The captain of the Polish national team, Robert Lewandowski, admitted that he made a mistake by voting for "The Golden Ball" award. The 26-year-old Polish player initially named Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player, but later changed his mind and would have chosen his teammate Manuel Neuer instead.
In the end, Neuer finished third in the voting, just 0.04 points behind Lionel Messi from Argentina.
Lewandowski said: "Voting for Ronaldo instead of Neuer was my mistake. Now I would undoubtedly choose Manuel if I had the opportunity. But I have already cast my vote back in August.
I feel really sorry for Manuel. I am very surprised that he didn't even take the second place and lagged so far behind Ronaldo. Neuer is an incredible goalkeeper and a great person."
