The 26-year-old reveals his delight at Croatia's qualification for Euro 2012 and the secret behind Tottenham's superb start in this season's English Premier League.
Describing Liones Messi as the best player in the world, Barcelona spokesperson Josep Vives has said that star striker doesn't need any award to prove his credibility.
Ronaldo, who won the award last year, topped the scoring charts with 15 goals in the competition as Real Madrid won a third consecutive European crown.
Atletico Madrid won the La Liga title for the first time since 2014
World Cup: When wingers gave Croatia flight
England's last appearance at this stage was in 1990 when they lost in a penalty shootout to West Germany in Turin while eight years later, in their first World Cup as an independent nation, Croatia lost to hosts and eventual winners France.
Tottenham Hotspur maintained their push for a Premier League top-four finish with a well-deserved 2-0 home win over struggling London rivals West Ham United on Monday.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will resume their perennial battle to be crowned the world's best footballer after they headed the shortlist of 30 players for the 2016 Ballon d'Or announced on Monday.
Manchester City marched into the quarter-finals of the Champions League
Robbie Keane scored twice to help Tottenham Hotspur claim a 3-0 victory over Hull City in the final of the Premier League's Asia Trophy on Friday.
Lionel Messi's fifth-place finish in this year's Ballon d'Or vote was absurd, Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said of the Spanish champions' Argentina forward on Tuesday.
Marco Asensio followed up his brilliant late goal in Sunday's first leg with a stunning effort from 30 metres in the fourth minute that proved a punishing blow for the Catalans.
Real Madrid captain and centre back Sergio Ramos is "100 percent committed" to the club, new coach Rafa Benitez said on Thursday, amid continued speculation the Spain defender could be on his way to Manchester United.
Turkey beat Croatia 3-1 on penalties after their Euro 2008 quarter-final finished 1-1 following extra-time on Friday. They will meet Germany, who beat Portugal 3-2 on Thursday, in the first semi in Basel on Wednesday.
Croatia got their Euro 2008 campaign off to a winning start on Sunday when a fourth-minute Luka Modric penalty proved enough to beat co-hosts Austria 1-0 in the opening game of Group B.
Playmaker Luka Modric said on Tuesday the onus would be on Croatia's other goalgetters to make up for the absence of Eduardo da Silva at Euro 2008. Arsenal forward Eduardo, who suffered a multiple foot fracture in February, was the second highest scorer in qualifying with 10 goals.
Ronaldo threw off the captain's armband and headed for the tunnel when his effort was cleared by Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic after it had crossed the line
Eight years is a long time in the life of an athlete. But just like Messi, Di Maria has preserved and persisted towards his childhood dream, points out Deepti Patwardhan.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice but had to leave the pitch with his face covered in blood as Real Madrid eased their domestic crisis by hammering Liga strugglers Deportivo La Coruna 7-1 at home on Sunday to reclaim fourth place in the standing
Real will meet the winners of Thursday's semi between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Sunday's showpiece at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Jeddah.
Croatia ruthlessly exposed England's limitations in the second half of the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday as Zlatko Dalic's side fought back to secure a famous 2-1 extra-time victory.
"Since 2008 we have never gone beyond this first knockout game and it was very important for us to get that monkey off our back," Modric said.
Croatia needed a touch of Luka Modric magic to beat Turkey 1-0 in their Euro 2016 Group D opener on Sunday, gaining a measure of revenge after their bitter quarter-final elimination by the same opponents at Euro 2008.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored on his return from injury as Real Madrid thrashed Osasuna 5-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday to equal the club's 1960-61 record of 15 successive La Liga wins.
Images from Wednesday's Champions League matches, between Real Madrid and Paris St Germain, and Manchester City and Sporting CP
Real Madrid romped to a 4-1 win at tiny Eibar on Saturday, provisionally returning to the top of La Liga, despite the absence of Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo for Zinedine Zidane's side.
Real Madrid moved back to the top of La Liga as Vinicius Junior scored both goals in a 2-1 victory at Elche on Saturday.
Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric urged Neymar to join him at the Champions League winners after swapping shirts with the forward following Sunday's international friendly between Brazil and Croatia.
Real also have an outstanding defence, conceding only 25 times last year, and are well covered in every position.
Real Madrid equalled a Spanish record of 39 games unbeaten in all competitions by crushing struggling Granada 5-0 on Saturday to go six points clear at the top of La Liga.
Top-ranked Belgium slammed eight goals against Belarus and the Netherlands crashed seven past Gibraltar
Images from the World Cup qualifying matches played on Monday.
Ronaldo had failed to score in his last four league games for Real and his rotten run in front of goal looked set to continue when his spot-kick was turned away by visiting goalkeeper Roberto.
The European Championship is well and truly up for grabs as the tournament enters the knockouts after a compelling group stage in which some top nations fell short of expectations while two fallen powers staged a resurgence.
A diving header from Mario Mandzukic took a deflection off the Nigerian midfielder and crept into the goal for a deserved lead as Croatia dominated the count of chances created in the first 45 minutes.
Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr both scored a brace to give the LaLiga leaders a 4-1 home win over Valencia
Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp has said his team will be 'on fire' for the Champions League final
Lionel Messi insisted his fifth-place finish in Monday's Ballon d'Or awards was not a motivating factor behind his sensational performance in Barcelona's 4-0 thrashing of local rivals Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday.
Champions Barcelona moved five points clear at the top of La Liga with a 2-1 win at Getafe, while Real Madrid fell to a 2-0 defeat by Real Sociedad.
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