Chapter 381: Chapter 380: Three Double-Yolk Eggs, the Best Player in the History of the Europa League
From this point of view, Viana, who also delivered a record of four goals and five assists, was the one at a disadvantage.
If the award had been decided after the match against Inter Milan, he would definitely have been the best newcomer, but sadly that was only the round of sixteen.
After the group photo, Gerard willingly gave the trophy to Ronaldo.
Overall, the match brought back more painful memories for him; he didn’t want to be reminded of those sad recollections by an artifact related to the game.
Ronaldo, while saying no thanks, clutched the trophy tightly to his chest.
The smile at the corner of his mouth betrayed his true feelings.
Following the best newcomer award, the top scorer award was presented.
Once again, Ronaldo stepped up to receive the award.
Fourteen goals would be enough to secure the top scorer title in any cup competition.
However, it wasn’t just Ronaldo who scored fourteen goals; there was also... Deng Kai!
The duo from DK took to the stage together, each holding a half of the trophy for the award presentation photo.
One team producing two top scorers was enough to prove just how fierce Sporting Lisbon’s firepower was in the European battle this season.
Victories of seven to six over Inter Milan and Barcelona, eleven to one over Kaiserslautern, and a dramatic five to four triumph over Liverpool were figures that were frightening to mention.
In the end, Ronaldo kept the trophy, thanks to the generous concession of Deng Kai.
Ronaldo held the best newcomer in his left hand and the top scorer trophy in his right, beaming brightly.
After the top scorer came the announcement of the best goalkeeper.
Schmeichel took to the stage once more.
A thirty-eight-year-old veteran winning the Best Goalkeeper honor in both the Portuguese league and the Europa League within a year, Schmeichel experienced a peak reminiscent of the year Manchester United won the treble two years prior.
Having an elder in the family is like possessing a treasure, the saying goes, and it proved true in his case.
The winner for the best defender was Liverpool’s right-back, Babel, the best performing defensive player of this Europa League, with an especially strong will to win.
Of course, some fans believed his winning the award was related to his reaction of pounding the ground after a loss.
"Babel’s fury on the turf" almost became a meme.
The competition for the best midfielder was fierce, but in the end, it was Barcelona’s Rivaldo who emerged victorious.
Essentially, with that award decided, everyone understood what it meant.
Next came the best forward.
Ronaldo and Quaresma were strong contenders for the award, including Drogba, Heskey, and Klose who were also on the list.
But the one who ultimately claimed the award was England’s golden boy Owen.
This was also seen as the biggest consolation for Liverpool after their loss.
If Liverpool had won, the award might very likely have gone to Sporting Lisbon’s Quaresma.
But there was no need for disappointment, as Quaresma shortly went on stage to receive his award.
In this season’s competition, he contributed three goals and twelve assists, earning him the title of top assister of the tournament.
But, as the saying goes, those responsible for preparing this award ceremony would certainly be disciplined afterward.
Because they also hadn’t prepared enough trophies for the top assister.
This year’s top assister also had two recipients.
Apart from Quaresma, the other was Deng Kai, who contributed fourteen goals and twelve assists to Sporting Lisbon... Deng Kai!
While claiming the top scorer award, Deng Kai also took the title of top assister of the tournament, becoming the first player in Europa League history to achieve a grand slam in individual honors.
With Deng Kai’s acquiescence, Quaresma also gained the ownership of the trophy.
Quaresma was extremely excited, hugging Deng Kai repeatedly.
After all, this was the highest honor he had received so far.
The media were thoroughly convinced by Deng Kai’s actions.
On the field, it’s one thing to give up positions and statistics, but for Deng Kai to also yield when it came to reaping the rewards was truly astounding.
The sophistication and spirit he revealed were profoundly alarming.
Of course, for Deng Kai, trophies and the like would not be in short supply in the future, even to the point of having no room for them.
As long as these honors were recorded in his personal file, that was enough.
After all, which future football fans would bother visiting Deng Kai’s trophy room at home? Everyone would be viewing the list of Deng Kai’s honors on various apps.
Whether or not he got the trophies didn’t matter.
Besides, the truly heaviest trophy hadn’t even been awarded yet.
Ultimately, under the cheers of the crowd, UEFA President Renat Johansson personally handed out the last individual award—the Player of the Tournament!
Deng Kai ascended the podium for the third time, setting the record for the most individual honors in a single competition.
Champion, top scorer, assist leader, Player of the Tournament...including the Champions League, Deng Kai was the first to sweep all these honors in the history of European competitions.
He was thus dubbed by the fans as "the greatest player in the history of the Europa League," with no best player of any year able to boast such statistics.
There had been none before, and there would be none after.
After the individual awards were handed out, the entire Sporting Lisbon team lined up on stage to receive their championship medals one by one.
However, a small incident occurred during the group photo session: Deng Kai handed the Europa League trophy to Matthaus, allowing him to lift it.
This gesture was the best consolation for Matthaus, who received a red card in the match and the best compensation for missing out on the Champions League trophy two years prior.
The usually proud and honor-filled Matthaus couldn’t hold back his tears at that moment.
Consequently, Matthaus became the player with the most Europa League titles in history, with three victories in 1991, 1996, and this year!
He was in the same league as Juventus and Inter Milan.
Although he still hadn’t won the Champions League trophy, Matthaus had climbed another rung on the ladder of his own honors.
In the end, UEFA unveiled the best squad of this Europa League competition.
This was also the most unique best squad in history.
Because in this lineup, there were only two defenders.
The original 3-4-3 scoring lineup had been adjusted because Deboer, a Barcelona defender chosen for the squad, had been involved in misconduct during the match, leading UEFA to strip him of the honor and pass it on to the next player in the overall ranking.
And that player happened to be a midfielder... Viana.
As a result, this created the 2-5-3 best squad of the Europa League:
Ronaldo, Owen, Klose
Viana, Rivaldo, Deng Kai, Gerard, Quaresma
Barzagli, Babel
Schmeichel
Sporting Lisbon had six players selected, once again the big winners.
With that, Sporting Lisbon’s season had come to a complete close.
And the entire European football season would also come to an end after tomorrow’s Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Valencia.
European football was set to embrace a red-hot summer transfer window.
Unless there were any surprises, there would be two centers of attention this summer.
One was Valencia, who had reached the Champions League final for two consecutive years. Regardless of whether they managed to defeat Bayern Munich, they would certainly be picked apart by the big clubs’ excavators in the summer.
The other was the newly-crowned treble winners, Sporting Lisbon. It was the perfect time for a club known for selling high-quality players to cash in on their young talents.
They were bound to bring a series of transfer storms to this summer.
Unless they harbored even more impractical grand ambitions.
