The Japan Times - Ballon d'Or wins 'normal' for Barcelona star Bonmati

The 26-year-old playmaker was crowned the best women's player in the world for the second time in Paris this week and told media including AFP how she is managing fame and still looking to improve.

Bonmati played a key part in a sensational Barcelona quadruple last season, scoring in the Champions League final to defeat Lyon and secure back-to-back European triumphs, as well as netting in the final as Spain won the Nations League.

"I'm taking it as something normal, I know there are people who will see it from the outside as something extraordinary, but from inside it's normal and I don't think much about it," said Bonmati, with her two trophies gleaming resplendently on a chair beside her at the Johan Cruyff stadium.

"Honestly I don't see it as extraordinary, even if some people do... when I was little I also looked on from the outside, watching from my house seeing Messi lift Ballons d'Or and thinking it was incredible.

"Once you are on the inside, you take it normally, naturally, although if I stop to think about it, it's something really big."

Bonmati led Spain to the World Cup in 2023, taking the limelight for club and country after her team-mate Alexia Putellas suffered a severe knee injury.

The midfielder stepped up to fill the gap and has dominated the women's game since.

She has become known for her resilience, a family trait, after her parents fought to change Spanish naming laws so that she could take her mother's surname, Bonmati, ahead of her father's, which was previously illegal.

Last year she called out abuses of power and disrespect from the Spanish football federation after the Luis Rubiales scandal at a UEFA awards ceremony.

That streak of strength showed up again this week after Bonmati received heavy criticism in some areas of Spain for giving part of her acceptance speech at the Ballon d'Or in her native Catalan tongue.

"It's my language, it's the language I am most comfortable in," said Bonmati.

"I don't think we should be justifying it every time we speak in Catalan -- because when I speak in English nobody says anything.

"I think the more languages I speak is a good thing, and (even if) Catalan is not well received in some areas, I will not change."

- 'Have to be good' -

Bonmati recently signed a new deal with Barcelona until 2028 which made her the best paid women's footballer in the world.

With her success comes pressure, as well as some perks including the personalised, gold-detailed trainers from one of her sponsors she wore to the interview.

"I try to be the same person I was 15 years ago," said Bonmati, also crediting those around her and her small hometown Sant Pere de Ribes, outside of Barcelona, for helping to keep her feet on the ground.

"It's true that now when I go out, people recognise you, before you were just unknown, and sometimes when you have a bad day and you don't want to meet anyone, you always have to put on a good face.

"You always have to be good, even though there are some days you don't feel like it -- that's hard sometimes, because you have to make an effort, to do something that you don't want to in that moment, but it's part of it and I accept it."

Bonmati said she enjoyed receiving her award from actress Natalie Portman and sharing the stage with Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who won the men's trophy.

She also hailed her team-mates, with Barcelona's Caroline Graham Hansen and Salma Paralluelo finishing second and third respectively on the podium.

"I am very grateful to have great players around me who always make me a better player," she said.

"If I played with worse players, I wouldn't be the player I am."

Bonmati is not setting her sights on a third crown, just as she never sought the first two, but is always striving to improve.

"When I train, when I play, I am not thinking that I'm going to win a third Ballon d'Or," she said.

"It's a consequence of winning a Champions League, a Nations League, World Cups, Euros... a consequence of work as a team.

"I am focused on not dropping my performance... it will come if it comes, and if it comes, it's because you've worked well as a team and obviously have done well individually too."

T.Shimizu--JT