Platini: Neymar still has time to dethrone Messi

UEFA president, Michel Platini had some interesting opinions about his own countries football, the 2013 Ballon d’Or and if he will run for FIFA president.

In an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, Platini spoke about the preparations for the Euro 2016 tournament, which will be held in France, and how he sees the French national team.

“There have been major renovations, like in Marseille and Saint-Etienne.  France is a country that isn’t doing that well, but are doing better than others.  I don’t know if the result will be the same as in 1998 (when France won), but it’s something to dream about.  The possibility of having 23 different groups of fans from each country in Europe would be stirring.  I am certain that I won’t drop the level below 24 teams.

“Didier [Deschamps] has 40 great players at his disposal.  We’ll see if one will emerge as a star.  Ribery is one of them.  A leader is someone who can speak to the players, get them together and then get them all moving in the right direction.  Ribery has to do that, or someone else.

“It will be very difficult to overcome the South Americans [in the 2014 World Cup]; Brazilians, Argentineans, Uruguayans, Chileans. We have ours in Spain and Italy with two generations who have aged.  Germany are maturing and after that, France, Portugal and England will have a difficult time overcoming them.”

Platini then discussed the French domestic league, Ligue 1 and the the rise of PSG, who he believes will dominate for the next 10 years.

“Everyone thinks PSG will win the Champions League.  If I say they won’t, they’ll kill me.  If I say they will, they’ll accuse me of supporting Qatar.

“In Ligue 1, there’s a club, PSG, who will be champions for the next 10 years.  Monaco will be behind them for the next 10 years and Lyon, Marseille, Saint-Etienne, Lille and Montpelier will all be fighting for third place.  Those two (PSG and Monaco) have elevated above and the others do what they can.”

Platini went on to state that either Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo will win the Ballon d’Or over the next 10 years, but that Neymar has the chance to surpass Messi.

“Messi, Cristiano and Ribery were all three fantastic finalists for the Ballon d’Or.  But Ribery won everything so I would’ve voted for him, not just because he’s French either, I would’ve voted for Robben or Schweinsteiger.  With the current criteria….Messi and Cristiano will always win over the next 10 years.  Neymar still has time to dethrone Messi.”

Platini concluded by discussing a possible bid for the FIFA presidency.

“After the World Cup, I’ll say something.  I’ve thought about it at some point.”