To arrive where no one has ever arrived. After breaking the record for goals scored in a calendar year, with 91 goals in 2012, Lionel Messi opens the new year with another incredible record: he is the first footballer in history to win the Ballon d'Or 4 times, beating monsters sacred like Cruyff, Platini and Van Basten who stopped at three.
La Pulga, as the Argentine phenomenon is affectionately called, once again defeated the competition of the other two finalists: Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta (European champion with Spain) and eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo, star of the Real Madrid. An entirely Spanish affair, therefore, even more so if we consider that other eligible candidates were Xavi, also from Barça, and the revelation of 2012 Radamel Falcao, from Atletico Madrid. Italy once again absent: the only candidate for the final would have been Pirlo, author of an excellent year between the Scudetto in Italy and a good European with the national team, but his value was not judged up to the best.
In addition to the best player of the year, the 2012 coach was also awarded tonight and also in this case the verdict was pro-Iberian: beating the competition from Pep Guardiola and Josè Mourinho, the other two candidates, was Vicente del Bosque, the Spain coach who repeated the European title won in 2008 in Poland and Ukraine, beating Prandelli's Italy 4-0 in the final.
In Zurich, on the occasion of the "Fifa Ballon d'Or Gala" which crowned Leo Messi for the fourth time in a row, the "Fifa FIFPro World XI 2012" was also proclaimed, the best eleven of the year with 55 candidates in the running. The entire winning team plays in the Spanish Liga: Casillas, Dani Alves, Piqué, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Xabi Alonso, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Ronaldo, Falcao.
