After his serious cruciate ligament injury, European champion Rodri accepted the Ballon d’Or on crutches.
Foto: imago/Gao Jing
The last few meters to the award felt like the hardest for Rodrigo Hernández Cascante, known as Rodri. On crutches, the 28-year-old slowly made his way up to the stage of the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on Monday evening in a fine suit. After his serious knee injury a few weeks ago, the Spaniard had to receive the Ballon d’Or, the most prestigious individual award in world football, on only one good leg.
In the end, it was always his opponents who struggled in vain against the 1.91 meter tall model athlete, who had once been incorrectly rejected as too thin at his youth club Atlético Madrid. Last season, the strategist first led Manchester City to the English record of four championships in a row and then crowned themselves European champions with Spain in Germany in the summer – including the award as the best tournament player.
Successes that he unfortunately paid for with his health. In September, Rodri, who had become the best midfield clearer in the world under coach Pep Guardiola, warned of the excessive strain in professional football and raised the prospect of a players’ strike. A few days later he tore his cruciate ligament against Arsenal FC. It seems almost bizarre that UEFA, the European association that, along with the world association Fifa, is primarily responsible for the bloated football schedule, was also involved in the awarding of the Ballon d’Or this year. Rodri seemed to be able to put that aside at the awards ceremony. Trophies are comforting – especially those for the best footballer of the year.
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