Neymar slams Ballon d'Or over Vinicius Jr. ranking
Neymar wasn't a fan of Vinicius Junior's ranking among the world's best players at the Ballon d'Or awards.
The Paris Saint-Germain star agreed that Karim Benzema deserved to be ranked first and win the prestigious Ballon d'Or award at Monday's ceremony, but he felt his Brazil teammate should've landed higher than eighth.
"... Finishing eighth is not right. At the very least, he is among the top three," Neymar said on Twitter, as translated by ESPN's Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens.
Benzema merecido ππ½ππ½ craque!!
β Neymar Jr (@neymarjr) October 18, 2022
Agora o Vini jr estar em 8 nΓ£o dΓ‘
ππππ
MΓnimo entre os 3
Kevin De Bruyne and Sadio Mane finished second and third, respectively, to complete the top three behind Benzema. PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe was ranked sixth.
Meanwhile, Neymar was not named among the top 30 players in the world, according to votes collected by the French news magazine France Football. He ranked 16th last season.
Vinicius' eighth-place ranking, however, is a massive improvement a year after he failed to crack the top 30 himself at the 2021 Ballon d'Or award ceremony.
The 22-year-old's jump up the rankings comes in recognition of a breakout season, putting up 22 goals and 20 assists in all competitions.
Vinicius was also pivotal in helping Real Madrid capture a record 14th Champions League title, scoring the winning goal in last season's final against Liverpool.