Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon revealed today in an interview he trusts Cristiano Ronaldo will be awarded the Ballon D'Or this year, since he has been the most decisive of the three candidates fighting for the trophy. Buffon praised the Portuguese striker for his commitment to excellence, admiring what he's done this year.
"Probably the Ballon d'Or will go to Cristiano Ronaldo, as he has done something amazing. He deserves this recognition. This year, Ronaldo has been incredibly decisive and incredibly professional; at the moment, he's the best", he assured.
Gianluigi Buffon also had words for Manuel Neuer, the German goalkeeper who's been deemed as the number one opponent for CR7. The Italian shot-stopper doesn't believe Neuer will win it, since he was not as decisive as Real Madrid's No. 7.
"Many times the award doesn't go to the best player, but to the one that has won the most things and has been most instrumental in these victories. But a keeper will only win the Ballon d'Or when he's a world champion, having fought through four penalty shoot-outs and stopping every single one of them. That's the only way that ignoring such an obvious candidate can be avoided," Buffon stated.
Beaten to the prize by his former team-mate Fabio Cannavaro back in 2006, the Italian regretted no Italian players were considered in the Final three candidates, taking into account none of them had an outstanding season to even be considered.
"The fact that there are no Italians makes us realise what is happening to our football at the moment and the regression in the technical and individual quality of our players. But it's also true that, as with everything in life, sport has its cycles," Buffon added.
