Ballon dOr, Maiden Award Glory Within Reach For Vincius Jr?

The stage is set, the spotlight now awaits the winner, and Vinicius Jr. stands poised to etch his name into football history. The Real Madrid sensation is the odds-on favorite to claim the 2024 Ballon d'Or, and his mesmerizing performances have left the football world breathless ahead of the ceremony.

Vinicius Jr.'s athletic speed, dribbling skills, and clinical finishes have yielded an astonishing 24 goals, catapulting him to the top of the Ballon d'Or shortlist. His influence on Real Madrid's Champions League and LaLiga triumphs has been nothing short of transformative.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has unequivocally endorsed Vinicius Jr. for the prestigious award, praising his "exceptional talent" and "game-changing" performances.

But Vinicius Jr. is not alone in the race to an award that also include strong contenders like Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Phil Foden (Manchester City) and Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao) will stop at nothing to dethrone the Brazilian phenomenon.

For the first time in 21 years, the iconic duo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will not be vying for the award, paving the way for a fresh generation of footballing superstars to seize the spotlight.

Can anyone halt Vinicius Jr.'s march to Ballon d'Or glory?

Vinicius, in many way has been instrumental to Real's successes both in the Spanish La Liga and UEFA Champions League campaign. Besides the goals he contributed towards the success, he almost singlehandled led the side through difficult encounters amongst which was the latter stages of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League, leading up to winning the trophy. 

"Vinicius Jr. has been unstoppable this season," declared football analyst Guillem Balague. "His pace, skill, and goal-scoring prowess make him the standout candidate."

The Brazilian rise to club-stardom did not just come out of the blues. He had been significant in the team prior to the exit of former striker, Karim Benzema from the club. The responsibility seemingly rested with him after Benzema left and he live up to the task securing both the La Liga and the Champions League for the team. 

Achievements At Club and National Level

Without a doubt, Real are getting their money's worth from the Brazilian whom they signed for £38million from his home country's club, Flamengo. For a player of his age at the time, 18, that was a national record. He lived up to the expectations by quickly establishing himself as a key figure in them, leading up to be named  as the 2023/24 Champions League man of the tournament. 

For a player of his type, winning titles has not been  never-ending chase and is fairly well-decorated with silverware in different shapes and sizes. in his debut season in 2018/19, he won the La Liga with the club and they only missed out twice on that to Barcelona (2020/21 and 2022/23). The UEFA Champions League trophies is not left out in his stack of titles.

Contrary to expectations for a player of his kind, the FIFA world Cup trophy is one that he has not achieved in his career. Similar to that is the Copa America trophy. Besides those, it is fair to say that he has done a lot for himself so far in his career. 

Is He On Course To Maiden Ballon d'Or?

This is not the first time that the Brazilian is nominated for the award. He made the list of contenders for the first time in 2022 and also ib the following year, 2023 which former Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi won for his new team, Inter Maimi - in that list was Erling Haaland (Manchester City) and Kylian Mbappe (then for Paris Saint-Germain). 

A Vinicius Jr. Ballon d'Or triumph would not only solidify his status as one of the world's premier players but also underscore Real Madrid's unwavering commitment to nurturing elite talent.

As the suspense builds, the anticipation that the forward will clinch the award this time is overwhelmingly obvious. Even former Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand was screaming "Ballon d'Or" in an video updated he uploaded  to his social media handle following his hat-trick against Borussia Dortmund in their UEFA Champions League encounter. 

October 28, 2024, marks the date when the football world will converge on Paris to witness the coronation of the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner. Will Vinicius Jr. clinch the award?