It's Lionel Messi's World, We're All Just Living In It (Even The Lovely Shakira)

Lionel Messi was the big winner earlier today in Zurich since the Barcelona star captured his third straight player of the year award.

The Argentine midfielder joins Ronaldo (1996, 1997, 2002) and Zinedine Zidane (1998, 2000, 2003) as the only three-time winners of the most prestigious award in soccer, the 2011 Ballon d'Or.

With 48% of the vote, Messi beat Cristiano Rondaldo (22%) and Messi's Barcelona teammate Xavi (9%).

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was chosen men's coach of the year ahead of Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho and Manchester United's Alex Ferguson.

Japan's Homare Sawa won the women's player of the year, ending Marta's five-year reign at the top. Her coach Norio Sasaki was the top women's coach, ending a remarkable year for Japan.

Apropos of nothing, I'm pretty sure I predicted all the winners back when I blogged about the nominees in December. Wish I could have made a profit off of those layup choices!

All three Ballon d'Or nominees were part of the 2011 all-star lineup. It is a team entirely made up of Barcelona, Madrid and Manchester United players.

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas
Defenders: Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Nemanja Vidic
Midfielders: Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso
Forwards: Messi, Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney

No clue why FIFA holds the awards in the next calender year and not in December around the holidays, when there's not much else going on. Oh well, what else would you expect from an ultra-corrupt governing body that's still run by an uberbozo like Sepp Blatter?

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