Rodrygo doesn’t know how to pretend. This season, the Brazilian has not hesitated to use his social networks to get a few messages across here and there. On August 19, the Real Madrid player responded to the media that only talked about the Bellingham-Mbappé-Vinicius Jr trio and excluded him from the equation. “Hello guys, yesterday (Sunday) the result was not what we wanted. In La Liga, every point makes a difference in the end. I am happy with the objective and the evolution of the team. Last week they (the media, ed.) talked about the trio Bellingham, Mbappé and Vini, but they will have to add the R for Rodrygo to this acronym. We have a quartet of attackers and the rest of the team. They all have their importance in the matches and will show their value in the different competitions in which we participate.” These remarks caused controversy in Spain, where it is believed that he would have done better to abstain rather than display his feelings. Finally, the Auriverde international (27 caps, 6 goals) deleted his post a few hours later. We also learned that this message had been published by his communications team and that he had not written it himself.
Rodrygo has no words
Last night, the 23-year-old striker certainly did not make the montage published on his account Instagram. But there is no doubt that he fully validated this publication. Rodrygo did not understand his absence from the list of 30 nominees for the 2024 Ballon d’Or. Author of a great season with the Merengues last year (17 goals, 9 offerings in 51 matches in all competitions), he notably won La Liga and the Champions League. On the other hand, he did not lift the Copa América with Brazil. Despite everything, he hoped to be among the 30 finalists, just like his teammates Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Kylian Mbappé, Fede Valverde, Antonio Rüdiger and Toni Kroos (retired). Which would not have been surprising. But the Brazilian was not selected. For many, he is also the great absentee or forgotten one from this BO list. Which is also his opinion. Rather than using words this time, he shared a photo montage of everything he accomplished in the 2023-24 fiscal year. All accompanied by a “surprise” emoji and another “laughing out loud” emoji.
The Brazilian player was able to count on the support of some personalities, like Neymar Jr. On his account Instagramthe Al-Hilal player published in story a photo of Rodrygo with the Seleção jersey. He accompanied this photo with a message: “minimum top 5 in the world! Crack.” Jude Bellingham, for his part, shared his Madrid teammate’s post. On the press side, Rodrygo’s absence is also causing a stir. In Brazil, Lance! wrote about it: “Rodrygo has been excluded from the list of 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or. Despite a good season for Real Madrid, the attacking player was not selected by France Football magazine, which only named Vini Jr as Brazil’s representative. A few hours after the names were announced, the Merengue number 11 made an enigmatic post on his social networks. With six photos, the player recalled memorable moments from the 2023-24 season, to question his absence, and used emojis to mock this choice.” In Spain, too, his case has been talked about.
An absence that makes people talk
Sports Stadium also indicated: “One of the most striking cases of this Ballon d’Or 2024 is the absence of Rodrygo Goes among the nominees. The Brazilian, who, like his teammates, has won three titles, including the EA Sports Liga and the UEFA Champions League, was one of the most notable absences when the candidates for the most important individual trophy in the world of football were announced. The Real Madrid player did not want to let this go and, through his social networks, he wanted to express his disagreement with the decision of all those who participated in the votes. Through his Instagram account, the merengue striker left a clear message to the organizers of this award. To do this, he prepared a montage with some photos from last season. As it could not be otherwise, in some of them it appears with the titles won by Real Madrid, which has shown great dominance in the competitions it has won.” Same story in the columns of AS.
“It never rains at will. With the Ballon d’Or, it is common to see players unhappy about not being there. This is the case of Rodrygo Goes. A few hours after seeing the list of nominees for the prestigious award, the Real Madrid player shared on his social networks a photo summarizing everything he achieved last season.” Brand also mentioned this absence. “Real Madrid, with up to seven footballers (including Mbappé), is the team with the most representation on the list of 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or. Kroos, Vinicius, Bellingham, Fede Valverde, Carvajal, Rüdiger and Kylian himself are competing to be the best footballer of the year after a wonderful year with the white club. But not everyone has been able to get in and, among others, Rodrygo Goes is missing, who did not like being among the forgotten. A few hours after the list was made official, the Brazilian responded to his absence. He did so through a story on his Instagram account… and he didn’t need to say a single word. Rodry posted a montage with six photos that recall his part of the year as a protagonist and two emojis that speak for themselves: the one of laughter and the one of surprise.” Football fans are also surprised by his absence. In a survey published on Brand73% of the 59,400 voters believe that he should have been among the 30 finalists. This will not console Rodrygo, who will have to respond in the best possible way: on the field.
