Lionel Messi reached out to Rodri with a private message following the Manchester City player’s triumph at the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Rodri secured his first Ballon d’Or on Monday, with Vinicius Junior from Real Madrid finishing in second place and his teammate Jude Bellingham coming in third.
Leading up to the event, many anticipated that Vinicius would take home the award, a belief supported by Spanish newspaper Marca, which highlighted this as a fact in its Monday morning edition…Continue Reading
However, later reports indicated that Rodri had actually garnered more votes after an impressive season with City and his contribution to Spain’s victory at Euro 2024.
Real Madrid’s reaction to the outcome was far from congratulatory, as they criticized the Ballon d’Or organizers for ‘disrespecting’ the club by not awarding the honor to Vinicius or teammate Dani Carvajal.
This backlash seemed to overshadow the celebration of the winner, and since Rodri does not use social media, he might have preferred it that way.
Despite the controversy, many players and media outlets lauded Rodri’s achievement.
According to Twitter account @RealTolmie, Messi sent a text to the midfielder, who is currently sidelined due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury sustained last month, congratulating him on his victory shortly after Rodri mentioned him in his acceptance speech.
The two have a history of competition, having faced each other during their time at Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, as well as in international matches with Spain and Argentina.
Rodri praised Messi during his speech, saying that the Argentine superstar was his ‘role model’ and that he ‘dominated this award for a long time’.
Speaking after his success, Rodri thanked his family, his girlfriend Laura, and his team-mates at both Man City and Spain.
He added: “I would like to tell you a story that led me here. “When I was 17, I packed my suitcase to fulfil a dream. One day I cried to my father, it’s all over, I invested my life to get here and that was it.
“My father said, we came all the way here, let’s keep going and this is something that changed my mindset. I am a normal kid with values. I know what a hard worker is. Thank you very much.”
