'Surprised' Rodri slams Ronaldo amid 'unfair' Ballon d'Or claims as Neymar, Vini attend 'honest' gala

Five-times winner Cristiano Ronaldo shared his opinion on who he felt should have won the Ballon d’Or, speaking at the shameless Globe Soccer Awards last week.

The ceremony was attended by footballing superstars including Ronaldo’s former teammate Rio Ferdinand, as well as Real Madrid duo Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr, who missed out on football’s most prestigious individual award in 2024, to which Ronaldo showed his discontent

Manchester City‘s Rodri pipped the Brazil international to the award, with the Spaniard having now responded to Ronaldo’s claims of the award being “unfair”.

Rodri told Spanish outlet AS: “Well, it was a surprise, really, because he knows better than anyone how this award works and, above all, how the winner is chosen. This year, the journalists who vote have decided that I should win it. Probably, these same journalists were the ones who at some point voted for him to win it, and I imagine that then he would have agreed.”

Rodri has been quite vocal in the public eye as of late, having also called for fellow professionals to consider going on strike with the football calendar seemingly out of hand for players to handle.

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The midfielder last played for his club at the back end of September in a 2-2 draw against Arsenal where he was forced off early into the game. Results later showed the Spaniard had torn his anterior cruciate ligament which is set to see him miss the rest of the season.

Pep Guardiola and City have been in disarray since their midfield general has been out of the team. The champions’ most recent win away at Leicester made it just their second win in 13 games, with their prior victory coming in a 3-0 hammering of high flying Nottingham Forest.

On Rodri’s Ballon d’Or win, Ronaldo said: “It was unfair in my opinion. I say here in front of everybody. They give it to Rodri, he deserved it too, but they should have given it to Vinicius because he won the Champions League and scored in the final.”

He continued: “You know these galas, they always do the same thing. This is why I love Globe Soccer Awards, they are honest.”

Probably nothing to do with the fact he and his model girlfriend Georgina Rodríguez are allowed to spend a weekend in one of the world’s most hottest holiday destination, Dubai, all at the expense of the city’s tourism partner, Visit Dubai.

Upcoming Barcelona prospect Lamine Yamal, as well as former Barca star Neymar were also in attendance.

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