Chapter 382: Chapter 381: You Call This Insufficient Gold Content?
"The Best Player in the History of the European Union Cup! One photo tells you who this year’s most talented player in Europe is!"
Following the awards ceremony, an article by Jiang Yunzhu on the front page of the Record Report quickly dominated headlines across various platforms.
The accompanying photo was particularly striking.
Deng Kai was sitting on the grass, his left hand holding the Championship Trophy of the European Union Cup, his right hand holding the Best Player Trophy, with the Championship Medal and the Best Line-up Medal around his neck, and in front of him were the European Golden Shoe Trophy and the Assist King Trophy.
He was decked out in gold and silver, exuding wealth.
Many players spend their entire careers without ever obtaining one of these trophies or medals, and it is nearly impossible for many star players to receive these honours in the same season.
Some media even gave Deng Kai a nickname—the "Honour Harvester!"
However, The Sun Newspaper quickly copied and even upgraded this news.
They too released a photo, one of Deng Kai and Hathaway kissing, listing the sports honours Deng Kai has received to date as well as the film and television awards Hathaway has received, indicating that this was a union of geniuses, a match made in heaven.
They successfully shifted a sports news item into the entertainment and even social sections.
As a result, the "European Golden Shoe" released by UEFA afterwards seemed to be of no interest to anyone.
This year’s European Golden Shoe presented no surprises, with Jia De’er scoring forty-two goals, earning eighty-four points to receive the honor.
Henrik Larsson, the striker for the dominant force in the Scottish Premier League, Celtic, scored thirty-five goals, earning seventy points and receiving the European Silver Boot.
Chris, the up-and-coming talent from Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese league, with thirty-four goals and sixty-eight points, received the European Bronze Boot.
Following the release of this award, many star players expressed their dissatisfaction.
Crespo, who scored twenty-six goals for Lazio and was the Serie A Golden Boot, said, "Although it may sound arrogant, Serie A is currently the top league in the world. It is wrong to compete with the data from Serie A against other leagues."
"Perhaps changing the goal coefficient of Serie A to three times would be more satisfying to the fans. Otherwise, the prestige of the European Golden Shoe will diminish."
Hasselbaink, who scored twenty-three goals for Chelsea and was the Premier League Golden Boot, also stated, "Although the European Golden Shoe has restored the points system, the coefficient of some leagues is unbalanced."
"Take the Portuguese league, for example. It has produced both the European Golden and Bronze Shoes, but is the competitiveness of the Portuguese league really that strong? I don’t think so, at least not to the extent that it should affect two of the top three ranks in Europe."
Reporter: "But Ronaldo’s Sporting Lisbon is the champion of the European Union Cup, so maybe the Portuguese league really is strong?"
Hasselbaink: "And what about Jia De’er at Porto? What have they achieved in European competition?"
Raul, who scored twenty-four goals for Real Madrid and was the LaLiga Golden Boot, even laughed as he said, "I don’t care about the European Golden Shoe award, I care more about the honors the team can achieve."
"We certainly should recognize the excellence of some forwards outside the top five leagues, like Ronaldo. But we should also notice that some smaller leagues are deliberately creating high goal totals, and this behavior should be curbed, at least I think it should be."
Afterwards, Sergey Babarez and Ebbe Sand, both having scored twenty-two goals for their respective teams, Hamburg and Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga, expressed similar dissatisfaction, but not as strongly since the Bundesliga’s position can hardly be compared to that of the top three leagues.
And even if the coefficients for the Portuguese and Scottish leagues were lowered, it wouldn’t be their turn to claim the European Golden Shoe.
On the other hand, Bolaita, who scored twenty goals for Porto and was the Ligue 1 Golden Boot, couldn’t stop praising Ronaldo’s European Bronze Shoe, believing that the young player had demonstrated the high standard of Portuguese strikers, and was worth looking forward to.
As a key member of Portugal’s golden generation, Bolaita was very hopeful that the young talents in his country would grow quickly.
Although the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan would be too soon for them, with a bit of effort, these young players might still be able to support the golden generation in the 2004 European Championship.
Such opinions vexed Ronaldo greatly.
But Ronaldo was a practical person, he didn’t know how to counter such arguments because those players were indeed playing in higher-level, more challenging leagues.
Ronaldo belongs to that group of people who cannot boast about achievements they haven’t yet reached.
In contrast, some people, clearly lacking the capability and with no prospect of obtaining it, can effortlessly talk about being the best, claiming indifference to others’ opinions and aspiring to be number one. They live halfway up in the air and might just fall from the clouds at any moment.
However, Deng Kai was not one to be trifled with. After landing in Lisbon, he told the reporters during an interview, "Honestly, I also think there is a problem with how the European Golden Shoe is determined."
"It’s unfair to Ronaldo to only be awarded the European Bronze Shoe. UEFA should take into account the goals scored in cup competitions and European contests, especially the European matches."
"The coefficient for the main rounds of the Champions League could be 2.5, for the Europa League main rounds it could be 2, and for the domestic cup competitions main rounds 1.5. The coefficient should be 2 for the top three European leagues, 1.5 for the fourth to sixth, 1.2 for the sixth to tenth, and beyond the tenth, all coefficients are 1..."
"Only then can the true value of the European Golden Shoe be reflected."
"And according to such a calculation method... no, as long as the European matches are considered, no matter how you calculate it, this year’s European Golden Shoe would only belong to one person... Cristiano Ronaldo!"
The reporters clicked their tongues in amazement.
Deng Kai was truly daring in his speech.
Not satisfied with the European Bronze Shoe, he actually sought to secure the European Golden Shoe for his friend.
But you have to admit, Ronaldo this season was indeed fierce.
Thirty goals in the Portuguese league, fourteen in the Europa League, and one in the Portugal Cup, amassing forty-five goals in a single season!
His efficiency was off the charts, his scoring ability explosive!
If he were in a league similar to the Portuguese league, like Ligue 1 or the Bundesliga, boasting the reputation of one of the top five European leagues, he could have become the new legendary striker, rivalling Owen from the year before or Shevchenko from last year.
Deng Kai’s "complaint" brought Ronaldo once again under the public spotlight.
Some fans even modified their Ronaldo jerseys to bear the number "45" in honor of Ronaldo’s phenomenal statistics from his first season in the Portuguese league.
Soon enough, someone calculated Deng Kai’s season stats.
Unbeknownst till tallied, they were astonishingly impressive.
Sixteen goals and twenty-one assists in the Portuguese league.
Three goals and five assists in the Portugal Cup.
Fourteen goals and twelve assists in the Europa League.
He scored thirty-three goals and provided thirty-eight assists in a single season.
He would have been crowned the European Assist King... if such an honor existed.
Unfortunately, while there is a European Golden Shoe, there is no official award for the European Assist King.
With goals plus assists, Deng Kai was directly involved in a staggering seventy-one goals this season, exceeding 60% of the total goals scored last season by football teams in the Serie A, La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1!
What does this mean?
Theoretically, any team struggling with offense would become top 30%, even 20%, in attacking power amongst the five major European leagues the moment they acquired Deng Kai!
Of course, this is only a theoretical assumption.
Realistically, no one believed Deng Kai could maintain his sparkling form from this season.
Sporting Lisbon would also have a tough time next season.
