Rodri Hernández wins the Ballon d'Or

Everything seemed to indicate that, after 17 years, Brazil would once again see one of its players lift the award for the best player on the planet. The Ballon d'Or seemed to be engraved with the name of Vinícius Jr., La Liga and UEFA Champions League champion with Real Madrid, until, in an unexpected turn of events just hours before the award ceremony, the distinction went to the who appeared to be the second-leading candidate, Rodri Hernández.

The midfielder, winner of the European Championship with the Spanish national team and the Premier League with Manchester City, received the Ballon d'Or at the Chatelet Theater in Paris, France, succeeding Leo Messi, who won his eighth award last season.

Rodri, who became the second Spaniard in history to win the award (the first was Luis Suárez in 1960), beat Madrid's Vinícius Jr. and Jude Bellingham in the voting.

One of the most controversial Ballon d'Ors in history

No credit should be taken away from Rodri. The Manchester City player has become one of the best midfielders in the world, with some even saying that there is no one better than him at the moment. Pep Guardiola's Man City team and the Spanish national team coached by Luis de la Fuente both revolve around him. But, taking into account the criteria on which journalists base their vote, which are individual performance, collective titles achieved and public image of the player, there are those who consider it unfair that he won over Vinícius Jr. It should be remembered that the award is given based on the season, which lasts from August to June/July, and not calendar year.

Hours before the event, the vote was leaked and, therefore, the name of the winner. Faced with this situation, Real Madrid, which was expecting to see Vinícius Jr. lift the Ballon d'Or, decided not to attend. Neither its president, Florentino Pérez; nor its coach, Carlo Ancelotti; nor all the players who were on the list of candidates attended. In addition to the Brazilian, Dani Carvajal, Jude Bellingham, Fede Valverde, Kylian Mbappé and Antonio Rüdiger were all nominated.

Real Madrid felt that the organization's treatment of Vinícius Jr. was unfair, believing he should have won the Ballon d'Or. The Spanish team has a case that its star should have received the distinction: 24 goals and 11 assists in 39 games, UEFA Champions League winner and best player of the tournament, winner of La Liga, winner of the Spanish Super Cup and winner of the European Super Cup, apart from having been decisive in many of the games played by the club last season. However, with Brazil, his performance in Copa América left much to be desired.

Rodri managed to win, with Manchester City, the Premier League and the Community Shield, scoring 9 goals and providing 14 assists in 50 games. Winning the Euro with the Spanish national team is the best argument he has to be named the winner of the Ballon d'Or.

This case is reminiscent of other controversial Ballon d'Or winners in the history of soccer. Some examples are England's Michael Owen in 2001 and Italy's Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.