Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, Rodri, has become this Monday the second Spanish player to win the Ballon d’Or after Luis Suárez, in the distant 1960. The Manchester City player, 28 years old, a solid and elegant footballer, an example of balance , won by surprise over the Brazilian Vinícius, considered a favorite until the last day.
The winner of the night, who arrived on crutches due to his serious knee injury, was rewarded for his titles with Pep Guardiola’s team (Premier, Club World Cup and European Super Cup) and with the Spanish team (Euro Cup). The Madrid midfielder, who trained at the Colchonero club, was chosen among four finalists that included Vinícius, Dani Carvajal and Bellingham.
In his words of gratitude, in addition to referring to his partner, Laura Iglesias, his family and City, Rodri said that the award also has a collective character, recognizing many Spanish footballers who should have received the award, such as Xavi Hernández , Iniesta or Iker Casillas. He also had some kind words for Carvajal, who suffers the same injury as him.
Rodri, who expressed himself interchangeably in English and Spanish, acknowledged that he went through difficult moments in his career, like when he went to Villarreal. “At 17 years old I packed my suitcase to achieve a dream; “I never thought this would happen,” he said. One day I said enough, I called my father crying, thinking that this was over, but he told me that if we had gotten this far we weren’t going to throw in the towel. This says that a normal boy can reach the top.”
For the first time, an attempt was made to keep the secret until the end, while in previous editions the winner was notified in advance and had a prior interview, which made it easier for the news to leak. Even the presenters of the newspaper network L’Equipeco-organizer of the evening, continued to insist until almost the beginning of the gala that Vinícius could be the winner, although the glaring absence of the Real Madrid delegation had not gone unnoticed, who had decided to stand up when they found out that they were not awarded the prize.
The award for the best men’s team went precisely to Real Madrid, and it was left uncollected, which was very strange. The presenters congratulated the soft team on their fifteenth Champions League and the league title, but they tried to complete the procedure quickly and did not explain to the public the reasons for the absence. They preferred to move on to the posthumous tribute to Franz Beckenbauer. Shortly after, the problem with Madrid was visualized again when they had to hand over the Gerd Müller trophy, as top scorers, tied, to Mbappé and Harry Kane. Only the British player, a Bayern Munich player, was present. The same thing happened when it was impossible to give the award to Carlo Ancelotti as the best coach.
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