Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola congratulated his star Rodri on winning the 2024 Ballon d’Or, and reminded Vinicius Junior that there were many who also deserved the award but did not win it in the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Guardiola said in a press conference when asked about Rodri’s coronation, “Congratulations to Rodri, it is great news for him and certainly for all of us and the Manchester City fans, we are very proud of him.”
He also added, “I hope this award will give him the energy needed to help him recover from his injury and return to us in the best form next season.”
Regarding Vinicius Junior, Guardiola said, “If Vinicius won the Ballon d’Or, it would be more than deserved, as was the case last season with Haaland and he did not win it.”
He continued, “Erling was at the ceremony and was happy and congratulated Messi and got over it and decided that he would try again next season, and he was also on the list this year and came in fifth place.”
“Vinicius probably deserves the Ballon d’Or, but what happened happened, it’s the journalists’ choices and not a group of elite footballers, it depends on the whole world in this case,” he concluded.
Guardiola talked about the historical struggle for the Ballon d’Or, saying, “No one could beat Messi except Cristiano Ronaldo, and Cristiano was a beast while Messi was the father of the beast!”
He continued, “The duo have done a lot in the last 15 or 20 years for football, and Xavi and Iniesta deserved to win the Ballon d’Or at least once, so I think Rodri gave Spanish football what it historically deserved by winning the award.”
