It was a forgone conclusion that Lio Messi was going to win the Balon D'Or this year.  He left few doubters after his performance in Rome against Manchester United. 

Messi, 22, becomes the first Argentine player to ever with the award given out by France Football Magazine since they changed the award format to include players from other continents that play in European clubs back in 1995.  Alfredo Di Stefano ('57, '59) and Omar Sívori ('61) also won the award, but they did so as Spanish and Italian citizens respectively. 

There was no doubt that Messi had a season to remember.  He was Barcelona's second leading scorer with 23 goals, seven behind Samuel Eto'o who came in fifth in the voting.  He was Barcelona's big playmaker helping the Blaugrana become the first Spanish team to ever win the treble.   He now joins Luis Suárez (1960), Johan Cruyff (1974), Hristo Stoichkov (1994), Rivaldo (1999), and Ronaldinho (2005) as Barca players to have won this distinction.  Ronaldo (1997) and Luis Figo (2000) also won the award having played for Barca in the those respective calendar years.   

Six of the top seven in the European Footballer of the Year voting played for Barcelona in 2009.  Andrés Iniesta (4th), was followed by Eto'o, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (7th).  Thierry Henry ended up in the top 20 in 15th place.  Meanwhile 2007 winner Kaká finished in sixth place.

The Balon D'Or was voted by press and media, while the FIFA World Player of the Year, award which has Messi sitting in pole postion, will be voted on by coaches and captains of national teams affiliated with FIFA.  That award will be presented in Zurich sometime in mid-December. Messi will most likely not be present as he will be in Dubai participating in the Club World Cup with Barcelona.