'He knows better than anyone how this award works' - Ballon d'Or winner Rodri breaks his silence on Cristiano Ronaldo's 'this was unfair' remarks

Manchester City’s star defensive midfield Rodri finally broke his silence on remarks made by the legendary footballer Cristiano Ronaldo on the former winning the Ballon d’Or award of the 2024 season. Rodri looked quite surprised while responding to Ronaldo’s remarks as he said it was ‘unfair’ for Vinicius Junior.

“Vinicius Jr should have won the Ballon d’Or, in my opinion, it was clear. It was unfair. This is why I love Globe Soccer Awards, they are honest,” said Ronaldo during his speech at the Globe Soccer Awards.

A few days after the 39-year-old bold remarks on the Ballon d’Or award winner, the man, Rodri himself came up with a statement and cleared what he thinks of the veteran centre-forward’s claim of award being ‘unfair’.

“Well, it was a surprise because he knows better than anyone how this award works and, above all, how the winner is chosen. This year, the journalists who voted 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,” said Rodri in an interview with AS International.

"Psychologically, I'm much better than I thought" - Rodri on his ACL injury

Furthermore, the 28-year-old also spoke about the cruciate ligament injury and the impact of winning the Ballon d’Or on his mindset. He also revealed about how he is handling the injury at the moment.

“I have the philosophy that in life you have to take things as they come. You don't have to complain when things don't go your way or go crazy when you win a Ballon d'Or. God has given me what he has given me and I am extremely grateful. I have to deal with everything, including injuries, and move forward,” he said.

“Psychologically, I'm much better than I thought. That's what I imagined in terms of pain. The first month is very difficult, but mentally it's better than I thought. I'm talking about the desire to play again, that kind of thing. I'm pretty good. I think my body has also benefited from stopping. Not because of the injury, but in other ways. I'm trying to enjoy other things that we don't normally have in our lives,” the Spain international concluded.