Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr has broken his silence after controversially missing out on the Ballon d’Or award.
The Brazil international was considered the strong favourite to scoop the biggest individual prize in world football but Manchester City and Spain star Rodri was instead crowned the best player on the planet.
A leak ahead of the ceremony on Monday night revealed Vinicius Jr had missed out on top spot with the Real Madrid delegation, which also included Jude Bellingham, cancelling their trip and missing the ceremony completely.
Vinicius Jr played a pivotal role in Real Madrid’s Champions League and La Liga success last term but finished second in the overall vote.
Following Rodri’s triumph last night, the Brazilian warned organisers@ ‘I’ll do it 10x if I have to. They’re not ready’.
Vinicius Jr scored 24 goals and supplied 11 assists last season, scoring twice against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final and again in the final against Dortmund.
Real’s decision to not send a delegation to Paris sparked some awkward moments on stage – particularly when Los Blancos were named men’s club of the year with no one present to collect the award.
Kylian Mbappe was named the joint winner of the Gerd Muller Trophy alongside Harry Kane but was again not present.
Former Chelsea star Didier Drogba, on hosting duties last night, clearly expected Real boss Carlo Ancelotti to be present to collect the coach of the year award but the Italian was another who missed the event.
Rodri meanwhile became the first defensive midfielder to win the prestigious award. His triumph comes after playing a huge role in Manchester City securing a record fourth consecutive Premier League title, also winning player of the tournament as Spain won Euro 2024 last summer.
The 28-year-old appeared at the ceremony on crutches having been ruled out for the rest of the season with an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury.
He also becomes just the third man to break Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s 16-year domination of the award, after successes of Luka Modric and Karim Benzema in 2018 and 2022 respectively.
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