Neymar is sure that in six months, UEFA Champion Cristiano Ronaldo will be awarded the highest individual honor that a soccer player can win, the Ballon d’Or.
The FIFA Ballon d’Or is an annual soccer award given to the world’s best male player by FIFA and France Football since 2010. The award is given to the player who international representatives and national coaches and captains believe performed the best in the previous calendar year.
Since its inception in 2010, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the Ballon d’Or. But this year, Neymar does not believe the award will go towards Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi.
Neymar told a Brazilian media outlet: “Ronaldo won the Champions League and now Euro 2016 as well. So I believe he is in a good position. Plus, Ronaldo is a great player. I have no qualms in saying that.” In the race for the Ballon d’Or, Ronaldo came in second in 2011, 2012 and 2015 and won in 2013 and 2014. Last year, Neymar was up against Ronaldo and Messi for the award, but came in third place while Messi won his fourth Ballon d’Or.
A dagger to the heart of every fan of Portuguese soccer was watching Ronaldo be escorted off of the pitch due to a knee injury in just the 25th minute of the UEFA Final against the home team, France. Ronaldo returned to the sideline to motivate his teammates for the 30 minutes of extra time, during which substitute forward Eder scored the winning goal in the 109th minute.
Ronaldo promised in a video posted on Instagram that everything is fine and he will return “mais forte,” which means ‘stronger’ in Portuguese.
