Ribery on why he should win the Ballon d’Or

Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery said he was confident of winning the World Player of the Year award because he “made the difference” and “set defences on fire”.

Unlike those journeymen Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, then.

Ribery is expected to face strong competition from Barcelona’s four-times winner Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo when FIFA announce a three-man shortlist from the candidates next month.

However, the France winger told Le Monde: “I have no fear, I am confident. I have done all I had to.

“If you look at my performances all year long, I have made the difference. I may not score in every match but I set the defences on fire,” he said.

The 30-year-old Ribery, who helped Bayern to win an unprecedented Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble last season, was crowned UEFA Best Player in Europe in August. Certainly, if the award was based on self belief then the trophy would already be winging its way to chez Ribery.

“So far this year, I have never failed. I have been good during the whole year with my national team and my club. What we did with Bayern last season was historic,” Ribery said.

Asked if he feared competition from bookies favourite Cristiano Ronaldo, scorer of all Portugal’s goals in their 4-2 aggregate win over Sweden in the World Cup playoffs, the Frenchman said: “Not at all, honestly.

“Ronaldo certainly scores goals, but I do too. He certainly scores more than I do, but we don’t have the same style.”