Should Rodri have won the Golden Ball over Lionel Messi? 👀 2026 World Cup award winners | ESPN FC — Transcript

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1. 0:02They'll see the sunrise, won't they,
2. 0:03Macca? Don't you reckon in Spain?
3. 0:06The party is going to go on all night.
4. 0:10Uh the second time they've won the World
5. 0:11Cup, first back in 2010.
6. 0:14So, let's take a look at some awards,
7. 0:15shall we then? Golden Boot uh Golden
8. 0:17Ball, sorry, goes to Rodri. Wow. Uh
9. 0:20Kylian Mbappé, Golden Boot. Inaki Simon,
10. 0:22Golden Glove. Uh Young Player, Cubarsí.
11. 0:26I'm surprised they didn't go Messi for
12. 0:29for Golden Ball.
13. 0:30>> For young player.
14. 0:31>> [laughter]
15. 0:33>> Uh it's Rodri who wins it. In fact, it's
16. 0:35very difficult, isn't it? Obviously, you
17. 0:37can't argue with Mbappé. That's
18. 0:38>> Isn't that great for the young Cub? I
19. 0:39mean, I'm sure he's more interested in
20. 0:41winning the World Cup and the medal and
21. 0:42all that, but
22. 0:43I think that is recognition for
23. 0:45everything we've
24. 0:46we've talked about. And how good and how
25. 0:48how we forget and all that as boys were
26. 0:51saying in all the Lamine Yamal
27. 0:52discussion,
28. 0:54but he's been in that Barça team since
29. 0:5616, 17. Yep. Yep. And a really important
30. 0:59position and a and a position where
31. 1:01center forwards will look to sort of be
32. 1:03physical and mess you around and
33. 1:05so, he's he's got two league
34. 1:06championships
35. 1:08and a World Cup.
36. 1:10I mean, it's he he's been so under the
37. 1:12radar, but he's been incredible.
38. 1:14>> He wasn't in the uh squad for the
39. 1:16European Championship.
40. 1:17Uh 2 years ago.
41. 1:19>> I don't know, actually.
42. 1:20>> He's too young.
43. 1:21>> Yeah.
44. 1:21>> Let's go with that.
45. 1:22>> 2 years ago.
46. 1:22>> Lamine Yamal was very young, too.
47. 1:24>> [laughter]
48. 1:24>> We don't need any curveballs.
49. 1:26>> I mean, the Golden Golden Ball's
50. 1:27interesting, isn't
51. 1:28>> Yeah, but that's fine. I thought he's
52. 1:29been brilliant since
53. 1:30>> Yeah.
54. 1:30>> I thought he's brilliant, Rodri. I think
55. 1:31he Forgive me if I'm wrong.
56. 1:33>> I think it should have gone to Messi.
57. 1:34>> I think Did he not
58. 1:34>> I think he was the best player of the
59. 1:35tournament. I think he had moments.
60. 1:37>> Did he not win the Golden Ball in 2
61. 1:38years ago? Well, not Golden Ball, but
62. 1:40>> Have you heard anything he got played in
63. 1:42>> No, I haven't, but I think I I don't
64. 1:44know. I think if you look at this
65. 1:45tournament overall,
66. 1:47uh he's been the best player.
67. 1:48>> No.
68. 1:48>> He's had the best moments.
69. 1:50>> Yeah, but isn't being the best player
70. 1:51having the best moments?
71. 1:52>> Rodri Rodri's was a Rodri's was was uh
72. 1:57is was consistency.
73. 1:58>> Yeah, but he he doesn't
74. 2:00>> Just because you don't have moments like
75. 2:01Rodri. He's He's a different cuz he's a
76. 2:03different type of player.
77. 2:05>> And more valuable.
78. 2:06>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
79. 2:06>> He doesn't understand the nuances.
80. 2:08>> Yeah, exactly. That's the problem.
81. 2:10>> What are you winking at him for?
