Manchester City’s Spanish soccer player Rodri wins Ballon d’Or award

PARIS, October 29. /TASS/. Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder Rodri has won the Ballon d’Or award for the best soccer player in the world for the 2023/24 season, according to France Football magazine. The award ceremony took place at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris.
For the first time, the Golden Ball was awarded jointly with the Union of European Football Associations. Rodri in the season 2023/24 became European champion and was recognized as the best player of the tournament. As part of Manchester City, he won the championship of England.
Rodri, 28, became the first Spaniard to win the Ballon d’Or since 1960. Rodri has been playing for Manchester City since 2019, previously he played for Spanish Atletico and Villarreal. The soccer player is a four-time English league champion, FA Cup winner, UEFA Champions League winner, UEFA Super Cup winner and FIFA Club World Cup winner. With the Spanish national team, he also won the Nations League in the 2022/23 season and was a bronze medalist at the European Championship (2021).
Argentina’s Emiliano Martonez, who plays for English Aston Villa, was named best goalkeeper for the second year in a row. He received the award named after Lev Yashin. The award for the best young player of the season, named after Raymond Kopa, went to Barcelona soccer player Lamine Yamal.
The award for the best striker of the season (Gerd Muller Trophy) went to two players this year: French soccer player Kylian Mbappe, who moved from PSG to Real Madrid, and England’s Harry Kane of Bayern Munich.