Rosell’s dig at Ronaldo

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has scoffed at Cristiano Ronaldo’s claim to be crowned World Player of the Year by claiming the Real Madrid forward is not even in the world’s top 10 players.

Ronaldo claimed a fortnight ago that he deserved the award after guiding Real Madrid past Barca to the Spanish title this season and his case was further strengthen by a match-winning performance as Portugal qualified for the quarter-finals of the European Championship with a 2-1 win over Holland.

However, Rosell insisted that there should be no doubt over whether Lionel Messi will pick up his fourth consecutive Balon d’Or at the end of the year.

Rosell said: “Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t the second best player in the world, he is the 12th. The first 11 are Barca players. Outside of Spain everyone is clear that Messi ought to win the Balon d’Or but not here.”

The former Nike executive also had a dig at Ronaldo’s club coach Jose Mourinho.

“I would not accept a manager who wants to win at any cost,” said Rosell.