I deserve players' title as much as Messi, Ronaldo: Ribery

Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery claims he deserves to be named European Player of the Year as much as the other two contenders for Thursday's award - Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ribery made the shortlist for the UEFA honour after a 2012/2013 campaign in which the France international helped Bayern to a historic treble of League, Cup and Champions League titles.

And discussing his prospects he told Monday''s edition of Kicker magazine: "I've dreamed about this title for a long time.

"Last season I played really well and won huge titles. Why shouldn't I win it? I deserve it as much as the other two.

"Already I'm  very happy to be among the finalists. But when you have a season like mine you want to be rewarded by such an honour."

Asked to compare his ability with that of Messi and Ronaldo the 30-year-old added: "Each has their own qualities. What (Messi and Ronaldo) do for sure better than me is score goals. They score more often than me, but I set up more goals (than them)."