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Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi has been awarded the 2009 Ballon d'Or.

The 22-year-old eclipsed runner-up and last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo by a record 240-point margin.

Messi becomes the first Argentine to win the Ballon d'Or, although Argentine-born players Alfredo di Stefano and Omar Sivori, then regarded as Europeans, received the trophy when it was still called the European Footballer of the Year award.

"It's a great honour for me to be voted (as winner of the) Ballon d'Or and to become the first Argentine in history to receive this award," Messi said.

The win caps a brilliant year for the softly-spoken left-footed forward.

He helped Barcelona to the Champions League title with nine goals - including one in the final against Manchester United - as well as bagging six in the Copa del Rey and 23 in La Liga.

"I knew I was among the favourites, because Barca have had a prolific year and we won everything, but I didn't expect to win it by such an important margin," Messi added.

The award's 96 jurors gave Messi 473 points out of a possible 480, a near unanimous verdict, organisers France Football said.

Portugal's Ronaldo, whose Real Madrid side lost to Barcelona in the Clasico on Sunday evening, picked up 233 points in the vote by journalists from across the world, now open to players from all leagues and nationalities, with Spain's Xavi tallying 170 points.

The jurors rewarded Barca's exciting brand of football with fourth and fifth place for Andres Iniesta and Samuel Eto'o, now at Internazionale, respectively.

"The Ballon d'Or is something very important for me," Messi said after his name was added to a list featuring all-time greats such as Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane.

"All those who won it were great players and some great players never won it," added the Argentine, who will receive the award at a ceremony in Paris on Sunday.

Diego Maradona, now the Argentina coach, would probably have won it several times had it been open to non-European players in the 1980s.

The first player from outside Europe to win the Ballon d'Or was Liberia's George Weah in 1995.

Italian and German players have featured prominently in the standings over the years but neither country had a player on this year's 30-strong shortlist.

The other country apart from Spain to have two players in the top 10 was England with Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney and Liverpool star Steven Gerrard placing eighth and 10th respectively.

Chelsea's Didier Drogba separated them, with Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal following Gerrard.

Veteran Red Devils winger Ryan Giggs was 14th, his team-mate Nemanja Vidic equal 16th, Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard equal 21st and Blues centre-half and England captain John Terry equal 26th.

Reuters