Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that he is not obsessed with the FIFA Ballon d’Or award as everyone thinks he is.

After winning this title for the last two seasons, it is widely anticipated that the Portuguese superstar will hand over the crown to either Lionel Messi or Neymar. Both these players have not only been successful on a personal level, but they have also achieved immensely with their respective clubs last season. Apart from winning the league title, both Neymar and Messi have lifted the Champions League crown with Barcelona.

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Touré says that it is about time that the FIFA Ballon d’Or award started recognising more African players.

The award was created by unifying the FIFA world Player of the Year award with the famous French magazine. Since then, only European-based players have been winning the award. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two that have dominated the list since 2008, but Touré reckons that there have also been many good players. Touré was recently named in the 23 man shortlist for the upcoming awards ceremony that will held in a couple of months.

Jonjo Shelvey, the 23-year old Swansea City player who has earned a national recall, has said that the Three Lions have set the target of topping their Euro qualifying group by winning each and every match.
The Three Lions have secured wins in the 8 games that they have played so far and are already at the top of the Group E table.

One more win would probably see them through to the tournament proper, but, according to Shelvey, the manager does not want the players to start taking it a little easy once the qualification is achieved.

Speaking on the sidelines of the training session the other day, Shelvey said, “Roy is quite keen that we should try and finish with 30 points. He believes we are capable of doing that and we are also backing ourselves. There is a lot of skill in the group at the moment and irrespective of who gets the opportunity, we can get the job done.”

It’s probably a fanciful question to ask and, right now, the more pertinent question about Mario Balotelli is will he still be at Liverpool next season, rather than whether he will one day fulfil his ambition of being named the Ballon d’Or.

Unless he enjoys the type of super-human run of form between now and the end of the year, the like of which is the staple of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, then Balotelli will not even register as an after-thought when it comes to the naming of the next Ballon d’Or winner in early 2016.

Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery has criticised the FIFA Ballon d’Or award as a political affairs amidst unhappiness that he was not considered as a potential winner last year. Ribery came third in the rankings for last year’s award while his Bayern Munich teammate Manuel Neuer finished in the same position for this year’s title.