On Monday evening, October 28, Rodrigo Hernandez, better known as Rodri, became the winner of the 2024 Ballon d'Or. The Manchester City midfielder, currently recovering from a serious knee injury sustained in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal, edged out Real Madrid trio Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal.
Rodry's selection caused a wave of outrage at Real and the club boycotted the awards ceremony in Paris. A ceremony that lasted over two hours and aimed to honor the most deserving for the period August 1, 2023 to August 1, 2024 through the awards, was overshadowed by one of the greatest football clubs of all time. Some would use that word and others would support the Royals. But let's try to look at all aspects of what happened at the Théâtre du Châtelet.
Many expected Vinicius, who suffered mixed emotions last week after first scoring a hat-trick in Borussia Dortmund's impressive 5:2 Champions League comeback and then missing big in Barcelona's 0:4 loss in El Clasico, to grab the most prestigious individual prize. The 24-year-old Brazilian winger was first, ahead of Rhodri and Bellingham, when the final standings were initially drawn. Vinicius has been one of the best wing forwards in the last few years. This is an absolute fact. Having improved his finishing, he has become a threat to any opposition, and this past campaign he won La Liga and the Champions League with Real Madrid. A double which, given the criteria for selecting Ballon d'Or winners, should be quite enough to win the award.
But that wasn't the case. On the day of the ceremony, a few hours before the award ceremony, an official statement appeared from Real, in which the Kings unequivocally stated that they were boycotting the ceremony and would not travel to Paris. This gave away only one thing - that the winner would most likely be Rodri, which in the end turned out to be true. Real Madrid were named the Men's Club of the Year and their head coach Carlo Ancelotti also picked up the Best Coach award. The Spanish colossus wrote that France Football did not show respect to the club after Vinicius did not win the Ballon d'Or. Three in the top 4, Best club and Best coach does not exactly speak of "disrespect" to the "white ballet".
So, instead of talking about Rodri's arguably historic triumph at this ceremony, the focus shifted to Real Madrid's claims. Nobody deserved this, least of all the Manchester City midfielder. Whether he is the best footballer in the world for the last year will always remain a subject of subjective assessment. But in no case can it be argued that the Spanish national is not among the best. Not only because of his performances on the pitch with Manchester City and Spain, but also with the trophies he won - tchampions of England and the Club World Cup with the Citizens, as well as the European title with La Furia Roja earlier this summer. Rodry became Manchester City's first Ballon d'Or winner and his position as a defensive midfielder, which in recent years at the Etihad has evolved into a more attacking role, raises the question of whether France Football has compromised by giving the award to a player of such a post, or rather hints at a new direction in the selection of the Best in the World.
Many pundits and analysts can predict, and rightly so, that we won't see a defensive midfielder winning the award any time soon. Rodri's position is one of the most underrated in football, and when we talk about the Ballon d'Or it is visible and undeniable. Sergio Busquets, who is currently a player for Inter Miami in the MLS and previously was part of Barcelona for many years, was one of the best in this position, but he did not win the award even once. Perhaps the timing of Rodri's selection was also right - without Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo among the nominees for the first time in 21 years, and given the fact that there was no clear favorite for the award.
Perhaps France Football compromised by giving the award to a man who does not play at the top of the attack and is not responsible for the most spectacular moments in football, but if we look optimistically, Rodri being the new recipient of the award could also mean a new direction in the selection of future winners. Messi and Ronaldo's dominance has been so great for 20 years that people have become accustomed to expecting one of them to win the Ballon d'Or. But the new direction in selection can be seen in several aspectt - both in unconventional selections from a position on the field and not so much emphasis on trophies won - their importance is clear, but their weight could ultimately be reduced.
Rodri is the new winner of the Ballon d'Or and no one can dispute that the Spaniard is one of the most consistent and most stable footballers regardless of the position he plays. Now he is injured and will be out for a few months. Vinicius will surely be in contention for the prize in the coming years because he is a classy footballer and plays for one of the strongest clubs in the world. Yes, now he's probably disappointed and feels underappreciated, but by no means did he lose the battle to a random player. Real Madrid talked about disrespect but showed none yesterday in Paris. And it is good to remember that before all the awards in the world, even if it is the most prestigious individual prize in football, there is mutual respect both on and off the field. | BGNES
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Stefan Ignatov, editor in the Sports Department of BGNES