82. 2:11>> People they go and they they pay tickets
83. 2:13because they want to see Messi. But
84. 2:15people who love football, they want to
85. 2:17pay tickets to see Rodri. Yeah. That's
86. 2:19the thing. That's the thing that people
87. 2:20have to understand. Yes, it's nicer,
88. 2:23it's more entertaining to see
89. 2:25uh Messi. But if you want to see a
90. 2:27proper, fantastic, useful uh um
91. 2:31very important player, you have to go
92. 2:33for
93. 2:33>> the reason You're the reason
94. 2:36one of the reasons that the Ballon d'Ors
95. 2:38go to the type of player that they do.
96. 2:40>> Yeah.
97. 2:40>> Right.
98. 2:41>> For the most part.
99. 2:41>> would be I think Spain would still be in
100. 2:43the final without
101. 2:44Rodri. They Argentina wouldn't be in the
102. 2:46final
103. 2:47>> think their defensive record is down
104. 2:48solely to the back four?
105. 2:50>> No, it's not, but I think we've talked
106. 2:51about the depth and the quality they
107. 2:52have within that team that I think Rodri
108. 2:55someone can come in.
109. 2:56>> Messi had an amazing World Cup for a
110. 2:5739-year-old.
111. 2:58>> Yeah.
112. 2:59>> But it was generally late in games when
113. 3:00teams were tired and he had and he had
114. 3:02nothing he he had he was he was out. It
115. 3:04was his probably his last World Cup. And
116. 3:05he knew it.
117. 3:07And so he just found something
118. 3:09that Rodri's
119. 3:11the quality of his play all through the
120. 3:13tournament was of a high standard.
121. 3:14>> He's a key He's a key He was a key of
122. 3:16the team.
123. 3:16>> I feel we could be sitting here all
124. 3:17night. You're not going to convince
125. 3:18>> No, no, no, I think No, I think it's not
126. 3:19>> No, he He was He was I'm sure he got
127. 3:22player of the tournament in the Euros
128. 3:23Yeah, 2 years ago as well.
129. 3:25>> So if there's something about him that's
130. 3:26terrible
131. 3:27>> tell you He's a
132. 3:29You have to get to the final.
133. 3:30>> We saw him come back from the injury
134. 3:31>> Yeah.
135. 3:32>> and we thought he wasn't that
136. 3:33>> He's not the same He's not the same
137. 3:34player, but he was he was here.
138. 3:35>> It is what it is.
139. 3:36>> And when push comes to shove against
140. 3:37France, I thought he was magnificent.
141. 3:39And he didn't put a foot wrong today.
142. 3:41Yes, you can't think about things that
143. 3:42he did like oh that pass to him or that
144. 3:44shot here or this or that. But it's like
145. 3:47a metronome in that he just gives it and
146. 3:48goes and moves forward and moves There's
147. 3:50an argument you'd say Jude,
148. 3:52>> brilliant.
149. 3:52>> Do you know
150. 3:53what was the the nickname of the people
151. 3:55in this position like 20 years ago?
152. 3:58Water carrier.
153. 3:59>> The water carrier, yeah, yeah.
154. 4:00>> Yeah, that was the guy. This guy was
155. 4:02called a water carrier, so people would
156. 4:03get the ball back and give it to the
157. 4:05stars. That's was so pejorative, do you
158. 4:08say?
159. 4:08>> Patronizing.
160. 4:09>> Patronizing.
161. 4:10>> Pejorative.
162. 4:11>> Pejorative.
163. 4:11>> Pejorative.
164. 4:12>> Pejorative, thank you. Because because
165. 4:14they're so important in the game and I'm
166. 4:16so brilliant we finally recognized the
167. 4:19work of those player. We played with
168. 4:21fantastic player like and we saw that.
169. 4:24We saw at the time Guardiola was a kind
170. 4:26of a player like that, but even if he
171. 4:27got
172. 4:28not
173. 4:28>> We had Makelele, sure.
