The Spanish midfielder became the first Man City player to win the Ballon d’Or.
Spanish midfielder Rodri became the first Man City player to win the football’s most illustrious award Ballon d’Or. The Spanish international beat Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham to win the prize.
Rodri was key in steering City to the title and Spain to the Euro 2024 and also boasted excellent statistics last season.
However, his win was seen as strange as Real Madrid star Vinicius was the frontrunner to win the accolade but on Monday it was confirmed that Rodri is the winner of the best football award.
Rodri became the first defensive midfielder to win the award after Lothar Matthaus in 1990 and is the third Spaniard to take home the prize, only after Alfredo Di Stefano (1957 and 1959) and Luis Suarez (1960).
But Rodri, the player City coach Pep Guardiola said is “the best midfielder in the world”, finally ended that run with a unique skill set that has made his club the dominant force in England and helped Spain rule Europe again.
“Today is not a victory for me, it is for Spanish football, for so many players who have not won it and have deserved it, like (Andres) Iniesta, Xavi (Hernandez), Iker (Casillas), Sergio Busquets, so many others. It is for Spanish football and for the figure of the midfielder,” Rodri said on stage at the ceremony.
What was the real reason Rodri won the award?
However, winning the Ballon d’Or is not just related to scoring a good number of goals and winning many trophies, there are three reasons and based on that a champion is chosen.
In the award, they look at individual performance, as well as decisive and impressive character. Team performance and achievements and class and fair play.
Many would imagine what the Brazilian lacked and it could be one of the reasons why he lost the Ballon d’Or 2024 to Rodri. Everyone has witnessed Vinicius‘ antics on the pitch trying to provoke opposition fans and players.
Besides that individually he had an excellent season but only with the club while failing to make an impression with Brazil in the 2024 Copa America, Rodri excelled both for club and country and was seen as the deserving nominee to win the award.
