Manchester City midfielder, Rodri recently won the prestigious Ballon d’Or after a remarkable season that saw him win trophies for both club and country. The Spaniard was one of the ever-presents in Man City’s midfield and won the Player of the Tournament in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph in Germany.
Rodri also became the first Premier League player to win the award since Cristiano Ronaldo won in 2008 while playing for Manchester United. However, all was not rosy during the prestigious award ceremony as Real Madrid players refused to show up at the event, claiming that Vinicuis Jr. was more deserving of the award and the winger was overlooked by the bookmakers.
Along with Vinicuis Jr., Los Blancos also felt Rodri’s national teammate, Dani Carvahal was overlooked for the award, claiming the center-back was more impressive for his club throughout the season and played an equally important role in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph.
France football has now released the vote count and the difference in the number of votes between the two players. According to the report, Rodri, who is sidelined for the entirety of the ongoing season, received 1170 points, while his rival, Vinicuis Jr received 1129, with the difference as low as 41 points. Interestingly, Vinicius Junior appeared in more journalists’ top ten lists (96) than Rodri, who was included in 94.
Rodri is our 2024 Ballon d’Or! Find out more about the 2024 voting details!https://t.co/1OgZ3qMk90#ballondor pic.twitter.com/kb69T161DD
— Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) November 8, 2024
Vinicius’ chances of victory were likely affected by the strength of his fellow Real Madrid teammates, as nine different players were deemed the best in the world by at least one juror, with more than half of them hailing from the Spanish club.
Apart from Vinicuis Jr; Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvahal, and Toni Kroos received votes for the Ballon d’Or trophy with 5, 4, and 2 votes respectively. According to France Football’s data, Atalanta and Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman stood out as one of the few non-Real Madrid players, alongside Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Lautaro Martínez, and Rodri, to earn a first-place vote.
According to a voting report from French outlet L’Equipe, published before France Football’s official release, each of the 99 judges for the men’s Ballon d’Or ranked in the top 10 list, awarding 15 points for first place, followed by 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point for each subsequent position down to 10th place. A journalist from each of the 100 highest-ranked FIFA nations selects ten players from a pool of 30 nominees to determine the winner of the most coveted individual award in football.
Rodri became only the third player from his country to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or award. Previously, former Real Madrid and Barcelona players won the award almost 70 years ago.
Rodri joins the elite Spanish list of Ballon d’Or winners
The last time a Spaniard won the Ballon d’Or was all the way back in 1960 when Luis Suarez claimed the award while playing for FC Barcelona. Suarez won the award with 54 votes, becoming the first Spanish-born player to claim the prize. He joined Barcelona in 1954 and won La Liga in 1958-59 and 1959-60. Suarez then went on to join Inter Milan where he spent 10 seasons before retiring in 1973 aged 37.
Alfredo Di Stefano won the Ballon d’Or twice for Spain in 1957, and 1959 while playing for Real Madrid. Regarded as the greatest footballer of all time, Di Stéfano led Real Madrid to their first five consecutive European Cup victories, etching his name into the club’s history.
In December 1989, Alfredo Di Stéfano was presented with the Super Ballon d’Or, a special recognition from France Football for his exceptional career. He triumphed over Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini in the final vote. This prestigious award has only been given once, making Di Stéfano the sole recipient of this honor.
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Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
