No way to treat Manuel Neuer

First of all lets recognise the Ballon dOr for what it is It may now be awarded to the best footballer in the world mdash according to coaches captains and journalists who vote mdash but for the longest time that was not the case Pele never won it Neither did Zico or Mario Kempes or Diego MaradonaManuel Neuer PicGetty ImagesUntil 1995 when Liberias George Weah won it following a change in the rules only European players were eligible It wasnt until 2007 that votes were sought from outside the continent of Europe So much for a global awardBut thats not the only skew youll notice as you scroll down the list of winners In 59 years you will find just one goalkeeper on the list mdash Lev Yashin of Dynamo Moscow and the Soviet Union was recognised in 1963 Dino Zoff Sepp Maier Gordon Banks Iker Casillas and many other legendary goalkeepers have been conspicuous by their absenceMessi Ronaldo ruleIt was no different this year For the fourth time in succession Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi occupied the top twopositions Ronaldo whose goals were instrumental in Real Madrid winning the Champions League European Cup for a 10th time got more than twice the number of votes that his nearest rivals did Amid the hysteria over RonaldoMessi few noticed the man who finished thirdManuel Neuer didnt win the Champions League in 2014 as Real embarrassed his Bayern Munich side 50 over two legs of the semifinal It was a dismal way to surrender the trophy they had won just under 12 months earlier but it seems that those two matches were pretty much all the judges considered while voting for the worlds best playerFranz Beckenbauer won the award twice 1972 amp 76 and was runnerup twice But thats not what people remember him for They venerate him because he won the World Cup both as player 1974 and coach 1990 and also led Bayern to a hattrick of European Cup titles 7476 Speaking to Sky he said of the 2014 award At this vote success apparently does not matter only presence Its hard to argue with thatRonaldos Portugal didnt even make it out of the group stages at the World Cup As for Messi his World Cup fizzled out in the latter stages and there was little doubt that Germany who had crushed Brazil 71 in the last four were worthy winners even though they needed extra time in the final against ArgentinaNeuer conceded just four goals at the World Cup Thats the same number hes let in in 17 Bundesliga matches this season There have been 13 clean sheets Overall in 59 matches that he played in 2014 he conceded just 40 goals No matter how thrilling the goals from Ronaldo and Messi its hard to make an argument that either man had a more compelling body of work in the calendar yearIn the end the voters appear to have been influenced by what happened at the Allianz Arena in Munich on April 29 2014 Real led 10 coming into the second leg but Bayern were still favourites to go through on their turf Those notions were destroyed in the space of 18 minutes as Sergio Ramos twice and Ronaldo made Bayerns defence look like a colander When Ronaldo added a fourth with a free kick on the stroke of full time the humiliation was completeThat their next headtohead resulted in an emphatic 40 win for Germany mdash Neuer made four crucial saves then mdash appears to have been forgotten It says a lot about the way we view goalkeepers the quiet custodians who find the spotlight only when they errBayern Germany shineNeuer might also have been overlooked because he keeps goal for two such outstanding sides Under Pep Guardiola Bayern keep possession with ridiculous ease The defenders are comfortable playing the ball out and theres so much creativity in midfield and attack that the opposition struggle to get a sniff of the ballIts no different with Germany where a truly golden generation combines possession football with breathtaking speed of transition from defence to attack Goalkeepers on such teams dont always have much to do mdash Neuer has had to make just 33 saves in the Bundesliga this season mdash so its all the more important that they stay switched on Neuer an imposing athletic figure with an acrobats agility does that better than anyone With or without the Ballon dOr hes a player to cherishDileep Premachandran is Wisden Indias editorinchief