..::Football III::..

Wolverine GTR · Jan 12, 2015

Ancelotti: Ronaldo was fantastic for Madrid in 2014

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is backing Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Fifa Ballon d'Or later on Monday and says the Portuguese had a "fantastic year" for the club in 2014.

Ancelotti is up for the Coach of the Year award along with Germany boss Joachim Low and Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone and all three spoke ahead of the ceremony in Zurich.

"Cristiano had a fantastic year," the Italian said. "I have spoken a lot of times about him. It was a great season for us; we won the Champions League and he scored 17 goals in the competition. He had a lot of consistency and produced a fantastic effort for the team."

But Low claims Neuer would be a worthy winner of the individual award after his starring role in Germany's World Cup win.

"Manuel Neuer has produced some outstanding performances," he said. "He is responsible for our victory. He has marked a new kind of goalkeeping, something we have never seen before. He is a player who is acting outside the area. He is a player who deserves to win."

Barcelona's Lionel Messi is also in the running for the award, which would be his fifth, and Low added: "All things considered, all three players deserve it."

For Simeone, meanwhile, it is more about the collective at Atletico than outstanding individuals such as Messi, Ronaldo and Neuer.

"It's important for me to see how my footballers identify with my vision," he said. "One of our biggest challenges for me is to transmit this, because the players need to be able to understand. Once we've achieved that it's a great feeling."

Wolverine GTR · Jan 12, 2015

Neuer is already a winner, insists Guardiola

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola feels Manuel Neuer should be proud of himself regardless of whether he wins the 2014 Fifa Ballon d'Or.

The Germany international faces competition from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the prestigious individual award and Guardiola believes he's a winner even if he misses out on the trophy.

"Manu is already a winner. It’s already a great victory when they invite you to fly to Zurich," Guardiola was quoted as saying on the club's official website.

"My advice to Manuel is the same I gave Franck [Ribery] a year ago: go there and enjoy yourself. Don’t bother thinking about whether you’ll win or not.

"If you win it’s good, and if not, that’s good too. Manu should be very proud of himself because it’s a massive achievement to be one of the best three players in the world."

Neuer could become the first goalkeeper to win the award since legendary Russian glovesman Lev Yashin back in 1963.

The winner will be announced at Monday's Fifa Ballon d'Or Gala at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, which is due to start at 18:30CET.

Wolverine GTR · Jan 12, 2015

Nasri rules out France comeback

Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri has insisted that he has no intention of making himself available for selection for the France national team again.

The 27-year-old decided to retire from international duty after Didier Deschamps left him out of the squad for the 2014 World Cup and he has made it clear that not even a new coach would tempt him to make a comeback.

"My France career is finished, even if there is a change of coach at some point," Nasri told beIN Sports.

"My dream has always been to play at a World Cup, but I have missed two for different reasons.

"I tried to talk to Deschamps, but he didn't want to speak. We have the same agent, which could have made things easier, but it's his decision in the end and I have to respect it.

"I was told that there was a behavioural problem. I proposed a meeting to solve the matter. I accept it if there are players who are better than me. It's a World Cup after all. You have to make efforts and sacrifices."

Nasri represented France at Euro 2008 and Euro 2012, making 41 international appearances for Les Bleus in total, in which he scored five goals.

Wolverine GTR · Jan 12, 2015

Pogba can match Zidane and Platini - Allegri

Massimiliano Allegri has tipped Paul Pogba to emulate the achievements of countrymen Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini at Juventus.

The Frenchman opened the scoring in Sunday's 3-1 win over Napoli and has been one of his side's key performers this term as the champions target a fourth consecutive Scudetto.

After an impressive showing for Juve at the Stadio San Paolo, Allegri sees no reason why he cannot achieve similar feats to those of France greats Zidane and Platini.

Zidane won world and European honours on the international stage, with Platini also claiming the latter prize, and both earned two Serie A titles in Turin.

"I hope that Pogba is able to come close to achieving what Zidane and Platini achieved at Juventus," the Juve coach told RAI of the 21-year-old, who already has two Scudetti to his name.

"He is still very young, and has all the quality to do so.

"He scored a wonderful goal [against Napoli] and played reasonably well after the goal, but I think he has the quality to do much better."

Allegri has also ruled out a potential move for Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli.

The former AC Milan boss revealed his admiration for the striker, whom he coached during his spell at San Siro, but says he is not a realistic target for Juventus.

He continued: "I think this [reports of a bid] is a made-up story.

"Balotelli has done very well with me but he belongs to Liverpool and he is not a player that can arrive at Juventus."

Wolverine GTR · Jan 12, 2015

Ronaldo: I'd like to play with Messi and Neuer

Cristiano Ronaldo says he would be interested in playing with fellow Fifa Ballon d'Or candidates Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer in future.

Speaking ahead of the ceremony later on Monday in the official press conference, all three players were asked which footballers from the past they would like to have played with.

Both Messi and Neuer declined to give names in their answers, but Ronaldo surprised the watching media by revealing he would like to link up with his Barcelona rival and the Germany goalkeeper.

"Football is about the present," he said. "The most important thing is the present. In the past there were great players, but for me it would be interesting to play with the two that are here with me now."

Later, Messi was asked whether he would like to take up Ronaldo's offer and play with the Portuguese one day.

"I always like playing with the best players," he said. "It may be difficult because of the teams we play for, but I like to play with the best and he is one of them."

For his part, Neuer added: "I like playing with successful teams. I have idols from the past and it would of course be wonderful to play with those great players but it would be wrong to pick out only one."

Wolverine GTR · Jan 12, 2015

I'm happy at Madrid but only God knows the future - Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo says he is happy at Real Madrid and aims to win more titles at the Spanish side in 2015, but admits he does not know what the future holds.

Speaking ahead of the Fifa Ballon d'Or ceremony on Monday when he is expected to claim the prestigious prize for a third time, the Portuguese was asked if - at the age of almost 30 - he would be tempted to take on one last challenge before the end of his career.

"Nobody knows," he said. "Only God knows the future, but I’m very happy at Real Madrid. I signed a new deal one year ago, but in the future you never know."

In the meantime, the 29-year-old claims he hopes to repeat the success of 2014, when Madrid won the Champions League and also added three more trophies under Carlo Ancelotti.

"The aim in 2015 is try to do what we did in 2014 - to win important titles for the club, maintain the high demands set by the club and make it to the most important dates at the end of the season."

A third Ballon d'Or would see Ronaldo move to within one of Messi's four, while drawing level with three-time winners Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten.

"It's a culmination of a lot of situations," the forward said. "To enter into the list of the best players ever, I am certain I am going to achieve that. This is my eighth year here in Zurich and all three of us want to win.

"It makes me proud and it motivates me - I want to carry on like this."

Wolverine GTR · Jan 12, 2015

FIFA FIFPRO World XI 2014

(4-3-3)

Manuel Neuer
|
Phillip Lahm-David Luiz-Thiago Silva-Sergio Ramos
|
Andres Iniesta-Toni Kroos-Angel di Maria
|
Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi-Arjen Robben