Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is glad to have Spain midfielder Rodri back in training but has no idea yet if he will feature at all in this month's FA Cup final, saying "I'm not a doctor".
City have struggled badly without Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who suffered a serious knee injury in September.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti vehemently defended his sides’ decision to boycott the Ballon d’Or award ceremony last year in protest of Vinicius Jr’s snub and said that Rodri, who edged out Vinicius for the award, should have won the prize a year earlier instead of Lionel Messi.
The winners of the ninth edition of The Best FIFA Football Awards 2024 will be revealed in the early hours of Thursday (Bangladesh time). The awards recognise the year’s top players in women’s and men’s football at club and national levels and celebrate their performances.
Rodri, who won the Ballon d'Or last month, underwent surgery after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a 2-2 draw at Arsenal, with manager Pep Guardiola saying he would not play again this season.
“Why would it hurt me? It was my moment, to enjoy with my family. The last thing I’d be thinking about is people who weren’t there, and didn’t want to participate,” Rodri said in an interview with COPE radio.
It was revealed that five of the 99 journalists who voted for this year’s Ballon d’Or left eventual winner Rodri out of their top 10 list while three journos did not have Vinicius Junior, who came second after the Spanish midfielder, in the top 10 of their ballot.
Brazil coach Dorival Junior said that it was an injustice that forward Vinicius Junior did not win the Ballon d’Or this year.
Rodri becoming the first Manchester City player to win the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world on Monday did come as a surprise to many, and with ample reasons too as he pipped favourite Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid and Brazil to lift the most prestigious individual award in football.
Manchester City's Rodri says he is playing his best soccer as his team bids to claim a historic treble when the Premier League champions face Inter Milan in Saturday's Champions League final.
"I think Pep said that you will not be 'big, big' if you don't win in Europe. It's the exam we have to pass again," said the Spanish international
