Lionel Messi strengthened his claim to be considered the greatest footballer of all time by winning a record-breaking fourth consecutive Fifa Ballon d'Or yesterday night.
The 25-year-old took the honour ahead of Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta and Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo at an awards ceremony in Zurich.
In considering Ronaldo’s credentials, there was also a respectful nod to his contribution to helping Madrid to last season’s semi-finals of the Champions League (as Messi and Iniesta did with Barcelona) and particularly the last four of Euro 2012 with a good but hardly great Portugal side (and noting how brilliantly Iniesta did with the all-conquering Spanish and how Messi had no tournament with Argentina).
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