A GERMAN SHOULDN'T BE IN BALLON D'OR RACE

Football's greatest individual prize will be awarded soon with Real Madrid's Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo being the hot favourite to win the award for the second year in a row. There are many people within the game suggesting the prize should go to a German, however. Here is why that argument does not hold any real weight.

D. Ray Morton, 27th November 2014.

Ronaldo has, again, been magnificent in the past calendar year and fully deserves the top individual prize in the game

Cristiano Ronaldo has set phenomenal numbers in the past year. As his club Real Madrid achieved Champions League glory, Ronaldo racked up 51 goals in competitive club level matches. He was the top goalscorer in both La Liga (31) and the Champions League (17). Already this season, he has 26 goals in all competitions. These figures are astounding and are the mark of a great individual player in his prime. Why then is there such a push for a German to be awarded football's biggest individual prize this year?

Germany did win the summer's FIFA World Cup in Brazil but it was not a team that featured one great individual. It was a collective, a well-oiled unit that got the job done in a football tournament that has lost its gloss in comparison to UEFA's Champions League. Manchester United legend and Ronaldo's former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, pointed out some years ago that the Champions League had overtaken the World Cup as the sports premier competition. The World Cup gets a lot of attention due to its international appeal but it is no longer football's bread and butter. The Champions League is the true testing ground at the highest level.

Lionel Messi is currently the second favourite behind Ronaldo to challenge for the Ballon d'Or. Trophyless at the end of last season, Messi has kicked back into gear this season and has rediscovered his very best form in recent days having scored back-to-back hattricks domestically and in Europe. Despite his injuries and dip in form last season, did any German out-perform him, for club and country without even mentioning Ronaldo? Not likely.

The Ballon d'Or's credibility was dealt a further blow by the exclusion of Luis Suárez in the shortlist for potential winners. Did his silly bite at the World Cup warrant undoing what was an incredible season at Liverpool where he practically dragged an unfancied team single-handedly to near-Premier League glory?

Individually, the Germans don't match up. Philipp Lahm's name has been touted and the recently-retired international does deserve respect but how big an impact does he make? Is he a match-winner? Hardly. How much impact can he possibly have playing at either right-back or as a tidy possession keeper in midfield for Bayern Munich?

Manuel Neuer is another name in the conversation. He only seems to be mentioned because he has been in and around greatness over the past year but has not really provided it himself. Thibaut Courtois' performances for Atlético Madrid were far more impressive at club level and at international level, Neuer did not have much to do for Germany with a good team in front of him. Indeed, he could easily have been sent off in the World Cup final for his flying knee on Gonzalo Higuaín.

Neuer can poke fun at Ronaldo's underwear ads but to say he has had a better year, individually, than the Portuguese is a stretch no pair of pants can take

That leaves maybe Toni Kroos and Thomas Müller's names in the hat but again, how big an impact did they have on their own? Müller is a fine poacher and deserves admiration for consistently delivering despite his lack of technical prowess but he should not be mentioned in the same breath as the Ronaldos and Messis of the football world. Kroos is a great midfielder but is now at Real Madrid and is not exactly their biggest star there. At the Bernabéu, Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos are considered to be key players and Kroos is, for now, merely a good addition to their midfield options.

Were Ronaldo to miss out on the award, FIFA would appear to be engineering their Ballon d'Or award to promote their tournaments, not UEFA's. Messi does not quite deserve it this year despite, and oddly so, being awarded the Golden Ball award for being the World Cup's best player. Neuer, Lahm, Kroos and Müller do not deserve it just for being in a fine international team (and probably not an all-time great one). Give it to Ronaldo. He has been the best and fully deserves it.

DEFAULT GERMAN VICTORY IN A CORPORATE BEHEMOTH OF A WORLD CUP

D. Ray Morton, 14th July 2014.

That cherubic scoundrel Mario Götze kisses the World Cup shortly after scoring the goal that won it for Germany

A month ago when World Cup 2014 started, football fans were greeted with the possibility of a truly great showcase of the game and we very nearly got one. Somewhere along the line it became altogether very serious. Germany were able squeeze past a stubborn Argentinian side thanks to a late goal in extra time from substitute Mario Götze to win the whole damn thing. Perhaps a fitting conclusion amidst the corporate flatulence that had filled this newfangled Maracanã stadium. Götze, afterall, is the guy who jilted the romantics of Borussia Dortmund to seek fame and fortune at the global powerhouse that are rivals Bayern Munich. Such dignitaries as German prime minister Angela Merkel and...the guy from "That '70s Show", Ashton Kutcher, were in attendance for that special moment.

Irreverence had probably seeped into the mind of any avid fan of the sport as this final developed. The game was flat, rather boring for the most part. Occasionally Argentina would carve out an opportunity but could not add a finishing touch. Gonzalo Higuaín was guilty of a bad one-on-one miss in the first half. Indeed, Higuaín (or Ó hUiginn, poet of Connacht) was at the heart of another controversial incident that probably went over the heads of many spectators as the game veered towards inevitable full-time stalemate and subsequent extra time. Chasing a loose ball in the second half, the Napoli striker was baring down on goal until German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer leapt out of the air. His knee rising like that of a Muay Thai fighter, Neuer nearly took Higuaín's head off as he snatched the ball from his opponent's path. The incident was nearly very ugly, reminiscent of Harald Schumacher's assault of Patrick Battiston in 1982. Somehow, Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli awarded the decision against the Argentine. That moment was decisive in the course of the game as the correct call would have resulted in a penalty for Argentina and a red card for Neuer.

Manuel Neuer's reckless knee smash of Gonzalo Higuaín, remarkably, went completely unpunished
 

With the game spiralling towards penalties, Germany's extra rest day and the fresh legs of Götze proved to be decisive. Another substitute, André Schürrle, was able to skip past the exhausted duo of Javier Mascherano and Pablo Zabaleta down the left flank where he crossed in. Götze controlled well with his chest and knocked it past the on-rushing Sergio Romero who had left most of his goal open. Beer steins were lifted all over Germany as the country, in its unified form, won its first World Cup.

Argentina were crushed and could not even threaten in the few minutes thereafter. It must have been an especially frustrating night for Lionel Messi. He did not have his best game and missed a pretty decent chance in the second half of normal time. To makes matters worse, he was awarded the Golden Ball award for best player at the World Cup though he himself will feel embarrassed to receive such a prize. Realistically, it has not been Messi's World Cup since the group stage. Someone like Colombia's James Rodríguez, who performed brilliantly in each of his matches, would have been far more worthy. Even Diego Maradona felt Messi was unworthy sensing that the award had a corporate angle behind it.

Anyway, it is done. Germany have their prize and the rest of the world just want to move on and forget about this. In Europe, the Germans do not have many fans outside of their own country. Only an English victory would have been more offensive. However inclined, one must admit that Germany are a good team in an international football scene without many others. They can build on this and stroll into Euro 2016 as favourites, a pedestal they have not enjoyed since the 1990s.