Lionel Messi named world's best

The new FIFA World Player of the Year Lionel Messi says "it is beautiful to have the recognition of your colleagues."

The Barcelona forward has become the first Argentine to win the award after succeeding Real Madrid's Christiano Ronaldo, in a poll voted for by national team coaches and captains.

He beat off competition from Ronaldo, Kaka and his two club mates Andres Iniesta and Xavi to pick up the award at a ceremony in Zurich.

It caps an incredible year for the player who adds this prize to the prestigious Ballon d'Or which he won earlier this month for the European Footballer of the Year.

The 22-year-old helped Barca to an unprecedented treble of Champions League, La Liga and Spanish Cup last season.

This season the Catalan club have added the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup to their roll of honour, beating the Argentine side Estudiantes in Abu Dhabi last Saturday.

Despite his success in Europe, Messi has struggled recently while playing for the Argantine national team.

Diego Maradona's side struggled to qualify for the World Cup and their results this year included a 6-1 hammering in Bolivia and defeats by Paraguay and Ecuador.

Before the ceremony, Messi told reporters he could not explain why he failed to perform at the same level for his country.

"I don't know," he said. "I try to do the same as I do for Barcelona. But the World Cup qualifiers are complicated, sometimes it's difficult to play and it was a big effort for us to qualify.

"I believe the World Cup could be completely different for us ... it could be better for me and Argentina."