Manuel Neuer has said that he is delighted to have made the final shortlist for the 2014 Ballon d'Or, alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, while the German media has played up his claims to win the prize.
The goalkeeper praised both of his teams, Germany and Bayern Munich, as they helped him become the first German on the final list since Oliver Kahn in 2002. He could also become the first shot stopper to lift the Ballon d'Or since Lev Yashin in 1963.
"That's wonderful news and a huge honour for me. There's no guarantee a goalkeeper will ever be nominated," the World Cup winner told the Bayern Munich website. "But to a very large extent, the credit has to go to my teams. We had a magnificent 2014 with FC Bayern and Germany and won trophies."
Bayern chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also congratulated the 28-year-old, who came through the Schalke 04 youth academy, and joined the German powerhouse for 22 million euros in 2011.
"He put in some outstanding performances at the World Cup, and also in the Champions League and Bundesliga, and he's won things," Rummenigge said.
The Bayern CEO added that it was "a shame" that winger Arjen Robben did not make the list, claimng: "It's barely possible to play better than he has in the last year and a half."
Rummenigge was just one of many in Germany wondering why Argentina international Messi, who broke several records in recent weeks but did not claim a trophy in 2014, was named as one of the three candidates.
"The Argentine did not have a great year, he did not manage to lead his team to World Cup glory," football magazine kicker wrote, and said that players like Thomas Muller, Philipp Lahm or Arjen Robben -- "who played the best year of his life and was outstanding at the World Cup too" -- would have been more likely candidates.
"It seems that the lifetime achievements -- he has won it four times -- speak in favour of Messi," the paper commented.
The tabloid Bild ran the headline "It has to be Manuel Neuer," and argued that "he has won the World Cup, and Ronaldo put the Champions League up against it, and Messi did not win a single title last season."