Former Valencia and Inter Milan coach Hector Cuper has slammed the Ballon d'Or vote going to Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cuper insists Barcelona ace Lionel Messi deserved the gong.

He explained to Goal: "Messi is my compatriot and I had to choose him, but I do not think it affected my decision.

"This is the best player I saw last year, we are talking about the overall performance. Ronaldo won titles too, but I do not think his performances were good enough to be the player of the year. The performances will not be in his favor, these are just the titles that will help him be in the nominees.

"You can say that I chose Messi for many reasons, not just because he is Argentine ..."