Karim Benzema s\u2019 was expressed two days after Rodri\u2019s victory at the Ballon d\u2019Or, narrowly won in front of Vinicius Junior, his former teammate. Vinicius, a big favourite to succeed Lionel Messi at the Ballon d\u2019Or 2024, was very disappointed after losing first place at the last moment against Rodri, the Spanish midfielder from Manchester City.<\/p>\n
After being seen as the likely winner for weeks, the Brazilian star didn\u2019t even attend the Ballon d\u2019Or ceremony. Real Madrid\u2019s president, Florentino Perez, also chose to skip the event, suspecting his player wouldn\u2019t take home the prestigious award.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was sad. It\u2019s understandable,\u201d remarked Real Madrid\u2019s Karim Benzema, the 2022 Ballon d\u2019Or winner, discussing the disappointment for his teammate. \u201cVinicius is a player who gives everything, not just scoring goals. Last season, when Real won the Champions League, he was decisive in every game. So, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anyone more deserving of this award than him. I have nothing against Rodri, who\u2019s a good player, but from my couch watching TV, Rodri never impressed me to the point of saying, \u2018Wow,\u2019 while Vinicius did that more than once. It\u2019s sad, and I\u2019m really sorry for Vinicius; he deserved this Ballon d\u2019Or,\u201d Benzema shared on the show *El Chiringuito*.<\/p>\n
Benzema also touched on Vinicius\u2019 mindset after the outcome: \u201cI hope he\u2019s strong mentally. I\u2019ve spoken with Vinicius, and he\u2019s resilient enough to bounce back and keep working. Someday, he\u2019ll get there. Vinicius is a good person; he\u2019ll work hard and eventually win the Ballon d\u2019Or. I sent him a message, and yes, he was sad. It\u2019s understandable. It\u2019s tough when everyone sees you as the Ballon d\u2019Or winner, only to find out at the last minute it\u2019s not yours. It\u2019s really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Karim Benzema s\u2019 was expressed two days after Rodri\u2019s victory at the Ballon d\u2019Or, narrowly won in front of Vinicius Junior, his former teammate. Vinicius, a big favourite to succeed Lionel Messi at the Ballon d\u2019Or 2024, was very disappointed after losing first place at the last moment against Rodri, the Spanish midfielder from Manchester […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":24421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n