First time for a defensive midfielder
In a world of football where the glory is mainly reserved for attacking players, Rodri Hernandez’s Ballon d’Or win is a story that opens a new era. And also a story of himself, who has always sought and pursued “emotions” in his own way.
Many people say Rodri is a central midfielder, but by the standard definition of the position, he is a defensive midfielder. Rodri is seen as the successor to Sergio Busquets in the Spanish National Team, the one who fills the void left by Fernandinho at Manchester City. He plays every role perfectly. At least until he is awarded the 2024 Ballon d'Or for his performance.
He is the first defensive midfielder to win the Ballon d'Or, just as 18 years ago, Fabio Cannavaro became the first defender to win the award organized by France Football magazine. Defending means destroying, destroying, but just as Cannavaro is honored as a representative of the factors that "turn defending into art", Rodri also makes the defensive midfield position more beautiful, more beautiful in the area that has to face and endure the most collisions.
In fact, Fernando Redondo in the late 90s, or Busquets of Barcelona and the Spanish national team during the reign of the Spanish national team, were the first representatives of the “artist in the defensive midfield position”, but unfortunately for them, at that time there were also attacking superstars of too much quality to overwhelm in the race for individual awards. Rodri also faced competition, but people did not see the superiority to “win without argument”.
In his speech after receiving the award, the 28-year-old midfielder mentioned Busquets as one of the other stars of Spanish football - along with Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta... to acknowledge, thank, and honor them, those who are very excellent but have never touched the Golden Ball. It is an affirmation that football awards need to become fairer for all positions on the field...
The emotional seeker
Rodri, 28 years old, 1m90 tall, has a serious and educated appearance. The education factor is certainly correct because his family values education, but with such an image, when sharing that his football life is a journey to find "emotion", many people must be surprised. How does a defensive specialist express emotions?
But the passion, the desire and the love for football are the foundation for that emotional story. The emotions come from very small, very simple stories when he attended a summer camp in Connecticut, where he asked his American friends “when do we play soccer”, and they replied “we don’t play Sawker”.
That summer camp was during the 2010 World Cup and Rodri was struggling to keep up with Spain, so when Iniesta scored the winning goal in the final, he ran screaming around the pool. “My American friends thought I was crazy,” Rodri told The Players Tribune. “They shook their heads. They looked at me like, ‘Wait, that Spanish guy is crying? Just because of the sawker?’ They didn’t understand what that meant to me. They thought I was crazy. And maybe I was…”
Rodri also said, “All my life, I have lived between two worlds. One is football, the other is the ‘real world’. When it comes to football, I am an addict. Since I was a child, I simply pursued an emotion. I did not say, ‘Oh, I want to be a football player so I can have a Ferrari’. No, it was because of what my idols did on the pitch that made me feel alive.”
In a more recent piece, Rodri talks about Pep Guardiola and how to “feel” the game. “For me, he (Pep) added the last piece of the mental puzzle. ‘Seeing’ the game in a different way. ‘Feeling’ it – when to move into space, when to hold back. When to press, when to relax. His trust was very important for me, because you have to remember, when I arrived here in 2019, I walked into a dressing room with Fernandinho, Aguero, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne. All legends…”
And when you get down to it, you can see the surprising emotion that exists in Rodri. Rodri is the embodiment of a unique personality in the world of football: Always low-key, away from social media (no Twitter, Instagram or other platforms) and pursuing an academic path. Not eccentric, not arrogant, not controversial - Rodri is a humble player, away from the spotlight and media attention, letting his performance on the pitch speak for itself.
As someone who doesn't care about luxury, his friend Valentin Henarejos revealed that his phone is "half broken" and recounted how he interacts with objects: "Until recently, Rodri's car was a used Opel Corsa that he bought from a woman when he first got his driving license. He was advised to buy a better one for safety reasons and because he had to travel between Madrid and Castellon. He didn't understand the need to spend a lot of money on a car. In fact, he once said that some of his teammates were "crazy" to waste money on luxury cars; the important thing is that it gets you from point A to point B."
Rodri has a university degree, which is rare for elite footballers. He started studying Business Administration at Jaime I University while living in Spain and completed it while playing for Man City. He often travelled from England to Castellon just to take exams. Although his teammates recognised his fame, he always acted like a normal guy.
"He shares space with everyone. He likes to be with the team or sit on the sofa together, but at first it was impressive to see him playing table tennis or doing the laundry," Henarejos said.
In 2023, Rodri scored the only goal to help Man City win the Champions League and then won the UEFA Nations League with Spain. In 2024, he won the Premier League with Man City for the fourth consecutive season and was named the best player at EURO 2024, a tournament won by Spain. Is that enough emotion from a defensive midfielder to draw a new era?
