Manchester City midfielder Rodri claimed “football has won” after winning the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
The influential Spanish playmaker beat off competition from Real Madrid duo Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham to claim the prestigious individual accolade.
Many had expected Champions League winner Vinicius to pick up the award, before Real chose not to send any representation to the ceremony in Paris after hearing Rodri would win.
But Euro 2024 winner Rodri insisted the result was a victory for the game as he emotionally basked in his victory on stage in Paris.
The 28-year-0ld, who is currently injured with an ACL injury, said: “Many of my friends have written to me to say, ‘football has won today!”.
Rodriiiiiiiiiii 🩵
The 2024 Men’s #ballondor winner! ✨ pic.twitter.com/XaR7T9xPS1
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 28, 2024
He added: “It’s a very special day for me, my family and my country.
“I’d like to tell you an anecdote the story that led me here. When I was 17-year-old I packed up my suitcases and I went to Villarreal with a dream to work in the Premier League.
“And one day I called my father crying telling him it was all over and that I had invested my life to get here and I had the feeling that, this was it.
‘My father said we had come all the way here, let’s keep going and this is something that changed my mindset and now, here I am. I am a normal boy who never gets carried away with stereotypes. Hard work is what matters.”
As well as winning the European Championship, Rodri lifted the Premier League, the Club World Cup and the Super Cup.
He is the first Premier League player to win the award since Cristiano Ronaldo with Manchester United in 2008 and the third overall after Michael Owen won while at Liverpool in 2001.
Gundogan: Rodri is the ‘perfect’ midfielder
Team-mate Ilkay Gundogan, who has starred alongside Rodri for several years with Manchester City, was quick to praise the award winner.
The German midfielder wrote on X: “From today on he is finally not ‘underrated’ anymore. Congratulations to my teammate Rodri on wining the Ballon d’Or!
“For me this is very well deserved! I’m especially happy that someone on a defensive position is winning this title and not always just the offensive players!
“Rodri is the perfect midfielder and there’s no one that plays his position better than he does – there are so many clubs in Europe that are looking for a world class holding midfielder, but in the end there’s only him!
“What a development in recent years!”
From today on he is finally not ‘underrated’ anymore 😜 Congratulations to my teammate Rodri on wining the Ballon d’Or! For me this is very well deserved! I’m especially happy that someone on a defensive position is winning this title and not always just the offensive players!… pic.twitter.com/MFluK8j1ui
— Ilkay Gündogan (@IlkayGuendogan) October 28, 2024
