2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or Award - Lionel Messi wins for fifth time Monday January 11,2016

 

The Argentine/Barcelona  Star  Lionel Messi seal a record of 5th Ballon d’Or award.

He beat rivals Brazil/Barcelona Neymar and Portugal/Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo.

The award was voted by all National team coaches and approved Journalists

The votes for the Ballon d’OR came from 165 national team coaches, 162 national team captains and 171 media representatives

Lionel Messi took top spot with 41.33% , ahead of Ronaldo with 27.76 %. Neymar finished in third with just 7.86 %

 

2015 has been  a remarkable year for Messi, who helped Barca win a 23rd Spanish championship at Ronaldo and Real's expense and five trophies overall.

He scored 52 goals in 61 games as Barca also won the Spanish Cup and the European Champions League in the 2014-15 season.

The nameplates of the finalists for FIFA's Ballon d'Or: Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi, Barcelona's Brazilian forward Neymar and Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

 

A look at the finalists:

Ballon d’Or

Lionel Messi: After leading Barcelona to wins in La Liga, the Copa Del Rey and the Champions League — the first time any club has completed a treble twice — and with 52 goals to his name in 2015, the five-foot-seven maestro is the favourite to win a record fifth Ballon d’Or at age 28.

Cristiano Ronaldo: Last year’s winner was no slouch in 2015, topping La Liga’s scoring list with a personal best 48 goals. That tally helped the 30-year-old become Real Madrid’s all-time leading scorer in his sixth season with the club. But a lack of silverware this year hurts his odds.

Neymar: Just 23 years old and already one of the best players in the world, Messi’s Barcelona teammate is one to watch for years to come. His 39 goals in the squad’s treble-winning season may see him usurp Ronaldo in second place, but putting the Brazilian ahead of their team’s Argentine leader is a tough sell.

Women’s World Player of the Year

Carli Lloyd: The American, 33, scored three goals in the opening minutes of the Women’s World Cup final this year to seal the coveted trophy for the United States. More than that, she proved herself a team leader as legendary striker Abby Wambach prepared to close the door on her career. Anything but a Lloyd victory would be a surprise.

Celia Sasic: This is Sasic’s last chance at the award; she announced her retirement in July at age 27. She won player of the year honours in Germany and Europe, and the Golden Boot award at the Women’s World Cup, but her country’s fourth-place finish at the tournament put a damper on an otherwise exceptional year.

Aya Miyama: The 30-year-old Japanese midfielder is an all-time great in the women’s game, having orchestrated her country’s attack for four Women’s World Cups. She was named to the tournament’s all-star team this year but her consistency is unlikely to be enough to propel her past Lloyd’s glorious 11-minute hat trick

Past Ballon d'Or winners
2014: Cristiano Ronaldo	2008: Cristiano Ronaldo
2013: Cristiano Ronaldo	2007: Kaka
2012: Lionel Messi	2006: Fabio Cannavaro
2011: Lionel Messi	2005: Ronaldinho
2010: Lionel Messi	2004: Andriy Shevchenko
2009: Lionel Messi	2003: Pavel Nedved

Lionel Messi and his partner Antonella Roccuzzo arrive at the ceremony in Zurich

 

Carli Lloyd and Lionel Messi were named were named the world's best footballer at the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2015

 

The women's prize was won by American Carli Lloyd, the first female to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

The 33-year-old broke down in tears on the podium after beating Japan's Aya Miyama of Okayama Yunogo Belle, and Celia Sasic of Germany's European champion club Frankfurt, receiving 35.28% of all votes to be a clear victor.

"This has been a dream of mine ever since I started my journey with the national team," she said after regaining her composure, thanking her teammates and national coach Jill Ellis

Jill Ellis won the women's coach award with 42.98% after taking the U.S. to its third World Cup title in Canada. Norio Sasaki of beaten finalist Japan had 17.79% while Mark Sampson -- who took England to third place -- had 10.68%

FC Barcelona's Luis Enrique won the men's coach of the year award, having guided his team to the treble in his first season in charge and then added the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup to his trophy list in the second half of 2015.

Enrique received 31.08% of the votes to head off Bayern Munich's former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola (22.97%) and Argentinian Jorge Sampaoli, who got 9.47% after leading Chile to its first Copa America title in 2015.

Lionel Messi was beaten to the Puskás Award for the most beautiful goal of the year by Brazilian striker Wendell Lira, who won for his acrobatic overhead kick for club side Atletico Goianesia.

