Ribery confident of winning UEFA award

Posted Tuesday, August 20, 2013 by Foxsports.com

Bayern Munich's Frank Ribery believes he stands a good chance of being named the 2013 UEFA Best Player in Europe ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Since the award's inception after the 2010/11 season, the UEFA Best Player in Europe award has been won by Barcelona players, with Ballon d'Or recipient Messi winning the inaugural edition before his team-mate Andres Iniesta took the honour last time out.

The prize winner, decided by votes from European football journalists during the draw for the group stages of the Champions League, is expected to be announced on the 29th of August.

Alongside Messi and Ronaldo, Ribery rounds up the top three players that are in contention for the upcoming edition.

The Frenchman told Bild that he should be named as this year's winner because of the outstanding haul of silverware he finished the previous campaign with.

"Messi and Cristiano may have scored more goals than me, but I won the treble, and in these votes, trophies are important," Ribery pointed out.

"Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are great players, but I think I’ve got a very good chance of winning the prize."

Playing under former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, who took over Bayern Munich, in the summer, Ribery also revealed that he was thrilled to be working with a coach he greatly admired.

"In 2008-09 Abidal tried to convince me to sign for Barça. I thought about it, but I had a contract at Bayern," Ribery shared.

"I was fascinated by Pep Guardiola, because he is not just a great coach, he’s also a great person. That’s why I was delighted when Bayern announced they had hired him."