The two are among the shortlist for the top individual honour, with Neuer, a World Cup winner with Germany, in with a big chance given his heroics for club and country.
However, Real Madrid star Ronaldo is still seen as the favourite, and Neuer believes that is because very little attention is paid to goalkeepers.
"I am an athlete, no ambassador of a brand, besides being the first goalkeeper of Adidas," he told Kicker. “I'm not the sort of person who poses in their underwear.
"I hate the red carpet, I prefer the green grass. I feel better on the pitch, trying to improve myself.
"After the games the highlights show mostly the goals, scoring chances, assists. The spectator tends not to remember that as a goalkeeper I make difficult saves at great risk and start moves with my efforts."
Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Goetze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Mueller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Côte d’Ivoire)