Spain savors its triumph, Brazil cries scandal… Press review after Rodri’s coronation in front of Vinicius

«The great celebration of Spanish football. We are the best!» The Madrid sports daily Marca makes no mistake: the 2025 Ballon d’Or award ceremony this Monday definitely had a Spanish accent. Rodri, Manchester City midfielder, triumphed in the men’s category, and Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati, already a winner in 2023, retained her trophy in the women’s category. To which we must add the prize for best young person for Lamine Yamal, European champion with the Spanish team this summer alongside Rodri, the Socrates prize for societal and charitable commitment for Jenni Hermoso, and second place of Unai Simon in the Yachine trophy for best goalkeeper.

Without forgetting the prize for best women’s club for FC Barcelona and best men’s club for Real Madrid, who boycotted the evening, upset at not seeing their Brazilian winger Vinicius on the top step of the podium. On the other side of the Pyrenees, the Spanish raid on the main trophies of the ceremony would almost make this controversy forget. Marca prefers to remember that “the Spanish national team is finally receiving the rewards it was denied during the four prodigious years from 2008 to 2012, when Xavi, Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Fernando Torres were unfairly ignored“. The daily also made its front page this Tuesday with a photo of Rodri kissing the Ballon d’Or, and this headline: “It was about time!».

SEE ALSO – The presentation of the 2024 Ballon d’Or to Rodri on October 28

A “turning point” in the history of the Ballon d’or

Same story on the side of ASyet openly pro-Real Madrid, who prefers to title “Spain is gold» and retain the coronation «deserved» by Rodri. «The individual success of the Spanish player is the triumph of a certain way of seeing football. He is a tactical and creative leader. Manchester City and Spain wouldn’t be the same without him», Write our colleagues. A feeling widely shared in France. In our columns, we highlight that Rodri’s Ballon d’or is “the advent of discretion”, and we recall that “since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006, never has a player with such a defensive profile touched the ultimate individual reward“. The Team welcomes a “turning» in the history of the Ballon d’or: “World football has remembered that the magic of the game extends to areas other than those covered by modern scorers“. For Le Parisien, Rodri’s victory is a “anomaly welcome »but also “the consecration of a shadow genius“, who is “essential not for his flashes of genius, but for his keen understanding of the game and his role in it».

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In Brazil, on the other hand, where Vinicius’ coronation was impatiently awaited, the ceremony sparked a wave of indignation. It’s difficult to accept that the Brazilian striker was not the chosen one, even though he was widely expected to win the prestigious individual award after his exceptional season with Real, where he notably won the Champions League and La Liga. In the land of “futebol”, no Brazilian has stood on the top step of the podium since Kaka won the famous trophy 17 years ago, in 2007. Neymar, the closest, failed twice (2015 and 2017) on the third step.

Real Madrid “small, very small”

«I’ve been waiting all year for Vini Jr to be rightly rewarded as the best current player, and now they come to tell me that the Golden Ball is not for him?famous Brazilian striker Marta was indignant in a video on her Instagram account. What is this Golden Ball? What is this Golden Ball? No, that’s not it“. On social media in Brazil, the words “Vini” and “Racism” were mentioned by many commentators as an alleged reason not to reward the winger, who has made the fight against racial discrimination one of his fights .

Injustice or not, Real Madrid’s decision to adopt the empty chair policy has caused unease and incomprehension throughout Europe. For Le Figaro, the club of fiery president Florentino Perez has the “Golden Ball for the Bad Loser and Forgotten Elegance“. And to add: “It’s small, very small.” L’Equipe even goes so far as to say that Real Madrid has “taken hostage his other winners, Carlo Ancelotti and Kylian Mbappé, adding a moral defeat to an electoral defeat, three days after being dispersed by FC Barcelona (0-4)“. For our colleagues, there is no doubt that “the Madrid club has chosen, without class, to trample on this value of sport which consists of respecting the winners».