Club over country: Casemiro backs Ronaldo to win Ballon d'Or, not Neymar
Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro has picked a side. Sorry, Brazil.
In the debate over who should claim the 2016 Ballon d'Or award, the defensive midfield specialist - currently sidelined with a fractured leg - says his club-mate Cristiano Ronaldo is more deserving of the hardware than compatriot Neymar.
The lithe attacker will one day achieve the sport's highest individual honour, Casemiro notes, but after a year in which Ronaldo helped Los Blancos win the Champions League before captaining Portugal to a historic Euro 2016 title, the 31-year-old is the clear front-runner.
"I know (Neymar) since we were young," Casemiro said during an appearance on the radio show El Transistor. "He is a great player. What Cristiano Ronaldo has done in the last 10 years should (be) remembered for life.
"Neymar has been there for three or four years. Ronaldo for 10 years. It is all still ahead of Neymar. Cristiano will win the Ballon d'Or again this year. With the year he has had, with the Champions League and the Euros, it is certain."
Ronaldo will be gunning for his second consecutive triumph, having pipped Barcelona teammates Neymar and five-time winner Lionel Messi to the award last year.
The Ballon d'Or voting process will take on a slightly different form this year, following the September split of former joint-organisers France Football and FIFA.
Related: France Football splits with FIFA over Ballon d'Or
National team captains and managers will no longer be involved in the voting, with only journalists deciding who is bestowed with the hardware.
Related: France Football announces changes to Ballon d'Or voting process
Reports suggest a 30-man list of nominees will be announced later this month, but the recent practice of whittling that down to a three-man shortlist will be scrapped.
The award is set to be handed out in December, but will not be accompanied by the pomp of the annual FIFA Gala.
The governing body, meanwhile, has yet to announce what will become of its World Player of the Year award, which was halted in 2009 when FIFA joined forces with France Football to combine their two respective honours.