News:
Lionel Messi from FC Barcelona and Argentina is the new winner of the Golden Ball. Messi takes over from the 2008 winner Cristiano Ronaldo who ends up second in the vote. Messi is the first Argentinian player ever to win the honor (players from outside Europe were only included in 1994 so the likes of Maradona or Kempes never had the chance to win). Messi won the award in 2009 by the largest margin ever: 240 points over the number 2 Cristiano Ronaldo.
To read more about the draw and the event check out the France Football website.
Below the final classification. The list clearly dominated by FC Barcelona players after their completion of the treble – the first ever Spanish team to accomplish that feat:
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina, FC Barcelona) : 473 points
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United now Real Madrid) : 233 pts
3. Xavi (Spain, FC Barcelona) : 170 pts
4. Andrès Iniesta (Spain, FC Barcelona) : 149 pts
5. Samuel Eto’o (Cameroun, FC Barcelona now Inter Milan) : 75 pts
6. Kaka (Brazil, AC Milan now Real Madrid) : 58 pts
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Inter Milan now 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, 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 Archavin (Russia, Arsenal), Julio Cesar (Brasil, Inter Milan), Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea) : 5 pts
24. Maicon (Brazil, Inter Milan) : 4 pts
25. Diego (Brazil, Werder Bremen now Juventus) : 3 pts
26. David Villa (Spain, Valencia), John Terry (England, Chelsea) : 2 pts
28. Franck Ribéry (France, Bayern Munich), Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast, FC Barcelona) : 1 pt
30. Karim Benzema (France, Lyon now Real Madrid): 0 pt

The winner of the Golden Ball since the very beginning in 1956:
1956 – MATTHEWS
1957 – DI STEFANO (Real Madrid)
1958 – KOPA
1959 – DI STEFANO (Real Madrid)
1960 – SUAREZ
1961 – SIVORI
1962 – MASOPUST
1963 – YACHIN
1964 – LAW
1965 – EUSEBIO
1966 – B.CHARLTON
1967 – ALBERT
1968 – BEST
1969 – RIVERA
1970 – G. MÜLLER
1971 – CRUYFF
1972 – BECKENBAUER
1973 – CRUYFF
1974 – CRUYFF
1975 – BLOCHIN
1976 – BECKENBAUER
1977 – SIMONSEN
1978 – KEEGAN
1979 – KEEGAN
1980 – RUMMENIGGE
1981 – RUMMENIGGE
1982 – P. ROSSI
1983 – PLATINI
1984 – PLATINI
1985 – PLATINI
1986 – BELANOV
1987 – GULLIT
1988 – VAN BASTEN
1989 – VAN BASTEN
1990 – MATTHÄUS
1991 – PAPIN
1992 – VAN BASTEN
1993 – R. BAGGIO
1994 – STOITCHKOV
1995 – WEAH
1996 – SAMMER
1997 – RONALDO
1998 – ZIDANE
1999 – RIVALDO
2000 – FIGO
2001 – OWEN
2002 – RONALDO (Real Madrid)
2003 – NEDVED
2004 – SHEVCHENKO
2005 – RONALDINHO
2006 – CANNAVARO (Real Madrid)
2007 – KAKÁ
2008 – C.RONALDO
2009 – MESSI

Possibly Related Posts:

• Real Madrid squad for the season 2010/11 | Squad number update
• German players in Real Madrid | Germany World Cup jersey
• Atletico Madrid player Diego Forlan | Forlan 7 jersey – shorts – boots . . .
• Real Madrid | the second most popular club in … Germany .. after FC Bayern
• The efficiency of changing the coach … at Real Madrid