“The first call I received when I left the gala was from Carvajal”- 2024 Balon d’or winner, Rodri

Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante was crowned the 2024 Balon d’or winner after finishing ahead of Real Madrid duo, Vinicius Jnr and Jude Belingham.

Real Madrid refused to attend the gala in Paris on Monday night after discovering earlier on that their Brazillian stalwart was not the winner of the coveted individual trophy. Every member of Real Madrid’s planned entourage to France boycotted the soiree albeit the 2023-24 UCL winners won Club of the year and their head coach Carlo Ancelloti was voted for as the Best Coach of the Year.

Manchester City midfield maestro Rodri has revealed that skipper of Real Madrid, Dani Carvajal, was the first person to phone him when he returned home from the Balon d’or party.

“I talked to Carvajal, he deserved it too! The first call I received when I left the gala was from him”, Rodri revealed.

Real Madrid questioned the decision to even not give the award to Carvajal who played a very key role in Los Blancos triumph at Wembley Stadium when they defeated Dortmund 2-0 in the finals of the UCL.

Carvajal also dazzled in Germany when Spain won their 4the Euro title. Rodri praised his fellow La Roja star and said that he too deserved it because of the stellar campaign he had with club and country.

“He’s a player with whom I’m very close, even more so now with the injury, he’s a player who shares the same values ​​as me, he congratulated me”, Cascante added. Both Spanish stars have suffered long term injuries and are currently at home nursing their injuries.

It was the first time in 64 years that any Spanish player has won the gong after having super stars upon super stars in the last two decades.

It was a huge victory for Spanish football because they have been neglected for this award for a very long time.