adminThe small Argentine made it three in a row on Monday when he landed soccer’s most coveted individual award.
National coaches and team captains and some media personnel drawn from Fifa’s member states were involved in the selection process.
Tinashe Nengomasha voted on behalf of the Warriors captain while Mabika, according to the list, represented the media in Zimbabwe.
In line for the award were Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi. The list was whittled down to three last month after nominations from across the world had been received.
Mabika and Mapeza both voted for Barcelona star Messi for the award and also were of the same opinion that Ronaldo of Real Madrid deserved second place.
The duo differed on the third player with the national team gaffer opting for Xavi who polled the third highest number of votes in an exercise which was open to players from around the world.
Mabika, a veteran broadcast journalist’s third place option was Iker Cassillas.
Kaizer Chiefs and Warriors strongman, Nengomasha according to information released by the organisers, voted for Iniesta and had Wayne Rooney and Karim Benzema in second and third place respectively.
Messi polled 47,88 percent of the vote, with Ronaldo managing 21,6 and Xavi 9,23 to be a unanimous choice for the Fifa Ballon d’Or Award presented in Zurich, Switzerland, on Monday night.
Last season, Messi scored 59 goals from 70 matches, one short of Ronaldo’s tally of 60.
Messi had 37 assists in comparison to Ronaldo’s 21.
The team of the year that was announced.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Dani Alves (Barcelona), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester Utd), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Xavi (Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Wayne Rooney (Manchester Utd).
Blessing Chizhande