Spain and Manchester City star Rodri has become the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, having played a pivotal role in his teams’ success last season with the Premier League and Euro 2024 titles. However, his win sparked some controversy, as Vinicius Junior was widely expected to take the award. Adding to the debate, the Ballon d’Or social media team made a surprising error during their coverage of the ceremony.
While covering the red carpet, the official Ballon d’Or Instagram account mistakenly identified Portuguese player Ruben Dias as Rodri in a caption. Of course, fans were quick to comment that they were wrong, with top comments saying things like: “That’s not Rodri. How are you going to award him if you don’t even know who he is? Hahahaha.”
Ahead of the ceremony, it was reported that no one from Real Madrid would be traveling to Paris, as they found out that Vinicius Jr. wasn’t going to win the award. Los Blancos did receive awards, including Carlo Ancelotti’s Men’s Coach of the Year, Best Men’s Club of the Year and Kylian Mbappe won the Gerd Muller Trophy alongside Harry Kane.
Apart from winning the Premier League and the Euros, Rodri scored 10 goals and gave 14 assists in all competitions. He was also the Golden Ball winner of the 2023 World Cup with Manchester City, which they also won, as well as the UEFA Super Cup.
Other winners of the night included Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati, who took home her second Women’s Ballon d’Or, while Barcelona Femeni won as best Women’s Club in the World. Meanwhile, Lamine Yamal took the Kapa Trophy as best young player.
Rodri dedicated the award to other Spanish legends
During his speech, Rodri mentioned other Spanish legends such as Xavi and Andres Iniesta, who he said also deserved the award during their careers, as well as Dani Carvajal and even mentioned Yamal, whom he said would win the golden ball at some point in the future.
“I wanted to remember my teammates with whom we won the Euro Cup, Carvajal who absolutely deserves to be here, and one who I believe will win it someday—you, Lamine,” he said.
During his speech, he also seemed to allude to all the controversy, saying: “I understand that because I have no social media, people don’t know me much. I am just a normal guy. I enjoy the sport, I enjoy my profession. And I try to be a good person. I am a very calm person.”
He is the first player from England’s top tier to be crowned since Cristiano Ronaldo won in 2008 during his first stint with Manchester United.