Argentina's Lionel Messi won the World Player of the Year for the second time in a row on Monday and Jose Mourinho walked off with the coach’s award, leaving Spain’s World Cup winners disappointed.
Messi surprisingly held off Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi, second and third respectively, to win the newly-created FIFA Ballon D’Or, a fusion of the previously separate annual awards handed out by FIFA and France Football magazine.
Mourinho, now with Real Madrid, won the inaugural Coach of the Year award after leading Inter Milan to a Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup treble.
The honour went to the self-styled Special One, who described himself afterwards as "proudly Portuguese", at the expense of Spain’s World Cup-winning coach Vicente del Bosque, second, and Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola, third.
"The most important trophies for me are the collective ones, not the individual ones but this is a historic trophy for me and Portuguese football," Mourinho told reporters after edging Del Bosque with 35.92% of the votes against 33.08.
Iniesta and Xavi had been favourites after helping Spain win last year’s World Cup while Messi had failed to score a goal or produce his best form at the tournament in South Afica. "It was just good to be here with my teammates," said Messi.
{{/usCountry}}Iniesta and Xavi had been favourites after helping Spain win last year’s World Cup while Messi had failed to score a goal or produce his best form at the tournament in South Afica. "It was just good to be here with my teammates," said Messi.
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