Spaniard Rodri received the Ballon d’Or as the best player in the world

PARIS: Spain and Manchester City midfielder Rodri won the Ballon d’Or on Monday for the world’s best player, ahead of Brazil’s Vinicius Jr and England’s Jude Bellingham, both of Real Madrid, for the prestigious prize.

Spanish Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati won the women’s award for the second time.

Rodri, who won the award for the first time, was instrumental in helping his side win an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League trophy last season. He was also named this year’s European Championship Player of the Year after Spain won a record fourth title.

The 28-year-old Madrid native is the first defensive midfielder to win the Ballon d’Or since Lothar Matthäus in 1990, and the third Spaniard to win the prize after Alfredo Di Stefano (1957 and 1959) and Luis Suarez (1960).

Although the award has been dominated by players from the Spanish league, no Spaniard has won it since Barcelona great Luis Suarez over 60 years ago, despite Spain’s “golden generation” winning the 2010 World Cup as well as the 2008 European Championships and 2012.

But Rodri, a player described by City manager Pep Guardiola as “the best midfielder in the world”, eventually ended the streak with a unique skill set that made his club a dominant force in England and helped Spain rule Europe again.

“Today’s victory is not for me, but for Spanish football, for many players who did not win it but deserved it, such as (Andres) Iniesta, Xavi (Hernandez), Iker (Casillas), Sergio Busquets and many others. others are for Spanish football and for the midfielder figure,” Rodri said on stage during the ceremony.

“Today many friends wrote to me and said that football has won because it has given the opportunity to see so many midfielders who work in the shadows and today it comes into the light.

“I’m a regular guy with values ​​who learns, tries to do the right thing and doesn’t try to follow stereotypes, and even so I was able to reach the top and it’s thanks to all of you. “

NO MESSI OR RONALDO

Rodri became the third person not named Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the award since 2008. This was the first time since 2003 that neither Messi nor Ronaldo made the final list of 30 nominees.

Portugal’s Ronaldo, who has won the award five times and was the last Premier League player to win it in 2008, also failed to receive a nomination last year after moving to Saudi Arabia. Messi, who won for a record eighth time in 2023, missed the match despite Argentina’s Copa America triumph.

Rodri has only lost one match in the last 18 months – City’s surprise defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup final last season.

Previously, Rodri’s teammate Lamin Yamal won the Copa Cup as the best under-21 player, helping Spain to a perfect Euro 2024 campaign, winning all seven of their games en route to lifting the trophy.

Bonmati won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the second year in a row, while compatriot Jennifer Hermoso was awarded the Socrates Award for her role in the fight for women’s rights in football and for her courageous stand against sexism in sport.

Real Madrid decided to boycott the ceremony in anticipation that Vinicius would not win the men’s award.

No one from the club was present when they won the men’s club of the year award, with their manager Carlo Ancelotti named men’s coach of the year, while Barcelona lifted the best women’s club trophy after both teams won the European and Spanish league doubles. last season.