Chapter 380: Chapter 379: Best Twin Yolks
The red wine incident in Liverpool’s midfield was thoroughly explained by Deng Kai.
But the impact of the incident didn’t dissipate; it further intensified.
This time, the media in England had completely accepted it, praising Deng Kai’s character in their reports.
At the same time, they were full of forgiveness for Steven Gerard’s mistake.
"Gerard’s slip was a major mistake, but maybe it’s just the tribulation he and Liverpool had to go through on their way to the top!"
"A flaw cannot obscure the splendor, Gerard’s overall performance could be ranked in the top three on the Liverpool team this game! He should not be ruined by one mistake!"
"The culprit of the red wine celebration is Gerard? No! Deng Kai recounts everything that happened during halftime, expressing that Liverpool today is just as great!"
"A ’futile’ run during the halftime break may have been the cause of Gerard’s slip at the end of the match—the redemption from Deng Kai!"
"Deng Kai clears the doubts for Liverpool players; his noble character is just like our initial impression of Chinese people!"
"Babel’s expression of confession, from wanting to kill Deng Kai to always maintaining respect for Deng Kai!"
"Such character, such emotional intelligence, no wonder Deng Kai was able to conquer Sporting Lisbon and become the absolute leader on and off the field! He even conquered all of Liverpool with a single post-match interview!"
"Deng Kai’s actions define what leadership quality is! He is undoubtedly the best player on the field!"
"Huo Li’er suffered a heart attack during the halftime break, and Deng Kai, Gerard, Matthaus reached out to help, joining forces to rescue!"
"After the game, Huo Li’er thanked Deng Kai and Matthaus for the red wine, stating that the responsibility for losing lies with him, not with Gerard!"
"Maxa: I misunderstood Liverpool, I only knew they asked for red wine in midfield and used it to motivate the players, but I didn’t know the backstory was like this."
"Trigella: Deng Kai told me the truth, but I decided not to tell my players. If my actions hurt Liverpool, I am willing to apologize to Liverpool for it!"
Noble!
With this incident, everyone has become noble.
The players and fans of Liverpool were also more able to accept a defeat.
People always need to find some reasons and excuses for failure.
Either they find a scapegoat, or they look for some other force majeure.
In any case, emotion needs to be diverted.
Without diversion, it’s truly painful, but once diverted, even the most challenging obstacles can be overcome.
Trigella even considerately took upon himself the only trouble that might have caused others to nitpick, protecting our Kai.
In just twenty minutes, Liverpool’s reputation was rebuilt from collapse, respected from being looked down upon, and transformed from simply being the backdrop of a loss to being part of a miracle, leaving people in awe.
Many masters of crisis public relations learned a lot from the post-match interviews.
They didn’t know if Deng Kai did it unintentionally or intentionally.
But after the incident, Deng Kai had become the first player to win respect from the other side even after snatching away their championship.
The climate had not yet degenerated to what it would be later; at this time, buying the player who eliminated you was a disgrace for the team, the more significant the event, the greater the stage, the more disgraceful.
AC Milan’s purchase of Shevchenko was hugely beneficial, and it initiated such a trend, making Inter Milan and Barcelona covet Sporting Lisbon’s Viana and Quaresma.
But these are exceptions; more often than not, such players are resisted by the opposing side.
As a result, not only was Deng Kai not opposed by Liverpool fans, but he also became the moonlight in the hearts of Liverpool fans.
If one day Deng Kai were to transfer to the Premier League, previously only Manchester United might consider him, but now Liverpool would definitely step in.
It seems that Deng Kai’s decision to destroy the possibility of joining Barcelona in the last match wasn’t a loss after all; without Barcelona, there’s now an extra Liverpool.
But then again, why is Deng Kai so harmonious with Liverpool, proactively helping to clarify things?
Why is there such hostility towards Barcelona?
My pure and faultless Barcelona, what on earth did you do wrong?
...
More than ten minutes later, the awards podium was fully set up, and the award ceremony officially began.
Compared with the Portugal Cup, the European Union Cup’s award ceremony was much more grand.
Everything from the scale of the stage, to the stature of the leaders and guests in attendance, to the number of media present, was on a different level.
The players from both sides had also returned to the pitch.
They were quite familiar with this kind of scene, having experienced similar award ceremonies this season. They wouldn’t find the process tedious because this was a glorious moment that many other players would never get to experience in their lifetimes.
First up were the Liverpool players, who lined up to receive their medals from the newly appointed German Football Association President, Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder, and then hurried off the field.
Personal honors followed closely after.
To increase the impact of the competition, UEFA had expanded on the honors aspect, particularly with the "awarding of trophies."
No matter the award, trophies were arranged.
How can it be considered an honor without a trophy?
First was the Best Newcomer Award, with nominees including Deng Kai, Ronaldo, Gerard, Klose, Quaresma, Viana, Drogba, and others.
Regrettably, players like Seedorf and Pirlo from Inter Milan and Xavi from Barcelona did not make the nomination list due to less than stellar performances.
The criteria for this award were mainly players over twenty-one years old participating in the European Union Cup for the first time, or those under twenty-one who hadn’t won the award before.
Players like Simon, who did not meet these criteria even though they performed well enough, were still out of contention.
In the end, the award produced a "double yolk" result.
The winning players were Ronaldo and Gerard.
Both went up on stage to receive the award together.
But an awkward issue arose, that being... there was only one trophy.
UEFA wasn’t fully prepared for this, so Ronaldo could only share the trophy with Gerard for the award photo.
Ronaldo winning was expected.
During this event, he scored fourteen goals, proving to be the most reliable attacking force for Sporting Lisbon. His performance during the matches was mature and stable, belying his age.
Although the two assists might seem minor, what more could you ask from a player of his age?
Gerard’s win had to do with public opinion.
Whether it was the amount of time played, the number of matches, or the influence on the matches, Gerard was not on par with Ronaldo.
But he had the advantage of originating from an English Premier League powerhouse, and the competition had generated a lot of discussion; he contributed to the finals with a goal and an assist but also made a critical mistake, and there was the red wine incident... The UEFA award panel simply couldn’t pass up this massive influx of attention.
And to be fair, Gerard’s performance truly was outstanding.
His data of four goals and five assists was also award-worthy, after all, aside from a few exceptional midfield freaks, normal midfielders can’t compare with forwards in terms of data.
