2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri received a phone call from a Real Madrid star after Vinicius Jr led a Los Blancos boycott at this year's ceremony.
On Monday evening Rodri became the 50th winner of the most coveted individual prize in world football, with 100 journalists from the top ranked FIFA nations voting the Manchester City star as the best player in the world.
Ballon d'Or winner George Weah announced Rodri as the winner at the 68th edition of the France Football award in Paris following an excellent year where he won the Premier League and Euro 2024 with City and Spain respectively.
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Vinicius had appeared to be the favourite to win the prize after his contributions in Real's La Liga and Champions League success and reports claimed he even had a private party organised and splashed out on incredible gifts for his teammates.
But having been made aware that he would not be winning, Vinicius, teammates like Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and manager Carlo Ancelotti elected to boycott the ceremony and there was no representation from Real whatsoever.
This is despite France Football's chief editor Vincent Garcia emphatically denying that nobody from Real was told about the winner beforehand.
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A slew of players also took to social media to post statements and messages to Vinicius about him not winning.
The Brazilian came second, followed by Bellingham and Real captain Dani Carvajal, who also helped Spain win Euro 2024 in Germany alongside Rodri.
Although Carvajal also posted about Vinicius on Instagram, he made sure to congratulate his compatriot Rodri. The two are now recovering from the same ACL injury which has put them both on the shelf for the remainder of the season.
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"I received a call from Dani Carvajal who was very happy for me,” Rodri revealed in an interview with Movistar, as per The Mirror.
“I wanted to remember him because I think he also deserved it. He has similar values to mine, of teamwork, of loving a club and of giving everything. We share many things, we have been brought together more by the injury.”
Rodri also mentioned Carvajal in his speech, where he claimed the award signified a "victory of Spanish football".
Meanwhile, Vinicius Jr broke his silence on coming second, taking to X to write: "I'll do it 10x if I have to. They're not ready."
Topics: Rodri, Manchester City, Ballon d'Or, Vinicius Jr, Real Madrid
Josh Lawless