Barcelona star Lionel Messi has been named the FIFA Men's World Player of the Year for 2010.
GettyImagesLionel Messi becomes the first winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or award
Messi was on a three-man shortlist with Barca team-mates Xavi and Andres Iniestabut, despite Spain's World Cup triumph, the Argentina forward came out on top in the voting.
He becomes the first winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or, which merges France Footballmagazine's European Footballer of the Year prize with the FIFA World Player of the Year. The awards were based on the votes of the coaches and captains of national sides as well as global journalists.
Messi scored more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues in 2010, with 42 goals in 36 La Liga games, as well as finishing top scorer in the Champions League in 2010 with 12 goals in 12 games.
He totalled 60 goals for the year for club and country.
"To be honest, I didn't expect to win today, but it was already great to be here next to my two mates," Messi said as he accepted the award. "To win it makes it even more special.
"I want to share with all of my friends, my family, all the Barcelonistas and the Argentinians."
