From the dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo…
3 hours is the time for the 2024 Ballon d'Or Gala organized by France Football in Paris in the early morning of October 29 (Vietnam time). If you count the time directly from the moment famous figures of world football appeared on the red carpet, the time is even longer. However, somewhere, there is still a feeling of a not-so-small gap...
Where is Cristiano Ronaldo? Where is Lionel Messi? They are in Saudi Arabia and the United States, and for the first time since 2003, neither of these two superstars appear on the 30-man shortlist for the men's Ballon d'Or award. It is a huge disappointment, given the achievements of CR7 and M10.
In 16 years of “dominance”, Ronaldo (5) and Messi (8) won a total of 13 Ballons d’Or. The Portuguese superstar was honored for the first time in 2008, his Argentine rival won 1 year later. Their number 13 will truly be an immortal symbol, because remember, even the greatest names such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Luis Figo, George Best only won once each. And initially the award was limited to European players, Pele or Diego Maradona never won the Ballon d’Or.
Furthermore, before Messi, the last star to win the Ballon d'Or two years in a row was Marco van Basten in 1988 and 1989 - too far away.
Until 2023 - when Messi wins for the eighth and (most likely) final time - only two people will be able to break into the race between him and Ronaldo: Luka Modric (2018) and Karim Benzema (2022). But even so, the gap of four years and the fact that Ronaldo or Messi are still in the list of candidates, even winning like Messi in 2023, still does not bring the feeling of the end of an era...
…to the new era
As mentioned above, for the first time since 2003, neither Ronaldo nor Messi are on the shortlist of 30 candidates. This is the first reason to confirm that their era has officially ended. Even if they continue to compete and still have trophies, in Saudi Arabia and Asia, in the US and the Americas, the titles hardly have the same weight as the achievements in Europe.
And so, Rodri's victory is the second reason, firmly affirming that the door of the Ronaldo-Messi era has closed, opening a new era, with more open competition opportunities. One thing is for sure, there will be a lot of regret for the stars born, or playing football at the same time as Ronaldo and Messi, because even if they win titles in the season they play outstandingly, there will always be a certain "obsession" about Ronaldo and Messi in the votes.
That creates controversy. Controversy has never, and will never, cease in individual competitions - but in the collective game. Rodri's victory in 2024 is also controversial because there is Vinicius Junior who has led Real Madrid to important titles, or Dani Carvajal who is not far behind his fellow Spaniard in terms of trophies.
The controversy will eventually die down - to flare up again at some point, but in the new era, opportunities will be more open for stars, not only on the attacking front like Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Lamine Yamal... Because Rodri is the first defensive midfielder to win the Ballon d'Or in the 67-year history of this award. Lev Yashin (1963), Fabio Cannavaro (2006) are the only goalkeepers and defenders to have won the Ballon d'Or up to this point, adding Rodri as a defensive midfielder really opens up opportunities.
It may be a pity for Vinicius, but what he shared on social media - “I would do it 10 times if I had to. They are not ready” - should be understood and acted upon as a positive to continue the effort rather than a display of bitterness. Then the new era of competition will be more open.
