Zurich: Lionel Messi has claimed the World Player of the Year award to nearly complete his collection of football's greatest honours.
Messi tacked on the prestigious award to his growing list of accolades at a FIFA gala ceremony in Zurich on Monday, easily outdistancing the last two winners - Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka - along with his Barcelona teammates Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta in voting among national team captains and coaches.
Perfect year
It caps a perfect year for the winger, who won an unprecedented treble of titles with Barcelona - the Spanish league and cup, and the Champions League - and received the Ballon D'Or as the best player in Europe. He also sealed Barcelona's first Club World Cup on Saturday in Abu Dhabi with an extra-time goal to beat Estudiantes 2-1.
All that eludes the 22-year-old Argentine now is a World Cup title.
