The 2024 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony in Paris ended with Manchester City’s defensive midfielder Rodri taking home the prestigious prize, leaving Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior (Vini Jr) as the runner-up.
Many football fans, players, and analysts had pegged Vini as the favourite, especially after his extraordinary contributions to Madrid's La Liga and Champions League double last season.
Rodri’s triumph over Vini Jr has sparked outrage and raised questions about the award’s criteria. Here’s a look at why many feel that Vini Jr was “robbed” of the award he deserved.
🔥Vini Jr’s Exceptional Season🔥:
Vinícius Júnior’s 2023-24 season was nothing short of extraordinary. He was instrumental in Real Madrid’s remarkable campaign, scoring 24 goals and delivering 11 assists across all competitions, leading the team to a La Liga title and a Champions League victory.
Being the star player for a team that managed to secure both a domestic league and a European trophy is no small feat. His ability to influence big games, particularly in high-pressure moments, set him apart.
In contrast, Rodri had a strong season, anchoring Manchester City’s midfield and playing a pivotal role in their Premier League success and that is just about it. While Spain won the Euro 2024, Rodri’s contributions to that triumph cannot be highlighted as key.
The Spaniard played four games before the final and aside from accumulating yellow cards, which rendered him suspended for Spain’s final Group B game against Albania, he scored one goal in a game Spain won 4-1.
Then in the biggest and most important game of the tournament, the final against England, Rodri could only manage to play just 45 minutes due to injury.
This summed up a rather average showing for the Man City midfielder, who was somehow inexplicably adjudged the best player of the tournament ahead of more deserving candidates like teammates, Fabian Ruiz, Lamine Yamal, and Nico Williams.
While his contributions to City’s Premier League winning season were crucial, his role was more supportive than game-changing and that was made clear in the Premier League Team of the Season Squad released by the Premier League at the end of the 2023/2024 season, where Rodri missed out.
🗣️Outrage from Players, Coaches & Football Fraternity🗣️:
The decision to crown Rodri over Vini has sparked intense backlash on social media. Football fans expressed their outrage on Social Media platform, X, with one X user posting, “Rodri winning this Ballon d’Or is the biggest robbery in football history. Vini has been completely ROBBED.”
Another X user echoed the sentiment, saying, “Vinicius is the real winner and the entire world knows that!” Even players weighed in, with AC Milan’s Rafael Leao subtly sharing his disappointment over the decision by posting an emoji covering its eyes alongside a Vini image.
Retired French Footballer, Frank Ribery posted the words “Ballon d’Or”, along with laughing emojis on his Instagram account. He wasn’t the only one. Players like Sceedorf, Gullit, Benzema, Serge Aurier, and even coaches like Gasperinni of Atlanta.
Many in the football community see this result as an injustice, claiming that Vini Jr’s electrifying impact on the field was overlooked in favor of Rodri’s more subdued but steady contributions.
🤷♂️The Jorginho & Luka Modric Cases: A Shift in Ballon d’Or Criteria?🤷♂️
In 2020, Chelsea and Italy defensive midfielder, Jorginho, had a stellar club season that was crowned with lifting the UEFA Champions League when his Chelsea side beat Man City in the final. Then he went on to lift the UEFA Euros with Italy that same season, and unlike Rodri he played all the games.
Jorginho was named the UEFA Best Player of the Season unlike Rodri, who missed out on that accolade and for good reason. He was neither the best player in the UEFA Champions League nor the UEFA Euros, although he won that last one shockingly.
Now was it a surprise that Jorginho did not go on to lift the Ballon d’Or that year? No, it wasn’t, because while Jroginho’s Chelsea lifted the UCL and his Italy lifted the Euros, he wasn’t the Best Player for either Chelsea or Italy.
Aside from that, his Chelsea had a bad league season and he wasn’t particularly a standout for them in the league, so the world understood when Bayern’s Lewandoski at the time, lifted the FIFA Best Player for his Golden Boot winning 43 goals in that season, which broke Gerd Muller’s 39-year long record for the most goals in a season by a Bundesliga player.
So the question is if Jorginho was not named the Ballon d’Or winner or FIFA Best Player that year for all his exploits in UEFA Competitions and not just one (the Euros), why was Rodri?
Some believe Luka Modric’s Ballon d’Or win in 2018 should justify Rodri’s but it could never because, unlike Rodri, Luka won the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (Best Player) after leading his Croatia to the final of the FIFA World Cup in a season he won the UEFA Player of the Season after lifting the Champions League with Real Madrid.
So really the question is did Vini Jr lose the Ballon d’Or because he scored only two goals in two games for Brazil in the Copa America, or because got into altercations with opponent players who provoked him like a human being?
🔗You can check out & follow Vini Jr’s Real Madrid & Rodri’s Man City games here on MSport.
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