Leo Messi crowned

French magazine France Football said that Messi beat last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo into second place by a massive margin - 473 points to 233.  Messi, 22, won the treble of Champions League, the Spanish championship and Spanish cup with Barcelona last season.

Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard came in eighth and 10th respectively. Third and fourth place in the voting were Messi's Barcelona team-mates, the midfielders Xavi (170 points) and Iniesta (149).

Striker Samuel Eto'o, who left Barcelona for Inter Milan during the close-season, was fifth.

The highest-placed English player was Manchester United striker Rooney, while Chelsea forward Didier Drogba came ninth.

France Football said Messi, the first Argentine to win the award, was only seven points short of the maximum available from the 96 jurors. The magazine quoted Messi as saying: "Honestly, I knew that I was among the favourites because Barcelona had a fruitful year in 2009.

"But I didn't expect to win with such a margin. The Golden Ball is very important to me. All the players who won it were great players, and some great players never won it."  He added: "I dedicate it to my family. They were always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me."

Messi becomes the sixth Barcelona player to take the award but the first since Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho in 2005.  He recently signed a two-year contract extension with the European champions until 2016 - an improved deal which includes a buy-out clause set at 250m euros (£228m).

The arrival of right-back Daniel Alves from Seville in 2008 freed Messi from his wing duties, allowing him to move deeper into midfield, lose his markers, link up better with Barca playmakers Xavi and Iniesta, and burst through on goal from central positions.

He finished as the club's top scorer with 38 goals in all competitions.  Messi, whose style is usually likened to that of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, is a product of the Barca youth system and made his senior debut under Frank Rijkaard aged 16.

He is still only 22 but has amassed three La Liga titles, two European Cups and a Spanish cup. He helped Argentina win the Under-20 World Cup in 2005, finishing as top scorer, and won gold with his country at the 2008 Olympics.

Four years ago, Maradona, who has since become Argentina manager, said Messi would be the player to take over his mantle as national hero.

He is already well on the way and, in addition to the Ballon d'Or, Messi is favourite to be crowned 2009 Fifa World Player of the Year on 21 December.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous Ballon d'Or winners:
1956 - Stanley Matthews (England), 1957 - Alfredo di Stefano (Spain), 1958 - Raymond Kopa (France), 1959 - Di Stefano, 1960 - Luis Suarez (Spain), 1961 - Omar Sivori (Italy), 1962 - Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia), 1963 - Lev Yashin (USSR), 1964 - Denis Law (Scotland), 1965 - Eusebio (Portugal), 1966 - Bobby Charlton (England), 1967 - Florian Albert (Hungary), 1968 - George Best (Northern Ireland), 1969 - Gianni Rivera (Italy), 1970 - Gerd Mueller (West Germany), 1971 - Johan Cruyff (Netherlands), 1972 - Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany), 1973 - Cruyff, 1974 - Cruyff, 1975 - Oleg Blokhin (USSR), 1976 - Beckenbauer, 1977 - Allan Simonsen (Denmark), 1978 - Kevin Keegan (England), 1979 - Keegan, 1980 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany), 1981 - Rummenigge, 1982 - Paolo Rossi (Italy), 1983 - Michel Platini (France), 1984 - Platini, 1985 - Platini, 1986 - Igor Belanov (USSR), 1987 - Ruud Gullit (Netherlands), 1988 - Marco van Basten (Netherlands), 1989 - Van Basten, 1990 - Lothar Matthaeus (Germany), 1991 - Jean-Pierre Papin (France), 1992 - Van Basten, 1993 - Roberto Baggio (Italy), 1994 - Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria), 1995 - George Weah (Liberia), 1996 - Matthias, Sammer (Germany), 1997 - Ronaldo (Brazil), 1998 - Zinedine Zidane (France), 1999 - Rivaldo (Brazil), 2000 - Luis Figo (Portugal), 2001 - Michael Owen (England), 2002 - Ronaldo, 2003 - Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic), 2004 - Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine), 2005 - Ronaldinho (Brazil), 2006 - Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), 2007 - Kaka (Brazil), 2008 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal).