Rodri of Manchester City Claims Victory in Men's 2024 Ballon d'Or, Vinicius Jr of Real Madrid Takes Second Place

�� BREAKING NEWS: RODRI CROWNED WINNER OF THE BALLON D'OR 2024! �🇪🇸

Vinicius Jr. finishes in second place. Congratulations to Rodri! �� #BallonDor2024 #RodriWinsBallonDor2024 🌟🚨 pic.twitter.com/rCwa7zjpY6

In a tight race for men’s football’s top individual honour, Rodri edged Vinicius Jr to become just the second Spanish-born player ever to win the Ballon d’Or. He joins Luis Suárez (not related not Uruguay’s Luis Suarez) and Alfredo Di Stéfano (born in Argentina and played for both Argentina and Colombia before changing citizenship to Spanish) to win the Ballon d’Or from Spain. Rodri’s win also means he becomes the first Premier League player since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008 to win the top prize.

This is also the first time a player representing Manchester City has won the Ballon d’Or adding to Blackpool, Manchester United and Liverpool’s triumphs in the past from England.

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During the 2023-24 season, Rodri helped Manchester City win the Premier League title while they finished runners-up in the FA Cup. Rodri would later add the Community Shield to his club honours list in August. However, his biggest achievement was helping Spain win the Euro 2024 in Germany. Spain remained undefeated throughout the tournament and beat teams like Germany, France and England on their way to the title. I

n the previous season, he had helped Man City win the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League while scoring the winning goal in the latter competition’s final.

According to prominent football journalist Fabrizio Romano, Vinicius Jr (eventually finished second) and his Real Madrid contingent avoided traveling to Paris for the ceremony after a reported leak of the winner’s name. A few hours before the ceremony, a few reports in France hinted that Rodri won the Ballon d’Or 2024, resulting in a furious reaction from Real Madrid and their board. While nothing was official, the media reports aggravated the Madrid board and therefore missing the Ballon d’Or 2024 ceremony.