Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 9y

Marco Reus the 'best Germany player,' says Carlo Ancelotti

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti says Cristiano Ronaldo's chances of winning the 2014 Ballon d'Or are boosted by Germany's best player Marco Reus having missed this year's World Cup through injury.

Ronaldo is the favourite to win the prize for the third time, however the candidacy of Germany and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was boosted by UEFA president Michel Platini saying recently that someone from the summer's winning World Cup team deserved to be recognised.

FIFA announced on Monday that Ronaldo, Neuer and Lionel Messi had been shortlisted for the prestigious individual award, with the winner to be announced at a gala ceremony on Jan. 12, 2015.

In comments made before that shortlist was announced, Ancelotti told a news conference that the injury to Reus -- who is often mentioned as Madrid transfer target -- had cleared the way for Ronaldo to win again this year.

"[Ronaldo] could be up against a German player," Ancelotti said. "But the best German player, apart from [Madrid's Toni] Kroos and [Sami] Khedira, did not play the World Cup, as that is Reus. Naturally, Neuer had a fantastic season as a goalkeeper. But it is not something which I am too concerned about."

Ancelotti and other Madrid figures including president Florentino Perez and defenders Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Coentrao have regularly pushed Ronaldo's chances through recent months, saying the Portugal captain was the only possible candidate for this year's prize.

Asked by a local reporter whether Sergio Ramos should not also have been considered given his vital contribution to last season's "Decima" Champions League victory, Ancelotti accepted that he had been wrong not to mention the Spain defender.

"Everyone has forgotten about Sergio Ramos," the Italian said. "He scored against Bayern in the semifinal second leg as well as in the final. I apologise to Ramos for having forgotten about him as well."

Ronaldo's excellent performances so far in the current season have helped his team towards a club record run of 16 victories in a row.

The 29-year-old told the Blancos club website that it was now important the team lived up to the praise it was currently receiving and won some silverware at the end of the campaign.

"The team is confident and we want to keep going like this," Ronaldo said. "It's the best dressing room that I've been in in recent years. We hear people saying that this is the best Real Madrid side in recent years, but that's something we'll only know if we win something important. Right now we're in very good shape, because we are on a run of 16 consecutive wins."

He added: "Real Madrid is like a second family. We work together every day. I'm very happy and my teammates are feeling great. The coaching staff are also a very important part of that dressing room."

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