Barcelona

Ballon d'Or Runner-Up Lionel Messi: I'm Not Bitter

Lionel Messi insists that's he's not too unahppy having failed to bag the Ballon d'Or...

Dec 2, 2008 9:56:33 AM

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or, with Lionel Messi placing second

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Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or, with Lionel Messi placing second

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Barcelona's Argentine superstar Lionel Messi was the only other European powerhouse realistically in the running for France Football's Player of the Year award.

However, the voting went as predicted, with Manchester United's prolific Portuguese ace Cristiano Ronaldo gaining the bulk of the votes from the 96 journalist judges, with Messi in second and Fernando Torres of Liverpool rounding off the top three.

In the aftermath Messi claimed that he's not despondent despite losing out to Ronaldo, before hinting that he'll be better placed to win the award in future.

He said, "I was not ever worried about the Ballon d'Or, much less now.

"Fortunately things are going well me, but I always say that the most important thing is to keep doing well for the team and to win many titles.

"I am only 21 years old and I have left many things to do in football."

Greg Ptolomey, Goal.com