MESSI In a league of his own! Barca star Messi wins fourth Ballon d'Or award after record-breaking year

Lionel Messi won a record-breaking fourth consecutive FIFA Ballon d'Or at an awards ceremony in Zurich.

The 25-year-old Argentinian took the honour ahead of Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta and Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi enjoyed a remarkable 2012 even by his own high standards, most notably surpassing Gerd Muller's 40-year-old record of 85 goals in a calendar year, finishing with an incredible 91.

Taking the honours: Lionel Messi with his Ballon d'Or

HOW THE VOTING BROKE DOWN:

Click here to see how the international captains, managers and media voted part I

Click here to see how the international captains, managers and media voted part II

Messi said: 'To tell you the truth this is really quite unbelievable. The fourth award that I have had is just too great for words.

'I would like to recognise my other colleagues from Barcelona; Andres it has been great to train and play alongside you.

'I would also like to recognise all of my friends in the Argentinian national team, everyone that has worked with me, coaches and staff and my family and my friends. Also my wife and my son. Thank you.

We've been here before! Messi receives the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the fourth year in a row

The moment of truth: Italy's Fabio Cannavaro shows the envelope with Messi's name as winner

Talking a good game: Messi grabs hold of his award during his acceptance speech

Messi said: 'To tell you the truth this is really quite unbelievable. The fourth award that I have had is just too great for words.

'I would like to recognise my other colleagues from Barcelona; Andres it has been great to train and play alongside you.

'I would also like to recognise all of my friends in the Argentinian national team, everyone that has worked with me, coaches and staff and my family and my friends. Also my wife and my son. Thank you.'

The final three: The Ballon d'Or finalists Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta and winner Lionel Messi

What a team: The Team of the Year was made up entirely of La Liga players

The top English player in the list was Manchester United's Wayne Rooney who came 15th with 0.39 per cent of the votes. 

Speaking at the pre-gala press conference, Messi claimed he did not consider 2012 his best year yet.

He said: 'I'm more interested in team awards than I am about what I might win individually. There have been years where we won more titles that have been better.'

Up for it: Proceedings were hosted by Ruud Gullit (L) and Kay Murray

Messi's team-mates and rivals paid tribute to him.

Barca midfielder Cesc Fabregas wrote on Twitter: 'Congratulations Leo, forth time as the best player of £ballondor, you deserve it. And also to @andresiniesta8, huge to be there.'

Argentina team-mate Sergio Aguero simply Tweeted: 'Messi, Messi, Messi, Messi.'

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand Tweeted: "Congrats to Messi! Wow,4 yrs in a row!! Messi has added something else to his list of 'the only person to....' #isMessiTheBestOfAllTime ??'

Doing it for club and country: Messi has been a star for Barcelona and Argentina (below)

Fenerbahce's Miroslav Stoch won the FIFA Puskas Award for goal of the year, Spain boss Vicente Del Bosque was named World Coach of the Year and United States international Abby Wambach won Women's World Player of the Year.

The FIFPro World XI was named up entirely of players based in Spain with Barcelona's Dani Alves, Gerard Pique and Xavi, Real Madrid's Iker Casillas, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso and Atletico Madrid's Radamel Falcao joining the three Ballon d'Or nominees in the team.

Franz Beckenbauer received the FIFA Presidential Award.

Out on her own: Abby Wambach of the USA scooped the female award

MESSI IN 2012: BY NUMBERS

What a year it has been for Lionel Messi. He broke Gerd Muller's 40-year-old record for the most goals in calendar year netting an astonishing 91 times. Aged only 24 he became the first person to score five goals in a single Champions League match in Barcelona's 7-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen in March. And he even started scoring for his country on a regular basis with 12 goals in nine matches for Argentina. Rightfully so he was awarded the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or for a third year in a row. Here Sportsmail unveils our Messi stats bonanza...

CLUB AND COUNTRY MATCHES
Total Barcelona matches: 63
Total Argentina matches: 11
Total matches combined: 74
Total Messi played: 69
Matches missed: 5
Total minutes of football Barcelona and Argentina played: 6,660
Total minutes Messi played: 5,973
Minutes missed: 687

LEAGUE DOMINATION
Total Barcelona league matches: 39
Total Messi played in: 38
Total Barcelona league minutes played: 3,510
Total Messi minutes: 3,361
Minutes missed: 149
The striker only failed to score in 10 of 39 league matches in 2012 – so he scored in 75% of Barcelona's league games.

HOW
Goals scored: 91
Left foot: 81
Right foot: 7
Head: 3

AREA
Inside the box: 78
Outside: 13

DEAD BALL
Penalty: 14
Free kick: 7

MINUTES
0-15 minutes: 5
16-30: 18
31-45: 14
46-60: 13
61-75: 17
76-90: 24
Messi didn't score a single goal in the first 10 minutes of matches at all last year.

TEAM
Barcelona: 79
Argentina: 12

COMPETITION
La Liga: 59
Champions League: 13
Copa del Rey: 5
Spanish Supercup: 2
World Cup Qualifiers: 5
Friendlies: 7

MONTH
January: 7
February: 10
March: 13
April: 9
May: 8
June: 4
July: 0
August: 7
September: 5
October: 10
November: 9
December: 9

DISTANCE
Average distance he scored from: 14.8 yards (or 13.5 metres)

TIME OF DAY
Day: 16 goals scored, 571 minutes played, 36 minutes per goal
Night: 75 goals scored, 5,402 minutes played, 72 minutes per goal

MESSI BINGO
There were 37 minutes of the 90 in a match that Messi didn't score in this season. These are the minutes Messi DIDN'T score in during 2012:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 30, 32, 36, 37, 38, 40, 46, 50, 53, 54, 55, 62, 66, 68, 69, 75, 82, 83, 87.

STADIUMS
Camp Nou, Barcelona: 41 goals
Campo de Futbol de Vallecas, Madrid: 4
Campo de Futbol de Vallecas, Valencia: 4
Estadio Riazor, A Coruna: 3
Stade de Suisse, Bern: 3
MetLife Stadium, New York: 3
La Rosaleda, Malaga: 3
Iberostar Estado, Palma de Mallorca: 3
El Arcangel, Cordoba: 2
Coliseum Alfonso Perez, Getafe: 2
Vicente Calderon, Madrid: 2
Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza: 2
Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow: 2
Reyno de Navarra, Pamplona: 2
El Sardinero, Santander: 2
Benito Villamarin, Seville: 2
La Romareda, Zaragoza: 2
El Monumental, Buenos Aires: 1
Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Cordoba: 1
Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt: 1
Celtic Park, Glasgow: 1
BayArena, Leverkusen: 1
Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid: 1
Nacional, Santiago de Chile: 1
Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Seville: 1
Jose Zorrilla, Valladolid: 1

Posted in: By: SIDE MPOYA