Ballon d’Or: City midfielder Rodri wins

Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, known popularly as Rodri, is the winner of the 2024 Ballon d’Or male award. The Manchester City midfielder bested Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid, respectively, to the coveted award. Rodri is the second midfielder to win the coveted award after Luka Modrić won in 2018.

The other midfielders to have won the award in the last 20 years are Kaka (2007) and Pavel Nedved (2003).

The 28-year-old midfielder played 73 games before Manchester City lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final on 25 May 2024. There was controversy before the award ceremony on Monday as the Real Madrid contingent revealed they were going to boycott the annual event.

Rodri, on accepting the award, said, “It was an incredible night for me. It’s a special day for me, my family, and my country.” He also thanked his girlfriend, Laura, and revealed, “It’s our anniversary; she is the most important person in the world to me.”

On the other hand, Real Madrid, in a statement published by AFP, said: “If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner. As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”

The sense of entitlement can be described as stratospheric and shows what appears to be a total lack of self-awareness from the world’s leading football team, which has won 15 UEFA Champions League titles.

Nigerian forward Ademola Lookman came in 14th amongst the 30-man final shortlist. Carlo Ancelotti won the first Johan Cruyff award for male coach after winning his fifth Champions League title as a manager, while Emma Hayes won the women’s award.

Hayes, who led the USA team to Olympic gold, also won the NWSL title with Chelsea. Aitana Bonmati won the Ballon d’Or for women for the second consecutive time, ahead of her Barcelona teammates Caroline Graham Hansen and Salma Paralluelo.

Argentina and Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez made history as he became the first goalkeeper to win the Yashin Trophy in consecutive years after leading Argentina to a successive Copa America title. Martínez was booed at the entrance of the event venue after his shenanigans after Argentina defeated France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in Qatar.

He said, “It’s huge for me. I always dream of playing one game for the national team. From coming to England as a young lad to succeeding for Aston Villa and the national team. To win back-to-back is not something I expected.”

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Lamine Yamal, expectedly, won the Copa Award for the best young player. The Barcelona winger has broken a sleuth of records in the last 12 months, which includes being the youngest-ever scorer at a Euro Championship. He also became the youngest ever scorer in the El Clasico as he scored in the 4-0 rout of Real Madrid on Saturday.

Harry Kane, with 52 goals, shared the Gerd Muller trophy with Kylian Mbappe.