The Argentine hero now has a golden ball! Lionel Messi became the first Argentine to win the Ballon d’Or as France Football magazine’s European club player of the year. The 22-year-old, Barcelona forward was a near-unanimous pick, beating Cristiano Ronaldo by a record 240 point difference. The award is decided by a poll of world football journalists from a list of only 30 players. 96 jurors gave Messi 473 points out of a possible 480. Messi became the sixth Barcelona player to take the award but the first in four years - since Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho.

Last season Messi's FC Barcelona squad won the Champions League, the Spanish title and the Copa del Rey. Messi was the top scorer in last year's Champions League with nine goals, including a header in the 2-0 final defeat of Manchester United in Rome.

The only problem with this wonderful honor is that no player in history has ever one the award and went on to win the World Cup in the same year. The Final Draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa is this Friday (Dec. 4) in Cape Town, so we'll see who Argentina and Messi will face-off against then. 

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