The argument immediately provided by the club explained that there would be no Real Madrid representation at the Théâtre du Châtelet as a consequence of Vinicius not being awarded the Ballon d’Or. Leaks aside, the institutional team took with it not only the injured player, but also others. nominated teammates —Bellingham and Carvajal entered the top 4 and the entire team won the award for best men’s team— and the same coach, Carlo Ancelotti, also winner of his category.
One sensed that Vinicius was sad and sunken, dissatisfied, with the party going on and nothing to celebrate. It’s totally understandable. But this supposed injustice does not justify Madrid’s behavior. What did Florentino Pérez play?
If he played to defend the honor of one of his emblematic footballers, the defense may have gotten a little out of hand: too much noise, too much drama in the scene. Yes, Vinicius Jr is deserving of winning the Ballon d’Or, champion as he was of the League and the Champions League, leader of Madrid for his unbalanced football and for his fight against racism. (And no, I refuse to think that it was that fight that kept him from the trophy, as he hinted and his surroundings explain). But the Brazilian is no more deserving of that individual award that also values collective successes than is Rodri, the machine that makes Premier League champion City and European champion Spain work; football before in the head than in the feet; discretion and camaraderie as a flag.
If what happened this Monday is that Madrid was just playing to win and they didn’t get a good hand, they should remember that, as in their daily lives, in sport sometimes you win (a lot if you wear white) and other times is lost. There are few occasions and that is why it must sting twice as much. But when it happens, a little more lordship is assumed. If someone in Valdebebas built a fabulous house of cards and believed (without having any certainty; remember that a hundred journalists from 100 different countries vote) that it would be Vini the winner of the trophy, all that was left was to bow his head and congratulate the winner. The values of sport also reside in defeat. The rest is not knowing how to lose. It’s a tantrum when you’re no longer old enough to be kids.
I find it hard to believe that Madrid and its president Florentino Pérez were only playing (which is no small feat) to challenge UEFA, organizer of the ceremony for the first time with France Football. Another pulse. Take advantage of the fact that the Seine passes through Paris to make a mess of Ceferin and company, confronted as they are by the white club’s effort to have the Champions League, which has crowned them for so many years, end up being absorbed by their Super League.
But the more I think about it, the less I understand. And I more easily assume that the plan is more political than sporting, that the club put its interests before those of its players and coach; or worse still, the chimeras of a president and a player to the values and honors of the club he presides over. He gave Vinicius a significant attack and, far from calming him down, Madrid saw an opportunity.
Ancelotti, whose successes are recognized by the award for best coach, does not deserve such a snub, nor do the rest of the nominees; much less the winner of the night: a Spaniard born in Madrid who led the team to lift the European Cup this summer and who was well aware that he was collecting that Ballon d’Or in the midst of all the noise caused from the white house. And for a player like Vinicius who doesn’t do any good to be laughed at. Luckily, Rodri knows that he deserves that award. He already knew it when he decided to attend the gala when he still believed he would do it to applaud someone else.
