Fair play criterion crucial?
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The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner is called Rodri – which hardly anyone had thought until Monday morning. Until then, the majority and also Real Madrid had assumed that Vinicius Junior would win for the first time. But things turned out differently, the Royals boycotted the event after the first leaked information about the winner and Rodri lifted the trophy that evening – after a spectacular season for his club and his country. Transfermarkt takes a look at which arguments spoke for the Spaniard and which were for and against the Brazilian.
The 28-year-old was instrumental in Manchester City winning the Premier League title for the fourth time in a row and Spain triumphing at the European Championships. Since the start of 2023, Rodri has only lost four games in which he was a starter and has won eight trophies during that period. His importance for Skyblues and La Furia Roja cannot be overestimated.
In his position, he is also the most valuable defensive midfielder in the world with a market value of 130 million euros. With his award, he broke through a long-standing dominance of offensive stars: Fabio Cannavaro was last honored in 2006 after the World Cup title in Germany, a footballer who thinks and acts defensively. His award is also a novelty: no Man City professional has ever received the Ballon d’Or, which has been awarded since 1956.
The reasons for Rodri & against Vinicius Junior
“It is difficult to find a strong argument that any player was consistently better than Rodri in the 2023/24 season,” says Euan Robertson, content manager at Transfermarkt UK. “The Spaniard rarely has a bad game and is by far the best player in the world in his position. Rodri has an incredible influence thanks to his calmness, tactical intelligence and technical excellence. His ability to control games is unrivaled in modern football and he is now held in similar regard to his respected Spanish predecessors Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Xabi Alonso. Rodri is the epitome of a team player without ego who is rarely in the spotlight.”
Another criterion in addition to individual and team success was fair play – behavior on and off the pitch and fairness. Rodri recently stood out as a loudspeaker for the professionals’ side when he criticized the ever-increasing number of games, which led to a higher risk of injury, and did not even rule out a strike. “Someone has to look out for us because we are the main players in this sport or business, or whatever you want to call it.” As if he had almost suspected it, fate struck a little later and the Madrilenian native suffered a torn cruciate ligament with additional meniscus damage .
He previously played 50 games for his club and 13 for his national team last season. Six of them at the European Championships, where he was voted player of the tournament and subsequently his market value rose to the current estimate of 130 million euros. This made him the most valuable Spanish footballer in history, before Lamine Yamal overtook him in October. But he is still the most valuable in his age group.
The most valuable player in the world along with Erling Haaland has recently become Vinicius Junior, who was considered the big favorite for the Ballon d’Or. Both have been valued at 200 million euros since October. The Brazilian also has an outstanding season. He was instrumental in Real Madrid winning their second Champions League title in three years, scoring a goal in the 2-0 final against Borussia Dortmund. He also secured the LaLiga title with Los Blancos. In total, he was directly involved in 35 goals in 39 games.
However, a disappointing Copa América with Brazil could have been his downfall, in which he and his compatriots were eliminated in the quarter-finals. In addition, there were already doubts about Vinicius Junior’s chances of winning before the award, especially due to the fair play point, as he is not known as the fairest player in LaLiga. Another factor was explained by Vincent Garcia, editor-in-chief of “France Football”, in an interview with “L’Équipe”: “Of course, Vinicius certainly suffered from Bellingham and Carvajal being in the top 5, because, mathematically speaking, it gave him a few points has taken. It also summarizes Real’s season, which was carried by three or four players, and the judges divided their decisions among themselves, which benefited Rodri.”
