Won't die if I don't win the Ballon D'or, says Neymar

Won't die if I don't win the Ballon D'or, says Neymar

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Barcelona forward Neymar has said that he is "not going to die" if he fails to win the Ballon d`Or award and stressed that he does not play football to win individual prizes. Neymar also felt that no one can be ever compared to the class of Barcelona's midfielder Andres Iniesta.

Brazilian star Neymar made it to the Ballon D'or shortlist last year alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and his club teammate Lionel Messi, but is not bothered after losing out on the honour to Messi.

"It`s obvious that (the Ballon d`Or) is a source of motivation, but I`m not going to die if I don`t win it," the 24-year-old told the official La Liga website on Sunday.

The Blaugrana forward maintained that he is happy to keep playing football and is not concerned about winning individual honours.

"Above all, I want to be happy and at Barcelona I`m happy. If I don`t win the Ballon d`Or nothing will change. I don`t play football for that. I play to be happy. Only one player can win it," Neymar said.

The former Santos player expressed confidence that Barcelona will catch up with leaders Real Madrid, whom they trail by three points in the La Liga table.

"There is still a long way to go. We are just focused on our matches. We can`t be worried about Real Madrid. Last year we were 11 points ahead of second but we only won the league in the last match of the season. It`s a tough competition and every game is difficult," he said.

Speaking about his special relationship with fellow forwards Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, Neymar said, "We are creating history and we are getting better. We want to be happy on the pitch and stay together."

"It`s a big pleasure and a little bit strange because we are Brazilian, Argentinian and Uruguayan. We`re rivals in international football but we have a great friendship. We`re always joking around with each other. It makes me very happy to have people like that in football," he added.

Neymar also heaped praise on Barcelona's midfield metronome Andres Iniesta by saying that the Spaniard is incomparable.

"Andres (Iniesta) is the best midfielder I have ever seen, for his quality, for everything. He`s incomparable because he`s very, very different. Andres has an elegance and a classiness that distinguishes him from the rest," the Brazilian said.

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