2009 Ballon d'Or
Annual association football award event in France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2009 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in the world as judged by an international panel of sports journalists, was awarded to Lionel Messi of Barcelona on 1 December 2009, the first of his record setting eight Ballon d'Or awards.[1]
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| 2009 Ballon d'Or | |
|---|---|
2009 Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi | |
| Date | 1 December 2009 |
| Location | Paris, France |
| Country | France |
| Presented by | France Football |
| Highlights | |
| Won by |  Lionel Messi (1st award) |
| Website | www |
Messi won the award by a then record margin, 240 points ahead of 2008 winner Cristiano Ronaldo. Xavi was the second Barcelona player in the top three, finishing a further 63 points behind Ronaldo. Messi's win made him the first Argentine-born player to win the award since Omar Sívori in 1961; however, Sívori had taken Italian citizenship by that time and is recognised to have won the Ballon d'Or as an Italian player.
