Leo Messi scores his hat trick over the weekend. But this is not so much about his skills as sublime as they are but Ray Hudson's orgasmic Gol TV commentary that accompanies those goals. "Nothing less than the equivalent of a footballing bird of paradise. He is like Dr Spock, out off his Vulcan mind" .

Actually, it went to Leo Messi, who in any circumstance is not an undeserving winner. But when you look at a man commanding a soccer ideology as perfectly as Xavi in Spain's greatest sporting achievement then his claim to the world's most influential player is a bit more tenuous.

Xavi's style of playing so familiar to Barcelona was unhesitatingly incorporated into Spain's national team.