Mathieu Warnier, Media365: published on Sunday November 3, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.
While Vinicius Jr saw the Ballon d'Or slip away from him even though he was the announced favorite, Wesley Sneijder drew a parallel with what the Brazilian experienced by remembering the 2010 edition of the event.
The surprise was almost total. This Monday, on the stage of the Théâtre du Châtelet, Rodri won the 2024 Ballon d'Or, crowning the best player of the past season. The European champion with Spain and English champion with Manchester City beat Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham. However, during the days leading up to the ceremony, it was the Brazilian who was announced as the overwhelming favorite, he who won the Champions League and the Spanish championship with Real Madrid. A result which made the “Casa Blanca” fume. Its president Florentino Pérez caused discomfort by announcing the boycott of the ceremony by his club, the trip of his delegation being canceled at the very last moment. An unexpected result which brought back memories for a certain Wesley Sneijder. On the sidelines of an advertising event, the former Dutch international returned to the 2010 edition of the event organized by the magazine France Football.
Sneijder prefers collective trophies
“I too was robbed of the Ballon d’Or,” he said in comments collected by the British daily Daily Mail the finalist of the World Cup during a year 2010 which also saw him win the Champions League and the Italian championship with Inter Milan. Assuring that he is “glad that people are still talking about it in 2024”, the Utrecht native added that people sometimes say to him: “Wesley, you were robbed in 2010! “. Despite his performances both for club and national team, Wesley Sneijder had to settle for fourth place behind Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez. Despite everything, he does not take offense, giving more importance to the collective. “Individual prizes are nice, but trophies won as a team, like lifting the Champions League, all that has more value than winning this Ballon d'Or,” concluded the player with 134 caps with the Netherlands.
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