{"id":119837,"date":"2024-10-29T22:51:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T15:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=119837"},"modified":"2024-10-29T22:51:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T15:51:47","slug":"rodris-ballon-dor-is-an-act-of-justice-for-an-unsung-category-of-footballer-ballon-dor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=119837","title":{"rendered":"Rodri\u2019s Ballon d\u2019Or is an act of justice for an unsung category of footballer | Ballon d&#8217;Or"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\"><span style=\"color:var(--drop-cap);font-weight:700;\" class=\"dcr-15rw6c2\">W<\/span>hen Rodrigo Hern\u00e1ndez was a student, living in a hall of residence and reading business at university in Castell\u00f3n, he was, to use his own words, \u201cthe lame one who never did anything\u201d. He might go for dinner, sure, might briefly stop by the bar, but he would never do any of the after-hours stuff. Most of his class couldn\u2019t understand it, until they saw him playing for Villarreal. He was 19, he hadn\u2019t said anything and they didn\u2019t know he was a footballer; now, at 28, he has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2024\/oct\/28\/rodri-and-bonmati-scoop-ballons-dor-as-real-madrid-boycott-big-awards-night\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">voted the best in the world<\/a>, the first Spanish man to win the Ballon d\u2019Or since Luis Su\u00e1rez, 64 years ago.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"0f88b9d6-3e53-4267-af23-f0b27cab23a7\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-1your1i\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:1,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Rodri and Bonmat\u00ed scoop Ballons d\u2019Or as Real Madrid boycott big awards night&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;0f88b9d6-3e53-4267-af23-f0b27cab23a7&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2024\/oct\/28\/rodri-and-bonmati-scoop-ballons-dor-as-real-madrid-boycott-big-awards-night&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;design&quot;:10,&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:2}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\">On a dramatic day dominated by cries of injustice, this was in its way an act of justice: to Rodri himself but beyond than that to a <em>kind<\/em> of player and person, to an idea, a concept; to collectivism embodied by an individual, maybe even football itself. To Spain too, even if it wasn\u2019t received that way at home where Real Madrid\u2019s refusal to fly to Paris when they found out that Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior would not be the winner, set the tone and hung heavy, overshadowing everything. A national success, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2024\/oct\/28\/rodri-and-bonmati-scoop-ballons-dor-as-real-madrid-boycott-big-awards-night\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Rodri joining Aitana Bonmat\u00ed<\/a>, was not really celebrated as one, certainly not with unanimity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\">Even in the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre du Ch\u00e2telet, when George Weah opened the envelope and started to say <em>\u201cThe winner is \u2026\u201d<\/em>, there were shouts of \u201cVin\u00edcius!\u201d There had been some whistles when Rodri arrived. It was all a bit grubby, a little sad, as if he had done something dreadful and not just played football really, really well, but he rose above it, his speech as generous, clear and understated as his play. This was something he wanted to share, and while the Brazilian\u2019s case was strong, victory taken as read, the idea that Rodri did not have one is absurd.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\">When it comes to influencing the way a team play, conditioning everyone and everything, there is no one like him. Team? Team<em>s<\/em>. His role, he says, is to \u201cmake my team work\u201d, bringing \u201clight\u201d. Which is why they work like no others. Manchester City the Premier League champions who he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2023\/jun\/10\/rodri-breaks-internazionale-resistance-to-seal-manchester-citys-treble-glory\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">led to the Champions League<\/a> last year when, domestically, his case was even stronger. And Spain, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/article\/2024\/jul\/14\/spain-england-euro-2024-final-european-championship-football\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">winners of Euro 2024<\/a>, that international trophy tilting the balance this time. Pep Guardiola, his manager at City, called him \u201cthe best midfielder in the world, by far\u201d, while Spain manager Luis de la Fuente described him as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/article\/2024\/jul\/01\/spain-euro-2024-rodri\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">\u201cthe perfect computer\u201d<\/a>, leading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/article\/2024\/jul\/14\/spains-new-generation-match-golden-forefathers-and-make-own-history\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">the best European champions<\/a> there have been.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\">Enough of the 100 voters \u2013 the fact this is a democracy, if a flawed one, is so easily forgotten \u2013 agreed. Rodri got up, handed his crutches by R\u00faben Dias, who he thanked for accompanying him to France. Slowly, he made his way to the stage, where Didier Drogba helped him as he hopped into position. Rodri had always said that this was an award that didn\u2019t bother him but, if that was true, it\u2019s different when you\u2019re standing there holding the trophy. There was a sigh as he looked at it, the emotion clear. \u201cI never thought this day would happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"20952f7d-f3d0-40b8-9e66-4c4da9b8d234\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-5h0uf4\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1pvqcrw\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><svg width=\"18\" height=\"13\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 13\"><path d=\"M18 3.5v8l-1.5 1.5h-15l-1.5-1.5v-8l1.5-1.5h3.5l2-2h4l2 2h3.5l1.5 1.5zm-9 7.5c1.9 0 3.5-1.6 3.5-3.5s-1.6-3.5-3.5-3.5-3.5 1.6-3.5 3.5 1.6 3.5 3.5 3.5z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Rodri\u2019s crisp finish in the 2022-23 Champions League final hits the back of the net against Internazionale in Istanbul.