France Football has awarded its Ballon D’ Or Award for 2009 for Leonel Messi. He surpassed his rival Cristiano Ronaldo [who won the same award in 2008] by 473 to 233 points. Messi is the winner of the Champions League, the Spanish Championship, and the Spanish Cup as a member of FC Barcelona.
Messi deserves his award since [at the present time], he is a professional beyond reproach off and on the field. He has been able to maintain calm, cool, and collected in spite of what he has had to suffer playing under a coach of a national team that has lost all scruples. It is the desire of the underwriter that the era of Messi replace the era of Maradona.
El Noticiero de Alvarez Galloso 