Arsene Wenger: 'Lionel Messi deserves the FIFA Ballon d'Or'

By Subhankar Mondal, Reporter | 01 December 2012

Arsene Wenger believes that Lionel Messi deserves to win the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or but also hails the other candidates Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has backed Barcelona forward Lionel Messi to win the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or award.

The Argentine has been shortlisted for the most prestigious individual award in world football, along with his Blaugrana teammate Andres Iniesta and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

"It's very difficult," Wenger told Arsenal's official website. "For the class, Messi [should win it]. He's scored 76 goals in one year. It looks just outrageous to me. Therefore, it would be one thing to reward something exceptional.

"Ronaldo has always been there and he deserves it as well. He won the Spanish championship. Iniesta won the European Championship with the national team (Spain) and therefore, you could reward him.

"I'm not a big fan of these things. If you judge purely on class, you judge Messi. If you want the achievement of the year, you would choose Ronaldo and maybe Iniesta in second. That's how I see it."

Messi has won the award for the past three years.