FCBARCELONA.CAT

02.12.2008 11:04

Leo Messi, Ballon d'Or runner up

www.fcbarcelona.cat

The prestigious magazine France Football has awarded the Ballon d'Or to Cristiano Ronaldo, but Leo Messi came second in the voting and Xavi fifth.

Barça and Argentina’s Leo Messi has been named second best player in Europe by France Football after getting 281 votes, only bettered by Manchester United and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (446) and edging Liverpool and Spain’s Fernando Torres (179) into third. This is one step up the podium for Messi, who placed third a year ago.

The Argentinian was also named in the FIFPro XI, along with Barça colleagues Puyol and Xavi, and is one of the favourites to collect the FIFA World Player award, the winner of which will be announced shortly.

Xavi fifth

Apart from Leo Messi, there were two other FCB players in the running for the Ballon d'Or, Xavi Hernández and Samuel Eto'o. The Catalan midfielder was named Best Player at this summer’s European Championship and finished fifth in the voting for the year with 97 votes. The Cameroonian striker collected six votes and finally placed down in 17th.