A little over two weeks ago, Manchester City and Spain star Rodri Hernandez pulled off a major shock in collecting the Ballon d’Or award ahead of Vinicius Junior, much to the chagrin of Real Madrid and President Florentino Perez. After not traveling to the gala in Paris, cancelling their trip, Los Blancos made much of the talk about them.
Even at the gala, Rodri was met with unique scenes, as the pregnant pause before the winner was announced was met with shouts for the Brazilian.
“I felt disbelief because I was waiting and half the room was shouting ‘Vinicius, Vinicius’… I felt a lot of respect for the audience; they applauded me,” he told Cadena Cope. He was not bothered that Real Madrid did not attend at the gala.
“No not at all. Once I win it, it’s my time to enjoy with my family. I don’t think about the people who haven’t come and didn’t want to enjoy the gala. It’s better that everyone is there, it’s all full of children and it would have been great, but not for my part.”
With a number of conspiracy theories peddled, and many in Spain debating whether Rodri deserved the award, perhaps outside of Brazil, only in his native country was the debate more lively. Even Spain’s journalist who votes for the award, Alfredo Relano, opted for Vinicius first.
“I haven’t looked at the votes because I’m happy. It doesn’t hurt me that Relano voted for Vinicius first, I hope that he votes what he feels and not because of pressure. In the end it is the opinion of someone in particular. It’s your country, you would have liked it.”
Rodri noted that where Spain is unique is in the way people support their club first and foremost.
“I hope that what they say is because they truly mean it, but I see that we are a peculiar country. We are more about our club than about our country and that does not happen in other countries. But I have felt the affection of many people from many clubs.”
It is not such a unique perspective, with many in the north of England preferring their club side to the Three Lions. Equally other countries where there is a major divide between the biggest clubs sometimes see loyalties split differently to how it might be expected. For Rodri, it must have been strange to see a country that celebrated him and his teammates so loudly in the summer so much less enthsiastic about him winning the first Ballon d’Or for the country in 64 years.