Ballon D'or Winner Announced
Messi, Ronaldo and Iniesta await the news.
The winner of FIFA's most prestigious individual award has been announced. The top three were announced last night - Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi was the hot favourite before the initial shortlist was even announced. The third place went to Cristiano Ronaldo, who shed tears, claiming that he doesn't have long left in his career to win the trophy again, and that he felt this was a missed opportunity.
Second place went to Barcelona's... Andrés Iniesta. The Spaniard took his 'defeat' well, and hugged his team-mate and eventual winner, Lionel Messi. Iniesta went on to give a short speech.
"Well.. what can I say? Lionel has been great this season, and I couldn't have wished for a better man to win it. He is one of my great friends, and I wish him all the best in this competition in the future. I'd like to thank everyone who voted for me, and I promise that my form will not deteriorate over the rest of this season. Leo and I know that the season isn't over yet, and Cristiano and his side are just six points behind us. We, and the rest of the team, need to be on top of our game to keep the six point gap at the top and I'm sure that Lionel will not let this personal victory affect his game."
So, that bring us on to the deserving winner. Lionel Messi wins the award for the fourth time, and he is still young enough to win it more. We should take this time to congratulate Lionel on his career so far, and wish the world's best player a happy celebration night with his team-mates following this triumph.