Bayern Munich striker Robert lewandowski has regretted his decision to vote Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo in the Fifa Ballon d'Or ahead of teammate Manuel Neuer. The Poland skipper picked Ronaldo ahead of his Bayern teammates Neuer and Bastian Schweinsteiger, but reflected the German goalkeeper would have been a better choice.
Neuer finished third in the running for the prize with 15.72 per cent of the votes, just 0.04 per cent behind Barcelona forward lionel Messi, while 37.66 per cent picked Ronaldo. “Voting for Ronaldo instead of Neuer was a mistake,” lewandowski was quoted as saying by goal.com Tuesday. “I would clearly vote for Neuer now if I had the chance. But I already cast my vote back in August or something. I would vote different now.
“I am sorry for Manuel. I am really surprised that he did not even come in second and the big gap to Ronaldo also baffles me. Manuel is an amazing goalkeeper and person.” Neuer was one of four Bayern Munich players to make the top 10 of the award, with Arjen Robben (fourth), Thomas Muller (fifth), Philipp lahm (sixth) all earning a spot. On Monday, Cristiano Ronaldo was voted the world's best football player for a third time. Only Messi's four FIFA awards is ahead of the 29-year-old Ronaldo. Germany won the other three major individual awards to compensate for Neuer's defeat.
World Cup-winning coach Joachim loew beat Ancelotti and Diego Simeone of Spanish champion Atletico Madrid for the men's coaching award. Germany midfielder Nadine Kessler beat two former winners — Marta of Brazil and United States forward Abby Wambach — to be named the best women's player in 2014. Kessler received 17.52 percent of all voting points, Marta got 14.16 percent and Wambach 13.33 percent. James Rodriguez's volley for Colombia against Uruguay won the goal of the year.