174. 4:29>> Makelele was the best. He was the most
175. 4:31important player in
176. 4:31>> our team.
177. 4:32>> We had Zidane, we had
178. 4:33>> Zidane when you got rid of him.
179. 4:34>> And Makelele
180. 4:35>> And N'Golo Kanté
181. 4:36>> Yes, he was important.
182. 4:37>> That was insane. That was you you see
183. 4:39Neves and you see Vitinha this season
184. 4:41with Paris Saint-Germain. Those player
185. 4:43finally have recognition to the world.
186. 4:46Of course, they're not entertaining like
187. 4:48Messi or somebody else, but it's so
188. 4:51crucial into the in the game.
189. 4:52>> I think after they got to the final, not
190. 4:54Robin N, but I think after they got to
191. 4:55the final, you could have chucked Jude
192. 4:56Bellingham in that mix.
193. 4:57>> Yeah, but they didn't, so there's no
194. 4:58point in that.
195. 4:59>> it doesn't Well, but it doesn't You
196. 5:00don't It doesn't mean he didn't have an
197. 5:01absolutely amazing tournament. It's not
198. 5:03his fault that England
199. 5:04>> you can't You can't You can't put an
200. 5:06argument up he should get the Golden
201. 5:07Ball.
202. 5:07>> No, no, I'm just saying I
203. 5:08>> You brought it up.
204. 5:09>> No, you could argue he was You're
205. 5:11arguing about Messi. You could argue You
206. 5:12could argue Bellingham even though he
207. 5:13didn't get to the final.
208. 5:14>> Messi did get to the final.
209. 5:15>> Yeah, but that's See, you're you're
210. 5:17you're very insular in the way you
211. 5:18>> [laughter]
212. 5:20>> You're very insular in the way you're
213. 5:21analyzing it.
214. 5:22>> I'm just throwing it
215. 5:23>> What about Mbappé?
216. 5:23>> Mbappé
217. 5:24>> The fact is, hold on, we give Jude
218. 5:26Bellingham enough stick when he's not
219. 5:27playing well for Real Madrid.
220. 5:28>> we But
221. 5:29>> And when somebody pitches up and has
222. 5:30that type of tournament for the country,
223. 5:32I think you should recognize it.
224. 5:33>> think we have recognized it.
225. 5:34>> Well, you're just rubbishing it.
226. 5:35>> No, I'm not rubbishing it. I'm just
227. 5:36saying he's not in the conversation for
228. 5:37a Golden Ball, is he? Cuz otherwise,
229. 5:39you're going to talk about Mbappé.
230. 5:41>> Yeah.
231. 5:41>> Oh, he's scored 10 goals.
232. 5:42>> Well, yeah, I'm all right with that.
233. 5:43What you What you would say is that
234. 5:45I think me, Craig, and Frankie have all
235. 5:48played football and all not we all agree
236. 5:51with that with that decision.
237. 5:53>> Yeah.
238. 5:53>> You know, he should get it Rodri over
239. 5:55Messi.
240. 5:55>> Apart from one guy.
241. 5:57>> Well, the one
242. 5:58he doesn't count.
243. 5:59>> No.
244. 5:59>> He doesn't count.
245. 6:00>> He didn't mention him in 2011.
246. 6:01>> He didn't mention him when he was
247. 6:03talking about
248. 6:03>> [laughter]
249. 6:04>> You've put me off. Where are we going
250. 6:06now?
251. 6:07We've done golden
252. 6:07>> Bellingham.
253. 6:08>> [laughter]
254. 6:10>> Jude Bellingham.
255. 6:11>> Messi finished second. Jude Bellingham
256. 6:12finished third. What's wrong with that?
257. 6:13>> I meant Mbappé with the golden boot.
258. 6:15>> Crucial.
259. 6:15>> No, no, I meant he he's won the the
260. 6:17golden boot.
