Ballon d'Or fever is upon us. The time of year when one lucky footballer is named the best player in the world is less than a week away.
Those in the football world who have not yet had their say on who should win the prize are rushing to voice their opinion before time is up. One of them is South American legend Diego Maradona.
The Argentine icon, who earned his country a World Cup trophy back in 1986, has given his thoughts on who should be named the recipient of the Ballon d'Or when the award is handed out on January 12 in Zurich.
Given that the 54-year-old former Argentina boss and finalist Lionel Messi share the same home country, one could be forgiven for thinking he would favor the Barcelona superstar.
Quite the contrary, though. Maradona has actually publicly admitted that he feels Messi, a four-time winner, doesn't deserve the award this time around, and thus should not win.
Which finalist has his vote then?
"Neither Messi, nor Ronaldo, my favourite is Neuer, he's the one who deserves it the most," Maradona revealed, on visit to Cuba, throwing his support behind the hot-shot Bayern Munich custodian, who was named 2014 Player of the Year by L'Equipe.
According to Maradona, "Ronaldo and Messi were resting" last year whilst Neuer was out winning the World Cup with Germany in Brazil.
This is the deciding factor for many fans and pundits of the beautiful game across the globe, who feel that Neuer is the only finalist to have enjoyed success with both club and country, as opposed to Messi and Ronaldo.
