Rodri led Manchester City to the championship and Spain to the European title, while Aitana Bonmatí shone at FC Barcelona. Both were honored in Paris, where a tribute to Franz Beckenbauer preceded the ceremony.
After emotional moments dedicated to the legendary Beckenbauer, Spanish European champion Rodri was awarded the Ballon d’Or for his outstanding season. The 28-year-old Manchester City midfielder received the prestigious award on Monday evening at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. In the women’s category, Aitana Bonmatí from FC Barcelona won the honorary grave. Ahead of the awards, sports celebrities gathered to remember the German icon, who died in January, along with his widow Heidi Beckenbauer and his children Joel and Francesca.
Heidi Beckenbauer described her late husband as a “unique man with a big, big heart.” The hall reverberated with the 1966 song “Good Friends Can Never Be Separated,” sung by the former world champion. Old photos and footage were shown before the focus returned to the current state of Football.
Rodri won the journalists’ votes, organized jointly by France Football and UEFA for the first time, beating Real Madrid stars Vinícius Júnior, Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal. It appeared there were no Real Madrid representatives present at the event, possibly because none of their players won the top prize – Kylian Mbappé, along with Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, received the award for last season’s top scorer.
In the women’s category, Bonmatí triumphed over her Barcelona teammates Caroline Graham Hansen and Salma Paralluelo. The trio won the league, the Champions League and the cup together.
German professionals played a supporting role at the gala, as in many previous years. Toni Kroos, who retired after the home Euros in the summer after a successful career, finished ninth. Young star Florian Wirtz (twelfth), Real defender Antonio Rüdiger (twenty-second) and former Borussia Dortmund defensive boss Mats Hummels (twenty-ninth) also reached the last 30. The absence of Jamal Musiala caused some dissatisfaction at Bayern.
In the women’s category, Bayern players Giulia Gwinn and Lea Schüller finished in nineteenth and twenty-fourth place, while Chelsea’s Sjoeke Nüsken finished in twenty-fifth place. The men’s awards included 100 journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA world rankings, while the women’s awards included the top 50 nations.
Rodri won the English championship with Man City last season and led the Spanish national team to the Euro title in Germany over the summer. However, he started the current season with a shock: Rodri suffered a serious knee injury in September and will be out for several months. He received his Ballon d’Or on crutches.
The Ballon d’Or has been awarded since 1956 and has long been considered the award for the best European player. From 2010 to 2015, he was presented with the award for the best player in the world through a collaboration between the French media group Groupe Amaury, which owns “France Football”, and FIFA. This year, cooperation with UEFA has been established and there is no longer a separate vote for Europe’s Male and Female Player of the Year.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:241028-930-272169/8
