Yesterday’s 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony saw the Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri wins the prestigious men’s award. Rodri beat Real MadridVinicius Jr de won the award, although the Brazil international is the hot favorite heading into the annual gala.

Many had backed the 24-year-old, whose 24 goals and 11 assists helped Los Blancos win La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and the Spanish Cup last season, to win the coveted prize.

After discovering that Vinicius would not win the award before the ceremony, Real Madrid representatives controversially chose to boycott the event. The club claimed he felt disrespected and made the decision not to travel.

MORE: Real Madrid and Vinicius Jr will snub the Ballon d’Or ceremony

Shortly after it was announced that Rodri was the winner of the 2024 Ballon d’Or, Vinicius broke his silence and sent a determined message to his supporters on X. He wrote: “Eu farei 10x se for preciso. They are not prepared. (I will do it 10x if necessary. They are not ready.) »

As of this writing, the post has been viewed over 87 million times.

Clearly keen to be in contention for next year’s Ballon d’Or, Vinicius has started this season strongly with the club, scoring 8 times and providing 7 assists in all competitions.

His most notable performance of the season so far came against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on October 22, where he scored a hat-trick to help Real Madrid come from behind and claim all three points.

Vinicius will now aim to increase his goal contribution when Real Madrid travel to Valencia this weekend in La Liga. Los Blancos will be looking to bounce back after suffering a crushing 4-0 defeat to Barcelona last time out.

Recommended

Pep Guardiola reacts to Vinicius Jr’s Ballon D’or snub; Actions face Real Madrid by skipping the gala

Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen sends message to Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr after Ballon d’Or snub

Sergo Aguero criticizes Real Madrid after Vinicius Jr’s Ballon d’Or saga