261. 6:17>> Yeah, but that's very individual. I
262. 6:19don't like that. I don't care. I mean he
263. 6:21played the last game because he wanted
264. 6:23to be golden boot. Good for him. But
265. 6:25that's that's personal. That's
266. 6:26individual. It doesn't
267. 6:29give anything to the football for me.
268. 6:31Again, we we we joke about the
269. 6:33collective sport.
270. 6:34>> think that's Do you think that's why
271. 6:35Deschamps played him in the last game?
272. 6:36>> Of course. Definitely.
273. 6:37>> Definitely.
274. 6:38>> And if he wasn't I'd give him a tenner
275. 6:39or something else a runner.
276. 6:41>> And and people are pretty upset in
277. 6:42France with say "Why didn't put the
278. 6:44bench in?"
279. 6:44>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
280. 6:45>> Mbappé, we don't care about the golden
281. 6:46boot.
282. 6:47>> Yeah.
283. 6:47>> He played for He played for Real Madrid
284. 6:48in the what do you call it the Copa del
285. 6:50Rey against a
286. 6:51a fourth-tier team this year cuz he was
287. 6:53chasing some sort of record.
288. 6:55>> That's it.
289. 6:55>> And he was he was carrying a knee injury
290. 6:57which ultimately put him out for
291. 6:59>> Exactly.
292. 6:59>> three or four weeks and it's almost
293. 7:00like, you know, it was hard to criticize
294. 7:02him.
295. 7:02>> That's That's the bad statistics. That's
296. 7:04the problem with him.
297. 7:05>> But I think sometimes a coach has to
298. 7:06just be stronger and like like De la
299. 7:09Fuente was with the Pedri decision.
300. 7:11>> Well, why you
301. 7:11>> That was a big decision.
302. 7:12>> Look, Tuchel didn't put Kane to score
303. 7:14more goals maybe so
304. 7:16against France and and he scored four
305. 7:19goals, six goals. He could have scored
306. 7:21three. Saka scored three and he would
307. 7:22have ended up finishing better better
308. 7:25golden boot. Well, that's doesn't make
309. 7:27any sense to me. Well, I'm happy for
310. 7:29Kylian, but that's very personal.
311. 7:31>> Yeah, yeah.
312. 7:31>> And I don't care about that.
313. 7:33>> I'm not I'm not
314. 7:33>> I'm the same as Frankie.
315. 7:34>> I I'm not really bothered about the
316. 7:35golden boot.
317. 7:36>> When when it happens in those type of
318. 7:38circumstances when you've got like a
319. 7:39thing playoff, I'm I'm not bothered.
320. 7:41It's great for Kylian and his personal
321. 7:43pride.
322. 7:43>> Top of it, 48 teams, more games, eight
323. 7:46games. You know when Pele was scoring
324. 7:48goals, they had like maybe four games or
325. 7:50five games.
326. 7:51Closer when he became it was like six
327. 7:53games maybe, I don't know. And and
328. 7:56that's what it is. So, we comparing
329. 7:59players with generation and say, "Oh, he
330. 8:01has the best
331. 8:03record." Because of course they play
332. 8:04eight games now.
333. 8:06>> Against inferior opposition as well to
334. 8:07be
335. 8:08>> Exactly. I didn't want to mention that.
336. 8:10>> You mentioned it.
337. 8:10>> And if you go to 64 teams, I mean
338. 8:12Kylian's going to get about 50 goals
339. 8:14>> [laughter]
340. 8:14>> over the next few years.
341. 8:16>> So, it doesn't mean anything, yeah.
342. 8:17>> Uh party continues in Madrid. These are
343. 8:20the scenes that we're seeing filter in.
344. 8:22What a fiesta. It will be in the Spanish
345. 8:25capital.
346. 8:26Wow, where is that? Is that Is that
347. 8:28where he's celebrating?
348. 8:29>> No, no, it's not Cibeles.
349. 8:31It's on top, isn't it? The Castellana.
350. 8:32>> Aha.
351. 8:33>> Oh, come on, lads. You lived there.
352. 8:35>> [laughter]
353. 8:37[music]