Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Saudi league and Leo Messi’s move to Miami has meant that the competition for coveted golden ball of football is wide open and the two dominant players of the 21st century have finally left the floor open for next generation.
The change of guard reminds the power reshuffle of another great sport. In tennis Roger Federer has already left the arenas and despite Djokovic’s gold medal in Paris, this is the first year since 2004 the trio Djokovic-Federer-Nadal has not dominated the tennis grand slam tournaments.
In football, there is a long list of contenders to take home the prestigious Ballon d’or. The royal Real Madrid, holders of Champion’s League trophy, has no fewer than three or four crown princes eying to replace Messi and Ronaldo as kings of football.
Birmingham-born Jude Bellingham had magnificient early season and lifted both La Liga and Champion’s League trophies, but despite reaching Euro 2024 final with England, his performance in Germany was probably a slight disappointment.
Another ”Real” contender, Vinicius Jr was in fine form in spring when Madrid took the European crown, but his performance for Brasil in Copa America hardly boosted his chances.
The third crown jewel of Real Madrid, Kylien Mbappé, took influencial role in French elections, but struggled to find net in his mask in Germany. And the European campaign of PSG was again a disappointment.
From Real Madrid midfield, the instrumental number 6 played important part in Champion’s League victory, but Toni Kroos’s swan song on home soil ended in quarter final defeat against Spain and he was lucky to escape sending off in his final game for Die Mannschaft.
Therefore, if lifting Champion’s League and Euro 2024 trophies are the key elements for qualifying for Ballon d’or, the attacking Spanish full-back Dani Carvajal ought to be considered as a credible contender.
However, defenders are seldom given the highest praise and also this year the ultimate prize may end up being given to a more attacking player.
As year 2024 is likely to mark the departure from the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry, time is perhaps ripe for celebrating slightly different type of a player.
Manchester City has dominated arguable the most demanding of leagues, the Premier League, and although Phil Foden was named as the player of the season, there is another City player whose influence and significance may well have been even higher than Foden’s.
According to 90min football media, the most important player is not Kevin De Bruyne nor Erling Haaland1.
”Rodri – real life role model and responsible candidate for Ballon d’or.”
”No, it’s Rodri, the midfield enforcer who keeps Pep Guardola’s all-conquering side ticking.”
The Spaniard is not only the motor of both Manchester City and Spain’s European champions’, but the former Villareal and Atletico Madrid player is also a different kind of role model. He has completed a university degree while playing professional football at the highest level and is known to communicate intensily on the pitch and on the training ground. Even after training2.
There is a paradox in Rodri’s keenness to communicate and discuss football. Whereas social media has been a huge platform to promote both Messi’s and Ronaldo’s global following, Rodri has made an early decision not to use social media.
He told Joe Hart on Football Focus recently: “Not being on social media? It’s a decision I made very, very early.
”I remember my age was the start of smartphones; I said ‘I don’t need it, I have my friends, I can go to the park, I can hang with them’, I don’t need to find new friends on the internet3.
“The problem today in society is they kind of tell you ‘You need this, you need this, you need this’ and in the end you think ‘Do I need all of these things? No, I don’t really need these things’. I like to live life how it is – the real life.”
Rodri – real life role model and responsible candidate for Ballon d’or.
- https://www.90min.com/posts/man-city-win-record-with-without-rodri ↩︎
- https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jul/08/rodri-always-watch-games-back-alone-spain-euro-2024-manchester-city ↩︎
- https://www.manchestercity.news/man-city-fans-absolutely-love-rodris-explanation-for-why-he-doesnt-use-social-media/ ↩︎
