FC Barcelona Lionel Messi was hailed as the best player in the world for the year 2009 at the FIFA/FIFPRO World Player Gala held in Zurich, Switzerland tonight.

After helping Barcelona win an unprecedented six titles this year – Copa del Rey, la Liga, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and the Club World Cup – the Argentine international truly deserved the award to top off everything that he had achieved.

The 1,073 points he obtained in the vote, participated in by the coaches and captains of 147 national teams, saw him win by a clear margin ahead of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo in second (352 points) and Spain’s Xavi (196), Brazil’s Kaka (190) and Spain’s Andres Iniesta (134).

Born 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina, the players has now been presented with every award that can be given to a football player for individual performances in Spain, Europe and the World.

His list of awards for the year 2009 includes:

Premio Don Balón (Best Foreign Player in La Liga)
EFE Trophy (Best Ibero-American Player in La Liga)
UEFA Champions League Top Scorer
Trofeo Alfredo Di Stéfano
UEFA Club Forward of the Year
UEFA Club Footballer of the Year
LFP Best Player
Onze d’Or
Ballon d’Or
‘World Soccer’ Player of the Year
FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball
Toyota Award
FIFA World Player of the Year

Four Barcelona players voted among 2009 FIFA/FIFPRO World XI
In the FIFA World Player Gala 2009 held in Zurich, Switzerland tonight, FC Barcelona has four players voted as this year’s FIFA/FIFPRO World XI – Right-back Daniel Alves, Midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, and Forward Lionel Messi

The Catalan club had altogether 9 players nominated from the 55 players short-list, namely:

Defenders – Daniel Alves, Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol

Midfielders – Andres Iniesta, Yaya Toure and Xavi Hernandez

Forwards – Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi

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The FIFA/FIFPro World XI is to honour the best eleven players of the year, as chosen by over 50,000 professional players from all over the world

The complete 2009 FIFA/FIFPRO World XI squad is:

Goalkeeper – Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)

Defenders – Daniel Alves (Barcelona), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United) and Patrice Evra (Manchester United)

Midfielders – Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) and Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)

Forwards – Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic while he was playing for FBK Balkan, a swedish football club. A sharp eye, will notice that Zlatan is wearing a Goalkeepers outfit in the picture, so we might have us a backup to Valdes & Pinto.

FC Barcelona’s Ballon d’Or and now FIFA World Player of 2009 Lionel Messi acknowledged that his early beginnings at the club was tough on him, even though no one had ever seen him shed a tear.

“I would cry only when I’m by myself, so that not even my dad would know. At home, I would lock myself in and cried, and no one would notice. It was tough on us. There were times when it was just my father and me who stayed in Barcelona with the rest of the family back in Argentina. We were suffering, the two of us. Basic materiel things were never lacking but mentally, it was,” confessed the timid player in an interview with Argentine newspaper El Pais.

Asked about his playing style, Messi said it was still the same as when he was still very young: “Sometimes I have the feeling that I have never changed anything. In Barcelona, they taught me a lot of things, but they never tried to change my style … although I have to admit not everything is as it is. When I first arrived I used to hold the ball a bit, but in many matches, we were told to only make two touches.”

Under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola, Messi said all his current coach wants from him is just to be happy because he believes everything will be fine if he does: “He spoke to me about how I wanted to play. I told him when Rijkaard was in-charge I used to get hold of the ball from further back, and so had to cover a lot of ground pushing forward. I said I want to receive the ball closer to the goal area and he liked the idea.”

And he had words of praise for Guardiola: “He has made us better. He really cares about us and is very human. That’s why he is so loved by the players.”

“It’s not my place to tell him (Guardiola) what to do, but if it was up to me, I would not want him to leave ever. He should always be with Barcelona for that’s what he is, for everything that he knows, for what he wants for the club, for how he thinks … He is the perfect choice (for the club).”

Talking about his teammates, Messi acknowledged that the understanding they have with each other is so deep that they need not speak much while on the pitch: “With Xavi, Iniesta … we only need a glance. We know each other well enough to look for and understand each other’s signals.”

Asked what makes the two players special to him, Messi said, “I don’t quite know. It is just their vision and the ease with which they play. They make everything so easy. It amazes me how they are capable of making something difficult so easy. It is impressive. And when you’re confronted with Andrés? Let see if you can take the ball away from him.”

Posed with a question if his affinity for Argentina is stronger than for his adopted home, Catalunya, the Rosario-born player said, “I don’t know. I know I am an Argentinian, I talk this way. I always spoke as an Argentinian because I am one.”

“It angers me when they say that I do not feel for the albiceleste. Nothing pisses me more than when they accuse me of not being Argentinian enough. How do they know how I feel? My fate took me to Barcelona. Since I was a kid, I have always dreamed of playing for Argentina, of making it into the albiceleste. I have never desired for anything more. I think like an Argentine, and I live in Catalunya … but I am very Argentinian.”

On the Catalunya-Argentina friendly this Tuesday, he said he does not have any doubt about where his loyalty lies: “With Argentina! They’ll win against Catalunya.”

Questioned if he feels any awkwardness about scoring the winning goal against an Argentine club, Estudiantes de La Plata in the Club World Cup Final, Messi just shrugged off the notion, “Now there! I’ll take the victory in the final against Estudiantes any day … undoubtedly. It is much better because it is a collective award, and it makes a lot of people happy. I want to make those people that love and support me happy, and to pay back all of the sacrifices that my family had done for me … and when you win a Cup title, and see the reactions it has on the city, nothing compares to the satisfaction you get from that.”

Asked to describe the goal, the player said, “I saw that the goalkeeper was out of position, and think to myself that I only need to make a soft touch to the ball and placed it away from where he was covering. Fortunately, it went well,” adding further, “(Ed. This part I just can’t make out; could be some boot that came off someone) That thing about the boot (his headed goal in the final of the Champions League against Manchester United), that was strange. I was going for the header and was about to make my jump when I saw the boot lying there. They thought that it was prearranged … such idiocy!”

Finally concluding the interview Lionel Messi reminisce about the fortunate circumstances surrounding his life – considering that he was diagnosed with ‘Growth hormone deficiency’ illness as a child: “So often I would look in the mirror and think if that has happened to me is not true. I just can’t believe it. Never have I dreamt that everything would turn out as good as it is. It is just incredible. Never in my wildest dream have I ever imagined that when I came here from Argentina, I would be who I am today.”