Barcelona and Argentina soccer star Lionel Messi won FIFA’s Ballon d’Or award as the 2015 Player of the Year on Monday.
Messi won the award for the fifth time in his career. He had won four straight Ballon d’Or awards from 2009 to 2012. Messi got 41.33 percent of the vote while Cristiano Ronaldo finished in second with 27.76 percent of the votes, and Neymar finished in third with 7.86 percent of the votes, according to the Associated Press. This year is the fifth straight year, and seventh in the last eight, that Messi and Ronaldo have finished 1-2 in the voting. It’s the 11th time that a Barcelona player has won the Ballon d’Or award.
"It is a very special moment for me to be back here on this stage, winning again another Ballon d'Or after being there in the audience watching Cristiano win," Messi said. "It's incredible this is my fifth. It's much more than anything I've dreamed of as a kid. I want to thank everyone who voted for me and I want to thank my teammates. And lastly, I want to thank football in general for everything it has brought me. Both the bad and the good. Because it has made me learn and grow."
In 2015 Messi scored 52 goals and had 26 assists in 61 games, according to ESPN. Messi helped Barcelona win La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League in 2015. Barcelona also won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
FIFA’s Women’s Player of the Year went to U.S. captain Carli Lloyd. Lloyd scored six goals in the World Cup which was won by the U.S.
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