would make deciding the winner easier - but says
Lionel Messi would always get his vote.
Yaya Toure says Lionel Messi would always get his vote for the
Ballon d'Or ahead of Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Both Messi and current holder Ronaldo have been named on
FIFA's 23-man shortlist for the 2015 prize, along with
Manchester City midfielder Toure.
While he admits giving two awards every year would make the
decision easier, Toure has explained why he thinks his former
Barcelona team-mate deserves it every time.
"While Cristiano Ronaldo has had another exceptional year, I'd
always vote for Lionel Messi. Not only because there's a great
respect between us from my time at Barca, but also because I
think Leo is above the rest," he said to France Football.
"In fact, ideally, with these two monsters there, they should give
two Ballons d'Or every year!"
Toure has been handed his fifth Ballon d'Or nomination and his
fourth in consecutive seasons, but the Ivory Coast international
admits there are regrets over his final placing in the voting in the
past.
The 32-year-old believes he deserves to have challenged for a
place in the top five, especially in 2009 - when Barcelona
claimed six trophies in a calendar year - and in 2014, when City
last lifted the Premier League title.
"It's a pleasure every time. It's a great barometer of the level
you've reached. To stay on this list, you have to work really,
really hard. It's impossible otherwise, it's the same for Cristiano
Ronaldo or Leo Messi," Toure said. "To be part of this elite is not
only recognition of my consistency but also of my work.
"I think I deserved better at times. I think I could have finished
at least once in the top five but, unfortunately, I've been a long
way off each time.
"Especially in 2009, and in 2014, I had the trophies and the
statistics necessary to think about doing well.
"I admit it's pretty frustrating. I could have shouted my
frustration from the rooftops like [Samuel] Eto'o has done a bit
before. But this isn't the way I operate. I've never felt like they
victimise me."
Toure, the only African on this year's shortlist, acknowledges
that more players from the continent should be forcing their way
into the reckoning - though he accepts it is hard to live up to the
standards set in recent years by the likes of former Chelsea star
Didier Drogba and ex-Barca man Eto'o.
"I know that it's tough to find successors to Didier Drogba or
Samuel Eto'o, who set the bar very, very high," he added.
"But we should perhaps give a bit more attention to Africans in
these kind of circumstances."
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