<\/span> Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\">\u201cIt\u2019s not a victory for me but for Spanish football,\u201d Rodri said, repeatedly referring to \u201cmy country\u201d. He mentioned other players who could, maybe should, have won this and one he said will in the future, all of them Spanish. This was for them. Xavi Hern\u00e1ndez, Andr\u00e9s Iniesta, Iker Casillas and Sergio Busquets. Then Dani Carvajal, who had sustained the same knee injury and who, he said, would have deserved to be on the stage. They had spoken, Rodri revealed after and Carvajal was pleased for him. He also told Lamine Yamal he would up be there one day. \u201cKeep working hard,\u201d he told Barcelona\u2019s 17-year-old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\">The message echoed what he had said in Germany, something paternal in it, so very Rodri. Listen to him and you hear it. At times it was tempting during the tournament to see him as the de facto coach of the <em>selecci\u00f3n<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019ve always believed that the role of a midfielder is very important in terms of leadership: conceptually, tactically, what is happening,\u201d he said. \u201cI like that role and it\u2019s the role that a midfielder <em>should<\/em> have if he wants the team to function.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\">He\u2019s always been like that, a natural, although he told a story at Monday\u2019s gala about how one day when he was 17 he was ready to give it all up; he had dedicated his life to football but he felt it disintegrating, his dad convincing him to continue. \u201cIt\u2019s true I found it easy to understand [as a kid], to read the game,\u201d he has said. \u201cWhen a team was successful, I could see why, how they created space: \u2018This player\u2019s going to do this, that player will do that.\u2019\u201d He listened too. Ilkay G\u00fcndogan recalled how in his first season at City he would stay behind 30, 35 minutes a day, every day. Not to practise but to talk: \u201cHe was always discussing, learning, and he perfected his game.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.NewsletterSignupBlockElement\" class=\" dcr-173mewl\"><a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"#EmailSignup-skip-link-10\" class=\"dcr-jzxpee\">skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"newsletter promotion\" class=\"dcr-av5vqf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-10et71f\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1sbse14\">Sign up to <span>Football Daily<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"dcr-1xjndtj\">Kick off your evenings with the Guardian&#8217;s take on the world of football<\/p>\n<p><gu-island name=\"SecureSignup\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"visible\" props=\"{&quot;newsletterId&quot;:&quot;the-fiver&quot;,&quot;successDescription&quot;:&quot;Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football&quot;}\"\/><span class=\"dcr-1eusqlu\"><strong>Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/help\/privacy-policy\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/terms\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"dcr-1rjy2q9\">Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/span><\/aside>\n<p id=\"EmailSignup-skip-link-10\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"after newsletter promotion\" role=\"note\" class=\"dcr-jzxpee\">after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\">Above all he perfected everyone else\u2019s. He saw the collective functioning as his job. \u201cIf you choose well, the team will do good things,\u201d he said. That might not always be the role that gets seen, although he\u2019s hardly unknown any more and here comes the contradiction: there is a moment in which the fact of being \u201cunderrated\u201d becomes a quality for which a player gets rated; in which humility, quietness, \u201cnormality\u201d, draws your attention; in which analytical, intelligent and collective discourse aids an individual case \u2013 and Rodri speaks <em>very<\/em> well, a man you <em>want<\/em> to listen to, someone you find yourself convinced by.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\">Voting for him almost becomes a cause, a duty to redress the balance, his play reflected back at him: a collective decision that benefits him individually. There is something in Rodri getting the Ballon d\u2019Or that speaks to a shift, a recalibration of priorities where football is not all about goals or stars who seek and occupy the spotlight \u2013 although the melodrama around Vin\u00edcius\u2019s absence suggests it\u2019s not entirely overcome. Recognising Rodri meant recognising not just a player but a kind of player and his importance, a whole category of footballers, and, belatedly, those men who could and perhaps should have won the Ballon d\u2019Or before, justice for them and for the game itself. \u201cBeing here, I give visibility to the midfielder: overshadowed but coming into the light today\u201d Rodri said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-180skgt\">Before the summer\u2019s Euros, \u00c1lvaro Morata insisted his teammate would have won the Ballon d\u2019Or already if only he sold himself a bit more; the university student who didn\u2019t tell everyone he was a footballer could do with speaking up a bit. \u201cHe could easily have won it last year; all he lacks is marketing, I always tell him that,\u201d Spain\u2019s captain said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t play football for that,\u201d Rodri replied. \u201cHe sometimes says: \u2018Mate, you should \u2026\u2019 but I understand football differently. And I know how it works so I don\u2019t get frustrated. It doesn\u2019t bother me but if one day someone wants to reward the work, that\u2019s welcome.\u201d On Monday night in Paris, they did.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2024\/oct\/29\/rodri-ballon-dor-manchester-city-spain\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Rodrigo Hern\u00e1ndez was a student, living in a hall of residence and reading business at university in Castell\u00f3n, he was, to use his own words, \u201cthe lame one who &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=119837\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}