阿根廷球星梅西榮膺金球獎

Argentina's Lionel Messi has won the Golden Ball awarded to the European Footballer of the Year, becoming the sixth Barcelona player to take the award and the first since Brazilian Ronaldinho in 2005.

Messi beat last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo into second place while Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez finished third in the poll results released by France Football magazine early Tuesday.

Hailed by Argentina great Diego Maradona as his successor, Messi won an unprecedented treble in Spain last season with Barcelona as the Catalan side swept the Champions League, the Spanish title and the Copa del Rey.

The 22-year-old Messi, the first Argentine to win the prestigious trophy, was the top scorer in last year's Champions League with nine goals, including his superb header in the 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the final.

Messi, who tallied 473 of a possible 480 points, largely dominated the voting and won with a record-margin of 240 points. Real Madrid winger Ronaldo had 233 and Xavi had 170.

"Honestly, I knew that I was among the favorites because Barcelona had a fruitful year in 2009," Messi was quoted as saying by the magazine. "But I didn't expect to win with such a margin. The Golden Ball is very important to me. All the players who won it were great players, and some great players never won it."

Barcelona had three players in the Top 5 with Andres Iniesta taking fourth ahead of former Barca player Samuel Eto'o.

In an outstanding season, Messi netted 38 goals in 51 games in all competitions, often leaving defenders in his wake with a combination of speed, exceptionaldribbling abilities and his effective left-footed strike.

Messi, who led Argentina to next year's World Cup in South Africa, recently signed a new contract with Barcelona through 2016 and has a buyout clause of 250 million euros ($368 million) included.

Messi had a good start to this season - already scoring nine goals - and put on a great display to help his club defeat archrival Real Madrid 1-0 last Sunday.

"It won't be easy to confirm after a year like the one we just went through," Messi said. "I hope the next one will reach the same standards. But to win the Golden Ball two years in a row is not an easy thing."

2009年“金球獎”日前揭曉，阿根廷足球明星里奧•梅西獲此殊榮，當選“歐洲足球先生”，成爲巴塞羅那俱樂部歷史上第六位獲此殊榮的球員，同時是該俱樂部繼2005年巴西球員羅納爾迪尼奧後首位獲得該獎的球員。

“金球獎”評選結果由《法國足球》雜誌於本週二早些時候公佈。去年的“金球獎”得主克里斯蒂亞諾•羅納爾今年屈居第二，巴塞羅那俱樂部中場球員哈維•赫爾南德斯位居第三。

被阿根廷球王迭戈•馬拉多納譽爲自己接班人的梅西上一賽季戰績輝煌，這位邊鋒球員幫助俱樂部完成了歐冠聯賽冠軍、西甲聯賽冠軍和西班牙國王杯賽冠軍的“三冠王”偉業。

現年22歲的梅西是首位獲“金球獎”的阿根廷籍球員。他憑藉九粒進球成爲去年歐冠聯賽的頭號射手，這其中包括他在巴薩與曼聯的對決中所進的一個精彩頭球，在這場決賽中，巴薩以2比0贏得勝利。

在“金球獎”的評選中，梅西力壓羣雄，得到473分（滿分480分），比第二名高出破紀錄的240分。皇家馬德里隊的邊鋒羅納爾多得到233分，哈維得到170分。

《法國足球》雜誌援引梅西的話說：“說實話，我心裏有點底，因爲我所在的巴塞羅那俱樂部在2009年收穫頗豐，但是我沒想到自己會以這麼大的優勢勝出。金球獎對我來說很重要。所有贏得金球獎的球員都很偉大，而還有一些偉大的球員沒有獲得過這個獎項。”

在金球獎評選的前五名中共有三位巴薩俱樂部球員，其中，安德雷斯•伊涅斯塔名列第四，前巴薩俱樂部球員薩繆埃爾•埃託奧位居其後。

在上一個戰果輝煌的賽季中，梅西共效力51場比賽，貢獻了38個進球，他常常憑藉自己的速度、超強的控球技術和有力的左腳進攻讓防守球員猝不及防。

最近，梅西與巴薩俱樂部續約至2016年，但違約金高達2.5億歐元（合3.68億美元）。梅西將帶領阿根廷隊參加明年在南非舉行的世界盃足球賽。

梅西在本賽季開了一個好頭，他已經打入9個進球，並於上週日憑藉絕佳表現幫助他所在的俱樂部以1比0打敗勁敵皇家馬德里隊。

梅西說：“保持2009年的巔峯狀態很難。我希望下一賽季能夠達到同樣的標準。不過連續兩年獲得金球獎一定不是一件容易的事。”

Vocabulary:

treble: treble the amount, size, etc. 三重

header:a pass or shot made in soccer by heading the ball （足球）頭球

tally: to score (a point or goal) in a game or contest 計（分）（He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分記了下來。）

net: to hit (a ball) into the net 把（球等）踢進網

dribble: to move (a ball or puck) by repeated light bounces or kicks, as in basketball or soccer 運球

buyout: the purchase of the entire holdings or interests of an owner or investor 買斷