Lionel Messi has won the 2015 Fifa Ballon d'Or ahead of
Real Madrid rival
Cristiano Ronaldo and
Barcelona team-mate
Neymar, claiming the prestigious award at Monday's ceremony in Zurich.
Messi received 41.33 per cent of the votes, with Ronaldo (27.76%) in second place and Neymar (7.86%) third.
It
is the Argentina international's fifth World Player of the Year title -
more than any other player in history - and thwarts Ronaldo's quest to
tie his haul of gongs, with the Madrid star having picked up the award
in each of the last two seasons.
"It's a very special moment for me, to be back here on this stage
winning another Ballon d'Or after being in the audience watching
Cristiano win for two years," Messi said upon receiving his award.
"It's incredible that it's my fifth, it's much more than anything I dreamed of as a kid.
"I want to thank all those who voted for me first of all. I also want
to thank obviously my team-mates, as I always say without them none of
this would ever have been possible.
"And lastly I want to thank football for everything it has brought me
- both the bad and the good - because it has made me grow and learn
always." The Ballon d'Or award caps yet another remarkable year for Messi, who
secured five trophies and a famous treble with Barcelona in a dominant
2015, ending the Catalan club's four-year wait for another Champions
League victory - his fourth title in Europe's premier club competition.
Messi
scored a remarkable 52 goals for club and country across the calendar
year - five less than Ronaldo - as well as contributing 26 assists in 61
appearances, scoring or assisting every 0.78 games.
The
27-year-old first won the Ballon d'Or in 2009, before it merged with
Fifa's World Player of the Year award, and won it every year afterwards
until 2012 when his stranglehold on the award was finally broken by
Ronaldo.--------------------------------------