Lira won 46.7 % of the 1.6 million online votes from fans, while Messi got 33.3% for his mesmerizing solo run against Athletic Bilbao, Alessandro Florenzi had 7.1% for a spectacular long-range effort for AS Roma against Barcelona

WINNERS AT THE 2016 BALLON D'OR GALA

Ballon d'Or: Lionel Messi
Women's world player of the year: Carli Lloyd
Puskas award: Wendell Lira
World coach of the year for men's football: Luis Enrique
World coach of the year for women's football: Jill Ellis
World XI: Manuel Neuer; Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Dani Alves; Andres Iniesta, Luka Modric, Paul Pogba; Neymar, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo

FIFA fair play award: All football organisations supporting refugees.

MESSI BY NUMBERS
1 - Messi is the only player to have won more than three FIFA Ballon d'Or awards, his latest success following his wins in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
52 - Goals Messi scored in all competitions for Barcelona and Argentina in 2015.
430 - Career goals Messi has scored in all official competitions for Barcelona, having played in 503 games.
0.85 - Goals per game average for Barcelona.
26 - Titles won by Messi with Barcelona, a club record shared with Andres Iniesta.
295 - Primera Division goals scored by Messi, 44 more than second-best Telmo Zarra.
28 - Hat-tricks for Barcelona.
49 - Career goals for Argentina, in 105 matches.
16 - Age at which Messi made his Barcelona first-team debut.
91 - Goals scored by Messi in 2012, breaking the calendar-year record set by German Gerd Muller in 1972.
58,000,000 - Twitter mentions for Messi in 2015.

MESSI FACTFILE
Born 24 June, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina.
EARLY CAREER
           
* Joined Barcelona as a 13-year-old in 2000 and shone in the youth ranks before then-coach Frank Rijkaard gave him his senior debut at the age of 16 in a friendly against Porto in 2003.
           
* Made his La Liga debut in October 2004 and scored his first La Liga goal the following May in a match against Albacete at the Nou Camp.
           
* Scored six goals in 17 appearances in 2005-06 as Barca won La Liga for the second year in a row but did not feature in their 2-1 victory over Arsenal in the Champions League final.
           
* Messi played a key role as Barca claimed six trophies in the calendar year of 2009 including the Champions League, La Liga, the King's Cup and the Club World Cup. Won the first of four consecutive World Player of the Year awards.
Won La Liga again in 2010 and retained the World Player award, beating shortlisted Spanish World Cup winners and Barca team mates Andres Iniesta and Xavi.
           
* Inspired Barcelona to a 3-1 win against Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League final, scoring one goal and creating another.
           
* Helped Barca to a third consecutive La Liga title in 2010-11 and was on the scoresheet as they beat Santos 4-0 to win the Club World Cup.
           
* While Barcelona failed to retain either La Liga or the Champions League, Messi completed 2012 with an extraordinary total of 91 goals in all competitions, a record for a calendar year. He smashed the La Liga scoring record for one season in 2011-12 with 50 goals.
           
* Equalled the Champions League scoring record of 71 goals set by former Real Madrid and Schalke 04 forward Raul when he struck twice against Ajax Amsterdam at the end of 2014. Has since been overtaken by current Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
           
* Turned in a series of scintillating performances in 2014-15 as Barca romped to a treble of Champions League, La Liga and King's Cup titles.
ARGENTINA
           
* Led Argentina to the title at the 2005 World Youth Championship, scoring two penalties in a 2-1 victory over Nigeria in the final.
           
* Made his debut for the senior side in a friendly against Hungary in August 2005 but was sent off less than a minute after coming on as a substitute for elbowing an opponent who had pulled his shirt.
           
* Played only a bit-part role at the 2006 World Cup. Argentina were knocked out in the quarter-finals by hosts Germany after a penalty shootout.
Led Argentina to the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
           
* Part of the Argentina side coached by Diego Maradona at the 2010 World Cup that was beaten 4-0 by Germany in the quarter-finals. Messi failed to score and struggled to find his best form at the tournament in South Africa.
           
* After a season disrupted by injury, captained Argentina to the final of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where they lost 1-0 to Germany. Messi, who scored four goals at the finals, won the Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player.

HOW IRELAND AND UK VOTED  
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Martin O'Neill - Lionel Messi, Eden Hazard, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Robbie Keane - Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Michael O'Neill - Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi.
Steven Davis - Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar.
ENGLAND
Roy Hodgson (manager) - Cristiano Ronaldo (first), Lionel Messi (second), Eden Hazard (third).
Wayne Rooney (captain) - Lionel Messi, Thomas Muller, Cristiano Ronaldo.
SCOTLAND
Gordon Strachan - Cristiano Ronaldo, Thomas Muller, Lionel Messi.
Scott Brown - Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thomas Muller.
WALES
Chris Coleman - Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eden Hazard.
Ashley Williams - Gareth Bale, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski.