Surprising nobody, Argentina and Barcelona midfielder Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or on Monday, world soccer's highest honor. This is Messi's third Ballon d'Or.
"It’s a huge pleasure to win the third time, a big honour," Messi said. "I want to thank the teammates, players and coaches that voted for me. I want to thank my Barcelona and Argentina teammates, without them this would have been impossible. But most of all, I want to share the award with Xavi: you deserve this as much as I do."
Homare Sawa won the women's award. FIFA and France Football who jointly present the award also named their 2011 'dream team:' Iker Casillas; Daniel Alves, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Nemanja Vidic; Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Xavi; Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Wayne Rooney. Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola won the manager's award along with Japan's Norio Sasaki. Japan's women's team won the Fair Play Award, with Neymar winning Goal of the Year through fan voting. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson won the FIFA Presidential Award.
