It’s hard to believe that a week has already passed since the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony. Yet, the soccer world remains divided over the outcome of the Men’s award, where the unexpected winner, Rodri, managed to steal the spotlight from the favored Vinicius Jr. While many continue to disagree with this result, for Alexi Lalas, it’s not even a question of ‘controversy,’ as he defended the decision while also praising Emma Hayes for her win.

Much of the disappointment over Rodri’s Ballon d’Or win has come from Real Madrid supporters and members of the club. In fact, Los Blancos responded to Vinicius Jr.’s snub by not attending the ceremony. Despite Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, and Dani Carvajal finishing in the top 10 of the 30-player list, as well as Carlo Ancelotti winning the Johan Cruyff Men’s Coach Award and Madrid being named Club of the Year, no representative from the Spanish capital attended the event at the Thétre du Chtelet.

This absence fueled calls from others to also boycott the prestigious award. However, Alexi Lalas quickly intervened to quell such movements and the USMNT icon instead took a sly dig at Madrid and Vinicius Jr., saying, “I don’t think there’s any controversy. I don’t think anybody is boycotting this by any stretch of the imagination,” he said, on the latest episode of his co-hosted State of the Union podcast.

While leaving the men’s debate at its natural course, the former American striker instead shifted the spotlight towards the women’s game, praising USWNT boss Emma Hayes’ win for the Johan Cruyff Women’s Award. “Well deserved for what she has done certainly in that time period and over the course of her career. It was one of the reasons she was hired because she’s the best and thankfully from the U.S. perspective, we have our leading women,” concluded Lalas.

It’s undoubtedly a proud moment for America to see Hayes winning the award, not only in recognition of her achievements with Chelsea over the past year but also in light of the recent Olympic triumph with the U.S. women’s team. However, Lalas’s subtle jab at Vinícius Jr. brings to mind his earlier comments during debates with Real Madrid fans over the Ballon d’Or results.

Alexi Lalas vocally unleashed his wrath over Vinicius Jr and Real Madri over the Ballon d’Or controversy

Following Rodri’s Ballon d’Or win, X, formerly Twitter, one netizen found it amusing that Vinicius Jr. was snubbed for the Golden Ball and criticized Real Madrid’s “childish” reaction. Interestingly, while calling Rodri’s win “completely justifiable” and noting that any team would want him, Lalas defended the decision saying, “Ballon d’Or award is understandably dominated by attacking players who score. Goals trump all. Rodri is just a necessary momentary cleansing and nod to less sexy players. Real Madrid’s reaction was weak sauce.”

Meanwhile, another netizen argued that Vinicius is simply the superior player and suggested that the vote was influenced more by politics than by performance. They acknowledged Rodri’s skill but claimed he isn’t among the very best, adding that strikers often win because the most talented players usually play in forward positions.

In response, Lalas cheekily said, “Then you’ve never had to time a late run in box, draw multiple defenders as you pass it on platter for your striker, see said striker miss a sitter and lose possession, track back 70 yards on a full sprint, make a goal-saving slide tackle w/o fouling…and get up and do it again.”

Looks like for Alexi Lalas, the winner is Rodri, but we would like to know your thoughts as well.