Spanish European champion Rodri from Manchester City was awarded the Ballon d’Or in Paris on Monday evening. Three Real Madrid professionals follow in second to fourth place. Aitana Bonmatí from Champions League winners FC Barcelona prevailed among the female soccer players.
After emotional minutes in memory of Franz Beckenbauer, Spanish European champion Rodri was awarded the Ballon d’Or for his outstanding season. The 28-year-old from Manchester City received the award on Monday evening at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Aitana Bonmatí from FC Barcelona prevailed among the female soccer players
Previously, the assembled sports celebrities, together with widow Heidi Beckenbauer and children Joel and Francesca, commemorated the German icon who died in January. Beckenbauer was a “unique man with a big, big heart,” said Heidi Beckenbauer. The song “Nobody can separate good friends,” sung by the former world champion in 1966, was heard in the large hall. Old photos and videos were shown before the focus returned to the present of football.
Real stars are missing
Rodri won the journalists’ election, which was organized jointly by “France Football” and the European Football Union Uefa for the first time, ahead of Real Madrid stars Vinícius Júnior, Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal. Possibly because no Real player won the main prize, there appeared to be no Madrid representatives present in Paris – not even Kylian Mbappé, who won the award for top goalscorer last season together with Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane.
Among the female footballers, Bonmatí beat her Barcelona teammates Caroline Graham Hansen and Salma Paralluelo. The trio won the championship, premier class and cup together.
Kroos and Wirtz are the best professionals from Germany
As has often been the case in recent years, German professionals only played a supporting role at the gala. Toni Kroos, who ended his successful career after the home European Championships in the summer, took ninth place. Young star Florian Wirtz (twelfth place), Real defender Antonio Rüdiger (22) and ex-BVB defense chief Mats Hummels (29) also made it to the final of the best 30. The fact that Jamal Musiala was not taken into account caused anger at FC Bayern.
Among the female soccer players, Bayern players Giulia Gwinn and Lea Schüller came in 19th and 24th, while Sjoeke Nüsken from Chelsea FC came in 25th. For men, 100 journalists from the 100 best-placed countries in the world rankings were eligible to vote. For women, the 50 best nations were taken into account.
Rodri excelled – and will be out for a long time
Rodri won the English championship with Man City last season and led the Spanish national team to the European Championship title in Germany in the summer. The current season began with a shock for the Spaniard: Rodri suffered a serious knee injury in September and will be out for several months. He accepted his Ballon d’Or on crutches.
The Ballon d’Or has been awarded since 1956 and has long been the award for the best European player. From 2010 to 2015, the Ballon d’Or was awarded as a prize to the world footballer through a cooperation between the French media group Groupe Amaury, to which “France Football” belongs, and the world association Fifa. The collaboration with Uefa has been in place since this year – the umbrella organization no longer has the sole choice of European Footballer of the Year.
dpa/jr
