MESSI claims the Ballon D'Or France Football

We've been hearing it for ages. Everywhere you heard people saying: 'There's no way MESSI will not win the Ballon D'Or'. Well...all those people were right, as Lionel MESSI becomes today the first Argentine player to ever win this prestigious accolade awarded by French magazine France Football.

Not only that, by winning the election, MESSI got 473 out of a possible 480 points, which represents a record in itself.

No other player in the past collected as many votes.

It's worth mentioning that non-European players became eligible to win this award only in 1995.

Prior to this stage, 30 finalist were announced and the following is the complete result of the voting.

1. Lionel Andrès MESSI (Argentina, FC Barcelona) : 473 points
2. Cristiano RONALDO (Portugal, Manchester United/Real Madrid) : 233 pts
3. Xavi HERNANDEZ (Spain, FC Barcelona) : 170 pts
4. Andrés INIESTA (Spain, FC Barcelona) : 149 pts
5. Samuel ETO'O (Cameroon, FC Barcelona/Inter Milan) : 75 pts
6. Kaka (Brazil, AC Milan/Real Madrid) : 58 pts
7. Zlatan IBRAHIMOVIC (Sweden, Inter Milan/FC Barcelona) : 50 pts
8. Wayne ROONEY (England, Manchester United): 35 pts
9. Didier DROGBA (Ivory Coast, Chelsea): 33 pts
10. Steven GERRARD (England, Liverpool) : 32 pts
11. Fernando TORRES (Spain, Liverpool): 22 pts
12. Cesc FABREGAS (Spain, Arsenal) : 13 pts
13. Edin DZEKO (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wolfsburg) : 12 pts
14. Ryan GIGGS (Wales, Manchester United) : 11 pts
15. Thierry HENRY (France, FC Barcelona) : 9 pts
16. Luis FABIANO (Brazil, FC Sevilla), Nemanja VIDIC (Serbia, Manchester United), Iker CASILLAS (Spain, Real Madrid): 8 pts
19. Diego FORLAN (Uruguay, Atletico Madrid) : 7 pts
20. Yoann GOURCUFF (France, Bordeaux) : 6 pts
21. Andreï ARSHAVIN (Russia, Arsenal), Julio CESAR (Brazil, Inter Milan), Frank LAMPARD (England, Chelsea) : 5 pts
24. MAICON (Brazil, Inter Milan) : 4 pts
25. Diego (Brazil, Werder Bremen/Juventus) : 3 pts
26. David VILLA (Spain, Valencia), John TERRY (England, Chelsea) : 2 pts
28. Franck RIBERY (France, Bayern Munich), Yaya TOURE (Ivory Coast, FC Barcelone) : 1 pt
30. Karim BENZEMA (France, Lyon/Real Madrid): 0 pt

Congratulations to Lionel and now let's hope for a 2010 that's better and more memorable for him and for Argentina!