ZURICH — Lionel Messi’s claim to a place in football’s pantheon of greats should be advanced today when the FIFA Ballon d’Or trophy is awarded to the world’s best player in 2011.
The Argentine forward heads a three-player shortlist, alongside Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, and seeks to win for a third straight year.
Only World Cup winners Zinedine Zidane of France and Brazil’s Ronaldo have won three times since FIFA created its world player award in 1991, now merged with the Ballon d’Or presented by France Football magazine since 1956.
Only French great Michel Platini ever claimed that trophy for three consecutive years, winning from 1983-85 in an era in which only European players were eligible.
That Messi likely will have three awards by the age of 24 is even more remarkable.
Few players have ever had a year quite like Messi’s 2011. He defined an elegant Barcelona team that won the Champions League, Spanish League, European Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and, after voting closed in November, the FIFA Club World Cup.
Messi scored 53 times in the 2010-11 campaign with mesmerizing play that created as many chances for others. He has another 31 this season.
His sole blemish was another relative failure at a major tournament, with Messi held scoreless as host Argentina exited the Copa America at the quarterfinal stage. His 2010 World Cup ended the same way.
The intense Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry of 2011 will play out again today at the Zurich Kongresshaus.
The men’s coaching award pits Pep Guardiola of Barca against 2010 winner Jose Mourinho, whose Madrid side won the Spanish Cup but was runner-up for all other domestic honors and lost a bad-tempered Champions League semifinal to its great Catalan rival.
The third coaching candidate is Alex Ferguson, who guided Manchester United to a record 19th English title before being eventually outclassed in a memorable Champions League final.
A possible clue to the outcome is that Madrid’s star player — who scored more league goals than Messi — and coach will not attend. They will travel to Malaga for a cup match scheduled for Tuesday.
Barcelona’s dominance could be matched in the women’s awards by Japan’s World Cup-winning team. Tournament top-scorer Homare Sawa aims to end Brazil forward Marta’s five-year hold on the world’s best women’s player award.
Marta helped Western New York Flash win the Women’s Professional Soccer title, but the United States ousted Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinals on its way to the final.
U.S. forward Abby Wambach completes the shortlist after scoring four trademark headers in Germany and a penalty in the shootout defeat which made Japan world champion.
Japan’s Norio Sasaki and Pia Sundhage of the U.S. will contest the award for best coach of a women’s team with France’s Bruno Bini.
