Super Ballon d’Or explained: Lionel Messi set to be second recipient of football’s most prestigious trophy

Yet another trophy for the collection

Lionel Messi could be about to make history - yes I know, again - by becoming only the second recipient of the Super Ballon d'Or. It's well documented that Messi has a fair few Ballon d'Or's to his name (seven to be precise) but that could now be upgraded to a Super Ballon d'Or. You'll be forgiven for not actually knowing what that award is, given that only one other player has ever been awarded it. Fear not, we've got you covered. The Super Ballon d'Or is said to be awarded to the best performing footballer of the last 30 years - should a player ever be deemed good enough to have earned one. Alfredo di Stefano is the only other player to have won the award, lifting the ultimate individual accolade in 1989 after his incredible performances for Real Madrid. At the time Di Stefano was awarded the Super Ballon d'Or the only players that could be nominated were those born in European countries. Those of you that are screaming and shouting saying: "Di Stefano was born in Argentina, not Spain!" We know... the forward was eligible to win the award as a result of having a Spanish passport despite being born in Buenos Aires. He beat Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini to the award after helping Madrid win five European Cups on the bounce in the late 1950s. France Football haven't given the award out since then but that could now change after Messi lifted the World Cup with Argentina last weekend. During his illustrious playing career the boy from Rosario has scored 799 goals while also providing 388 assists in 1,025 games for club and country. Pretty good, right? Although not confirmed, it seems entirely plausible that Messi could win this word and quite frankly, nobody could disagree with that. Not even Piers Morgan. Related articles.

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