Rodri wins historic Ballon d'Or for Spain in the face of Real Madrid's rudeness
Madrid's Rodrigo Hernández lifted a Ballon d'Or for Spanish football 64 years after Luis Suárez, may he rest in peace, did it. Between these two players, no Spaniard has achieved this feat.
Raúl, Casillas, Xavi and Iniesta have been left by the wayside, watching Owen and Cannavaro lift the trophy under the strange gaze of world football.
A boy ‘with values’, as he said twice in his speech after winning the award. Without tattoos, without stridency, without being part of that other spectacle that the players are part of.
Rodri had no qualms about sending a message to children to let them know that ‘another football is possible’ in allusion to his absolute normality in a career that took him from Madrid to Villarreal and from there to Manchester City and the Spanish national team. A hard road, which was about to end at the Yellow Submarine when he called his father to tell him that it was all over, that he could no longer cope with football or the distance that separated him from his family. But on the other end of the phone was someone who told him they hadn't come all this way to throw in the towel now that they were so close to the elite, those words from a father were the guiding light through the dark nights away from home.
A serious knee injury meant Rodri received the 12kg Ballon d'Or on crutches. At least George Weah was there to help him and present him with a trophy that puts Spain back among the elite of world football thanks to a centre-half, that figure who looks so little at matches but works tirelessly. We saw it at the European Championship where he did not make a bad pass in all seven games, even though he was injured in the final. And City fans see it every week in the Premier League because he is an ‘irreplaceable’ player, as Guardiola said the day his knee blew up.
Rodri chose to speak in Spanish, although he answered some questions in English. He is a prepared guy, who does not need to campaign or make apologies for anything at a gala of this level. A gentleman of football who blessed Lamine Yamal as a future Ballon d'Or winner. The Barça player was recognised as the best young player and no one doubts that his future will also be golden.
The Ballon d'Or 2024 was marked by the absence of Real Madrid. The white club did not attend and left Ancelotti without a trophy for best coach. Lunin, Bellingham, Carvajal, Mbappé and Vinicius were also absent. The plane that was due to take off at 14:00 from Madrid with 50 passengers was grounded because L'Equipe did not want to leak the name of the winner, although on Sunday pools appeared with the name of Rodri that nobody believed.
From the Gallic media they have harshly attacked the club directed by Florentino Perez. ‘The Madrid club chose, without class, to trample on this value of sport, which consists of respecting its winners,’ the editorial said. Apparently, when Vinicius knew he would not be the winner he decided not to go to Paris. Then, the white machine had to recompose its plan and leak to like-minded journalists who did not recognise the award and who also did not understand the reasons for not awarding Rodrigo. They had to do it before they knew, not after. This leaves Real Madrid's image badly damaged, as it found no support in the Spanish press after the boycott. If the facts are true, Madrid are being held hostage by Vinicius, a controversial player who has gone to the extreme of defending racism, putting his club in a complicated position.
With this rant, Real Madrid took the opportunity to settle the score once again with UEFA. Preventing its big names from attending the gala was also a blow to the organisation, which is still battling with Los Blancos for the Superliga. In any case, Real Madrid tarnished its image with an improper and mismanaged gesture as it has not officially explained the reasons for the absence to the fans. The votes are public and at no time can the journalists who voted, L'Equipe or UEFA be accused of punishing the club or Vinicius because the Brazilian came second and Bellingham third.
According to reports from France, Real Madrid wanted to know the result of the award before the gala. They wanted to organise celebrations and Nike planned to dress their Madrid shop in gold in homage to Vinicius. The refusal of the gala and the subsequent leak made the club or Vinicius feel bad, it remains to be seen and led to a decision that tarnished the historic award for a Spanish player like Rodri who, on the other hand, is on Real Madrid's agenda for the next few years.
