Goalkeepers rarely get major recognition in personal awards. They have arguably the most important position on the pitch, but get less chances to showcase their talent on truly elite teams.

This is a quandary that faces Manuel Neuer in his Ballon d'Or bid. The German netminder plays for two teams that rarely give up chances, thus limiting his abilities to show off. He still makes splendid saves and won major tournaments in 2014.

But is this enough to win the coveted individual trophy?

Top Moment

The World Cup of course. Neuer was handed the trophy for the tournament's top keeper after making a plethora of brilliant stops. His finest match was arguably against France when he made five saves, many of the game-saving variety. In the waning seconds he made a tremendous one-handed save to deny Karim Benzema from tying the game.

He finished the entire tournament with 25 saves and only four goals conceded.

He was also terrific in helping Germany's defense by playing his sweeper keeper position, though some questioned his risk taking in the round of 16 match against Algeria. He made a few mistakes in that game, but adjusted thereafter and rarely made a major mistake in coming out of his net to play with his feet.

Low Moment

The 4-0 loss against Real Madrid. There were 11 men on the pitch, but none were more responsible for the defeat than Neuer was.

He had little chance on the two setpiece headers by Sergio Ramos, but could have done better on Cristiano Ronaldo's 3-0 goal.

The worst of all was obviously the fourth goal. He was screened by his wall (which he should have done better to structure) and looked lost as the ball slid beneath the players and past him.

 Why He Can Win It

He had a banner year for club and country. He was the best goalie in a high scoring tournament and only conceded a grand total of four goals in seven matches.

For his efforts he was nominated for the Best Player in Europe Award where he competed with Cristiano Ronaldo and Arjen Robben.

He won the Golden Gloves and is widely seen as the best goalie in the world.

Why He Will Not Win It

Unfortunately for Neuer, goalies are not often seen as favorites for this award. Only one goalie has obtained the honor (decades ago) and recent keepers have simply not been given the same level of respect as top goalscorers.

Take Iker Casillas. In 2010 he won the World Cup and tied the record for least goals conceded in the World Cup with just two. He kept six straight clean sheets and made a memorable penalty save in the quarterfinals against Paraguay and an iconic one in the final against the Netherlands. He finished seventh in voting with 2.9 percent of the votes.

In 2012, Casillas was arguably in better form for his country and club. He led Real Madrid to the Spanish League title and was tremendous as Spain made it all the way to claiming its second straight Euro Cup and third straight major international trophy. Casillas was stellar against Italy and Croatia in the opening round before coming up huge against Portugal in the penalty shootout. He also pitched five straight clean sheets in the tournament while giving up just one goal. Despite that performance, he finished sixth in voting with 3.18 percent of the votes.

Neuer did not pitch more than one clean sheet in a row at the World Cup and gave up more goals than Casillas did in either of his banner year tournaments.

Predictions

He finishes in the top six.