Cristiano Ronaldo took a jibe at the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri and said Vinicius Jr deserved the prestigious Golden Ball for his incredible season with Real Madrid. Vini helped the Los Blancos to win the LaLiga and Champions League last season. The Brazilian also scored a goal in the UCL final against Borussia Dortmund as Madrid extended their domination in European football.

Ronaldo, who has won the Ballon d’Or five times in the past, said it was unfair for Vinicius not to get the Golden Ball this year.

“In my opinion he (Vinicius) deserved to win the golden ball. It was unfair, I say it here in front of everybody,” said the Portuguese captain said at the Globe Soccer Awards.

Rodri led Manchester City to a fourth straight Premier League title last season before inspiring Spain to Euro 2024 success. While Vinicius scored 24 goals in 39 appearances across all competitions but had an underwhelming show with Brazil.

The Ballon d’Or is decided on the basis of a vote by a panel of journalists from the top 100 FIFA-ranked countries.

Ronaldo won his last Ballon d’Or in 2017 to match his arch-rival Lionel Messi‘s tally at that time, but the Argentine extended his lead over him later and won three more golden balls to make it eight for him—themost by any in football history.

Talking about Manchester City’s Rodri, the Portuguese forward said that he deserved it too, but for him, Vini was a clear favourite as he helped Madrid win the Champions League title.

“They gave it to Rodri, he deserved it too but I think they should have given it to Vinicius because he won a Champions League,” he added.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner further talked about the young generation of players who impressed him the most and named Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal alongside Vinicius as some of the talents to watch out for.

“I really love the way they do their career, (Jude) Bellingham, Lamine (Yamal) now, this young generation, Vinicius, they do a fantastic job,” Ronaldo said at the Globe Soccer Awards.