Real Madrid right winger Rodrygo Goes had an excellent 2023/24 season for the Merengue club, winning the second Champions League title of his career as an every-game starter at the forward position opposite of Ballon d’Or favorite Vinicius Junior.
Yet despite winning two major trophies with 15 goals between the Champions League and LaLiga, Rodrygo wasn’t one of the 30 players nominated for the 2023/24 Ballon d’Or, snubbed in favor of clearly inferior players like Granit Xhaka and Vitinha.
Rivaldo, who won the Ballon d’Or as the main superstar for Barcelona in 1999, came to the defense of his Brazilian compatriot, calling the fact that the 23-year-old forward was left off the shortlist an “injustice”.
The two-time LaLiga winner and former Champions League winner (at AC Milan) said, via Madrid Xtra, “Rodrygo is a potential Ballon d’Or. It is injustice that he is not nominated.”
Rodrygo is getting overshadowed by Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and now Kylian Mbappe, but, as Rivaldo says, he is also a Ballon d’Or caliber player, just like that trio is.
He has started the season better than those Real Madrid teammates, too, vindicating those rushing to his defense. And if even a Barcelona legend is strongly and publicly backing Rodrygo, you know France Football messed up big time.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.