Ballon d’Or winner for 2015
Barcelona ace Lionel Messi is the Ballon d’Or winner for 2015, beating off competition from Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.
It is the fifth time the Argentine superstar has won the coveted award.
He achieved 41.33 per cent of the total votes, compared to 27.76 per cent for CR7 and 7.86 per cent for Messi’s Barcelona team mate Neymar.
As he accepted the award, Messi said: “It’s a very special moment for me. It’s incredible that it’s my fifth.
“It’s much more than I dreamed of as a kid.”
Messi helped Barcelona conquer all before them in 2015, the Catalan giants winning the Champions League, La Liga, the Copa Del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
He found the net 52 times in 61 games, with 26 assists. He did suffer a knee injury in September, but this did not lessen the impact he had.
Messi’s rival, Real Madrid’s Portuguese talisman Ronaldo, had won the award for the last two years, but had to settle for second place this time.
Between them, Messi and Ronaldo have won the award for each of the last eight seasons.
The FIFA Women’s Player of the Year award
The FIFA Women’s Player of the Year award went to United States star Carli Lloyd, with her 13-minute hat-trick in the World Cup Final against Japan helping the USA to win their third title.
She won ahead of Celia Sasic of FFC Frankfurt and Germany, and Aya Miyama of Japan.
Barcelona chief Luis Enrique won the Coach of the Year award, with the Women’s title going to Jill Ellis, who coached the USA to the Women’s World Cup title.The
The Fair Play Award
The Fair Play Award went to All football organisations supporting refugees.
FIFA Team of the Year
The FIFA Team of the Year reads: Manuel Neuer; Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Dani Alves; Andres Iniesta, Luka Modric, Paul Pogba; Lionel Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo.
By Steve Osborne                     @BlizzardSteve75
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