It has been since 2015 that Barcelona star Lionel Messi was last named FIFA Best Player of the Year.
For the last three editions the award went to Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric, the Real Madrid midfielder.
On Monday night, the Argentina captain admitted that he was relieved to have returned under the spotlight as the world's best ply in the Beautiful Game.
“I will always say that the collective aspect of this is more important, the rest comes as a result of the hard work you do with the team,” Messi told Times of Malta.
“Both things go hand in hand. I’m especially happy to share this with my family. It’s been a long time since I won an individual award.
"This is the first time I win this one, it’s great to finally have it in my hands. When you win the collective trophies, the individual awards usually come as well.
“It’s not just me, but it also happened when we won the Champions League back in 2015. It doesn’t always happen that way though, because people who deserve to win it sometimes don’t.”
Asked about Barcelona's early struggles in the 2019/2020 campaign, Messi explained how the team is struggling to implement their game.
“We had a rough start of the season, we are having a hard time finding our best game structure and creating chances," Barcelona's number 10 said.
“We are conceding a lot of goals very easily. We are lucky that this is only the start of the season, but wemust react quickly and we already know that we need to improve.
“We all know that we are struggling to find our better form, this is a group problem but we are only getting started. I have no doubt that we’ll grow as the weeks keep going by.
“I’ve been away from the pitch for a long time, I was on holiday and then I suffered the injury.”
Ansu Fati emergence
Messi also heaped praise on Ansu Fati. The 16-year-old made his Barcelona debut this season and has already grabbed two goals and an assist in five games between La Liga and Champions League.
In addition, Ansu Fati has also been granted the Spanish citizenship and is in line to represent Spain in the upcoming U-17 World Cup, next month in Brazil.
“I was impressed from the very first moment I saw him training, he caught my interest immediately," Messi explained.
“He was already making his debut on the very next day after that, he has incredible qualities to play football.
“I don’t think that giving him so much pressure and responsibility is wise. We need to help him grow along the way and don’t allow the outside noise to stop his development.
“He has amazing qualities to become an important player in the future,” he concluded.