Lionel Messi says Andres Iniesta’s award as Europe’s Best Player of 2011-12 has made him happy.
The Barcelona player finished two votes behind teammate Iniesta and level with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, but declared he was pleased that World and European champion Iniesta had won the title.
“It makes me happy that UEFA have rewarded Andres Iniesta, he deserves it,” wrote Messi on his Tencent Weibo account, China’s equivalent of Twitter.
Iniesta has received a flood of accolades since the award on Thursday evening, but will be particularly proud to have been given the stamp of approval from Barca colleague Messi, the initial recipient of the trophy when it was first awarded in 2011.
