HOUSTON, TEXAS - JULY 04: Lionel Messi of Argentina reacts during the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 quarter-final match between Argentina and Ecuador at NRG Stadium on July 04, 2024 in Houston, Texas. | SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 14: Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid reacts during the LaLiga match between Real Sociedad and Real Madrid CF at Reale Arena on September 14, 2024 in San Sebastian, Spain.

Barcelona icon had a unique sportsmanship with the Ballon d’Or that Vinicius Junior lacks

Photo by Omar Vega | Juan Manuel Serrano Arce | Getty Images

The last night was another special one for FC Barcelona as they saw their forward Lamine Yamal win the Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d’Or ceremony at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.

This was definitely a special occasion for the Blaugrana youngster, and also for the other individuals honoured on this night, including the Barcelona Women’s team player Aitana Bonmati.

However, the ceremony last night was peculiar as one of the biggest clubs in the world, which also won the Best Club award on this event, decided not to attend the gala as they believed their player Vinicius Junior deserved to win the Ballon d’Or, which was ultimately given to Manchester City’s Rodri.

As Mundo Deportivo has noted, one cannot help but remember how one of Barcelona’s legends, Lionel Messi, used to attend all the Ballon d’Or ceremonies, even when he knew in advance that he was not going to win the top award. This was certainly a lesson that Vinicius failed to learn from him.

As things stand, it is only a few hours before the award is actually handed over that one can know which player had received the most votes. But things were different in Messi’s time, as the winner was called up for a photo shoot a few days before the ceremony, which gave a clear idea of who will be getting the highest number of votes.

Thus, despite coming on second, Messi attended all the ceremonies in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017. In 2007, he stood third and still attended the gala.

Furthermore, Messi had a very competitive rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo, and on almost all the occasions he lost out on the award, it was to the Portuguese superstar. Thus, Vinicius could have done well to learn from Messi and should have attended the ceremony despite his disappointment in not winning the award.

Tags Lionel Messi Vinicius Junior