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey treble in six seasons.
Messi, who won the award four times in a row from 2009-2012, scored 48 goals for Barcelona in 2015 as the Catalan giants reclaimed their status as the world’s top club side, overcoming South American champions River Plate in the Club World Cup in Japan last month.
Luis Enrique, Messi’s coach at Barcelona was named coach of the year over Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola and Chile’s Copa America-winning boss Jorge Sampaoli.
USA World Cup-winning captain, Carli Lloyd was named the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award. She beat Japanese midfielder, Aya Miyama and now-retired Germany striker, Celia Sasic to the award.
Meanwhile, Jill Ellis (USA/USA national team) was also named the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football award defeating Mark Sampson (Wales/England national team) and Norio Sasaki (Japan/Japan national team).
Story by David Oputah
