Sport
“Rodri Deserved 2023 Ballon d’Or but Vinicius Deserved 2024” – Ancelotti
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti believes Manchester City’s Rodri should have won the 2023 Ballon d’Or. Speaking ahead of his team’s Champions League clash against City, Ancelotti shared his thoughts on past and present award winners.
Lionel Messi took home the 2023 Ballon d’Or, finishing ahead of stars like Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Kevin De Bruyne, and Rodri, who placed fifth. But in 2024, the Manchester City midfielder finally claimed the prize, beating Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham, who finished second and third.
That result didn’t sit well with the Madrid camp. In protest, the club, including Ancelotti, skipped the awards ceremony in Paris. While the Italian coach praised Rodri’s talent, he made it clear that he felt Vinicius should have been the 2024 winner.
“I don’t think skipping the ceremony was a bad decision,” Ancelotti said. “We believed Vini Jr. was the rightful winner. But that doesn’t mean we don’t respect Rodri. He’s a fantastic player, and in our view, he should have won it the year before.”
Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey has opened up about a difficult period in his career, revealing that he almost stepped away from football.
Speaking during a recent interview, Bassey shared that he once made a personal promise to himself to quit pursuing football professionally if he failed to secure a spot at a professional club.
“I remember being 15 and going into my final year, and I told myself that if I didn’t get into a professional club, I would quit football. It was that simple,” he said.
“I would just stop pursuing it seriously and only play for fun. Thank God I eventually got a club, because I honestly don’t know where I would be otherwise.”
It has been reported that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) fined Egypt $5,000 following their clash with Zimbabwe for failing to manage post-match media obligations.
It was noted that after the match, the Egyptian players ignored the media. This action was said to be a violation of CAF’s media regulations, which led to the fine being imposed.
Head of the Super Eagles, Eric Chelle, shared that the big-name players on the team are not happy about being benched.
He recalled when he took out Samuel Chukwueze during the match against Tanzania.
“Yes, of course, we’ve in this team a lot of big names. They are competitors; they aren’t happy when they go to the bench,” Chelle said at his post-match interview.”
“My job is to make choices, and we’re playing a 4-4-2 diamond, and at this moment I feel we have to protect the wing.”
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