Spain and Manchester City midfielder Rodri has been awarded arguably the most prestigious individual award in football, the Ballon d’or.
The award was given at a special ceremony on Monday in Paris, organized by the French magazine France football in collaboration with UEFA. The awards are based on voting by a panel of journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked countries.
The 28 year old enjoyed an incredibly stellar season, bagging the Premier league title with Manchester City and winning the Euros with Spain. Rodri now becomes only the second Spaniard to have won the prestigious award after Luis Suarez in 1960. (Alfredo Di Stefano also won it, but he was an Argentine who switched nationalities to Spain.)
“A very special day, for me, my family and my country, I understand that because I have no social media, people don’t know me much. I am just a normal guy. I enjoy the sport, I enjoy my profession. And I try to be a good person. I am a very calm person.” Rodri said while receiving the award.
Rodri is a tough tackling defensive midfielder with marauding runs, great passing ability and a knack for scoring crucial goals. His performances over the years have seen him counted as one of the top players in the English league as well as Europe.
With this win he now becomes the first player from the English Premier league to win the award since Cristiano Ronaldo. He is also only the second midfielder to win it since the Ronaldo-Messi domination of the award. The only other midfielder was the indomitable Luka Modric.
Rodri has been a mainstay for the Pep Guardiola coached Manchester City and has won almost every trophy possible with the club. He has made a name for himself as one of the most talented and consistent players in his position.
His performances handed him a main role in Luis de La Fuente’s Spanish national team, that dominated the Euro 2024. Rodri was part of the Spain team that won Euro 2024, starting every game except the third group stage match against Albania, and claimed the player of the tournament.
He went a world record 74 games unbeaten from March 2023 to May 2023 avoiding defeat until City’s loss in the FA Cup final.
“Today is not a victory for me, it is for Spanish football, for so many players who have not won it and have deserved it, like [Andres] Iniesta, Xavi [Hernandez], Iker [Casillas], Sergio Busquets, so many others. It is for Spanish football and for the figure of the midfielder,” Rodri said on stage at the ceremony.
“Today many friends have written to me and have told me that football has won, for giving visibility to so many midfielders who have a job in the shadows and today it is coming to light.”
Real Madrid’s dynamic Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr came 2nd while Real’s English attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham came in 3rd after his fantastic individual season.