After her speech in Spanish, Aitana Bonmati made her way down the podium while Kate came up again to give what was probably going to be her last words of the night.
"And now," she said, "it seems there is only one left."
She smiled, almost knowingly.
"In other years, this moment belongs to suspense."
Laughter, tinged with a bit of nervous energy, rippled through the auditorium after her words.
"But this year," she continued, "it belongs to something else."
"Ladies and gentlemen, once again, the nominees!"
After her words, the remaining 10 nominees flashed across the screen, with some eyes widening as they saw some of the faces in the last 10 nominees, wondering if they should have been included at all.
But before they could debate further in their thoughts, Kate came through again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2025 men's Ballon d'Or award is..."
"Izan Hernandez!!!!"
