Dutch legend Johan Cruyff yesterday backed Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi to win up to seven Ballon d'Or awards.
"Messi will be the player to win the most Ballons d'Or in history. He will win five, six, seven. He is incomparable. He's in a different league," former Barcelona player and coach Cruyff told Ole newspaper.
Messi was due to find out overnight if he had become the first man since Michel Platini to win the Ballon d'Or for three years running at a ceremony in Zurich.
The 24-year-old Barcelona star won the inaugural Fifa Ballon d'Or - a combination of the France Football Ballon d'Or prize and Fifa's World Player of the Year award - last year, having picked up both awards in 2009.
- AAP
