Only hours after sparking yet another Triumph Deluxe for FC Barcelona with a 4 - 0 victory over Deportivo Corunna in La Liga play this past weekend, Lionel Messi, AKA "Messi Wan Kenobi" here at Jedi Soccer, has been named the winner of the FIFA Ballon D'Or (Golden Ball) award as the world's greatest professional soccer player, for the second year in a row. His contributions on the pitch this past weekend included two assists to teamates Villa and Pedro, and one goal outright on his own. The other Barca goal was scored by fellow Ballon D'Or finalist Andres Iniesta in the 80th minute.
Many people may be shocked by this outcome--after all, it is highly unusual for a player, even of Messi's caliber, to win the award two years in a row. And surely, both Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez were also deserving candidates. Iniesta's game-winning goal at the World Cup final was historic enough to have won the award for him on its own.
But there is one statistic which, more than any other, tells why Messi wins again:
GOALS this season / La Liga play:
Iniesta: 5
Xavi: 6
Messi: 24
And there you have it, my friends. All other things being equal, the ability to put the ball in the back of the net makes the difference.
FC Barcelona is truly in the midst of a Golden Age in the history of the club. To have three players named as Ballon D'Or finalists... and then to have our franchise player win it again, on top of all the championships that Barca has won the last few years, surely this is supreme satisfaction for any fan of the Blaugrana.
"These are the Good Old Days."
“LIKE A JEDI KNIGHT— no, better than that— A TEMPLAR KNIGHT. This is a FLASH OF PURE INSPIRATION, and let me tip my hat to the genesis of this goal: Ibarra. Lionel only absolutely LIGHTS IT UP here, he LIFTS OFF IT, FLAMETHROWERS IT PAST poor Reny Vega. It’s just as well Reny didn’t get a hand to that because it would have TAKEN IT OFF HIS WRIST. Superlative football and an out of this world BERNINI SCULPTURE of a finish." GOL TV Commentator Ray Hudson
