Friday, 28th September, 2012

Lionel Messi has won his third Onze d’Or trophy, joining an exclusive club in the process.

The award, handed out by renowned French football magazine Onze Mondial, was one the Barcelona forward already held, having picked up 2011’s edition.

relatedNewsStory Messi gained 47.45% of the votes and, given that he also won the Onze d’Or in 2009, now equals Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane in having collected the accolade on three occasions.


Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo finished second in the vote, while third place was taken by Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao.

Messi scored an astonishing 82 goals in 69 games for Argentina and Barcelona in the 2011/12 campaign, in what was a breathtaking performance.

The little Argentine jumps ahead of two-time winners in the list, including Kevin Keegan, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Diego Maradona, Marco van Basten, Ronaldo and Thierry Henry.


Messi will now be focused on helping Barcelona to reclaim the Spanish crown lost to Real Madrid last season and push for Champions League success.

The Blaugrana have made a fine start to the task, winning all five of their La Liga games so far; they are in action away to Sevilla at the weekend.

 

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