Morocco chief coach, Badou Zaki has confirmed that he voted for the Real Madrid forward, Cristiano Ronaldo in the recent Ballon d’Or nomination because he sees him as the most deserving for his efforts in 2014.
Ballon D’or usually features all national team coaches and captains, and one media representative from Fifa-recognised countries to rank their top three players in the world for the accolade according to their performance for the year.
The last three players who made the final list include Bayern Munich’s Neuer, Barcelona’s Messi and Madrid’s Ronaldo.
Zaki, says he chose Ronaldo over Neuer because he believes that the keeper is getting credit for superb teamwork while Ronaldo’s fantastic performance can be directly attributed to his own hard work.
“I voted for Ronaldo in the Ballon d’Or as he deserved it,” the former Real Mallorca goalkeeper told Goal.
“He did stunning things this year such as winning Copa del Rey and the Champions League.
“He also won individual awards like the Pichichi and was the Champions League’s top goals scorer last season, and also the Best La Liga player and the owner of the best goal. What do you need to do to be considered the best?
“As a former goalkeeper myself, I don’t think Neuer deserves to win. Germany won the World Cup with teamwork, not thanks to one player.
Zaki also noted that there are lot of goalkeepers who performed more brilliant than Neuer but didn’t get the same appreciation from Fifa. Noting also that Ronaldo also plundered Neuer’s net in the semi-final of 2014-15’s Champions League.
“Neuer won the Bundesliga and World Cup but Ronaldo also won a very difficult competition, the Champions League, and got lots of individual awards,” he noted
The winner of Ballon d’Or for 2014 will be handed out on January 12 in Zurich.
