Player comes to Vietnam for 'treatment', returns to win 3 Golden Balls

At the award ceremony held in Paris (France) this morning, September 23, in addition to Ousmane Dembele, the 2025 Golden Ball was also awarded to another player. That is Aitana Bonmati - star of the Spanish women's team and Barcelona club.

Who is Golden Ball Aitana Bonmati?

Aitana Bonmati was born on August 18, 1998, is a midfielder for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team. She once set a record for the female player with the most titles in one season (2022-2023) and is recognized as one of the monuments of women's football in the world .

Aitana Bonmati being named the world's best female player is nothing new. She won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA The Best awards in the previous two consecutive years (2023 and 2024).

This time, the 27-year-old star set a record as the first person to win three consecutive Ballon d'Or Feminin. Including the men's Ballon d'Or, only two other players have ever done this: Michel Platini and Lionel Messi.

Aitana Bonmati won the 2025 Ballon d'Or.

In the 2024-2025 season, Aitana Bonmati won only one collective title, the Spanish championship with Barcelona. She was only runner-up in the European arena - both for her club and the national team. However, on an individual level, she was still honored as the best player in both tournaments.

Aitana Bonmati’s individual title at the European Championship (Euro 2025) proves her extraordinary. The star born in 1998 almost missed this tournament due to illness right before the opening day of the tournament but recovered quickly to return to compete, even winning the title.

Just recovered from illness and immediately rampaged through Europe

During a training session with the Spanish national team, Aitana Bonmati suddenly felt ill. She had a persistent headache, something she had never experienced before. Initial examinations at the hospital did not identify the cause. Tests were fine until doctors performed a lumbar puncture and confirmed that she had meningitis.

Aitana Bonmati always appears with a fresh, energetic image.

Fortunately, Aitana Bonmati has contracted viral meningitis, not bacterial meningitis, which is more dangerous. According to initial estimates, she will need treatment for 10 days, and may not be able to recover in time to compete if the Spanish team advances further in the tournament.

However, after just three days in bed with IVs in her arms, Aitana Bonmati was discharged and immediately boarded a plane to Switzerland to join her teammates. She recovered so quickly that the coaching staff had to ask her to "slow down" to ensure her safety.

Six days after being discharged from hospital, Aitana Bonmati was brought on in a 5-0 win over Portugal. In the final group stage match against Italy, the world's best female player returned to the starting lineup. She was awarded the best player of the tournament by UEFA's panel of experts, even though Spain lost to England in the final - Bonmati missed a penalty.

Special memories in Vietnam

Aitana Bonmati once revealed an interesting story about Vietnam, emphasizing that the experience played a very important role in her career and life. The Spanish female player is very focused on taking care of her mental health and resting. Traveling is one of the ways for her to do that. In 2019, Aitana Bonmati came to Vietnam, choosing eco-tourism destinations such as Ninh Binh and Ha Giang .

Aitana Bonmati shares her travel memories in Vietnam.

"I learned a lot in Vietnam. I love disconnecting from the world by traveling. A few years ago, while backpacking through the mountains and rice terraces, I saw some kids running around on sharp rocks. They had no shoes, no one around, and were sitting on the edge of very high rocks.

In our country, parents would grab them right away. But these kids just sit there and laugh. In Europe, we think about what we don't have, you know? Here, kids don't even have shoes, but they're happy," Bonmati said.

In 2023, Aitana Bonmati played in a friendly match between the Vietnamese women's team and Spain. The European team won big, with the Barcelona star contributing 1 goal.

In addition to football expertise, Aitana Bonmati also pays great attention to education. The 2025 Golden Ball was trained in sports science, then studied a Master's program in Sports Management at the Johan Cruyff Institute.

Vtcnews.vn

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cau-thu-den-viet-nam-chua-lanh-tro-ve-gianh-3-qua-bong-vang-ar966980.html