Chapter 440: Chapter 439: The Fallen Star, Nesta and Simeone
Florentino had always been a smart man; he strongly supported Zidane and Figo because he would rather wrongly kill than let go, intending to "siege" the Golden Ball Award with the highest probability.
But similarly, a smart man would not lose his grip.
Zidane and Figo made it into the top ten and top five, respectively.
Then Raul...
The third place was announced, and Beckham regretfully accepted the award.
He had been ranked second and third in this award, but he had never truly won it.
Stats, highlight moments, popularity, commercial value, he had maxed them all out.
So the only way to win, perhaps as Florentino had said, was that he needed a coach who wouldn’t overshadow his starlight.
Beckham shook his head; he would not betray Manchester United and Ferguson.
If a treble and three consecutive Premier League titles weren’t enough, then he would just have to win a quintuple and five consecutive Premier League titles.
By then, he didn’t believe the Golden Ball would still keep him out.
Next, the runner-up of the Golden Ball was announced.
It was Kahn, the dual role of goalkeeper for Bayern Munich and the Germany national team.
Kahn’s advantage was that last year he finally fulfilled his dream of winning the Champions League with Bayern, reaching the pinnacle of European competition.
The disadvantage was that it was really hard for a goalkeeper to receive this award.
Another factor was... they had lost to Sporting Lisbon in the battle between kings—the European Super Cup.
This somewhat diminished the prestige of Bayern’s Champions League victory.
There had been many matches where the Champions League winner had lost in the European Super Cup, but the negative impact was unprecedented for Bayern.
In the end, Real Madrid’s golden boy, Raul Gonzalez, lifted the highest honor of the year for a football player, the Golden Ball!
As Deng Kai had said before, there was absolutely no problem with Raul winning the award this year.
He scored forty-one goals this season, winning the Golden Boot for both the last Champions League and La Liga season.
His personal performance was exceptionally outstanding.
In his acceptance speech, Raul mentioned Deng Kai, "Honestly, I must thank Deng Kai. He defeated Kahn, which caused many judges to give their votes to me, who appeared more perfect."
"Of course, I also have to thank that Deng Kai and Figo come from the same country. Some judges told me that because Deng Kai was too young, they dared not easily trust everything this young man had achieved, so they gave some of their votes to Figo."
"And without Deng Kai’s votes, they would have given part of my votes to Figo, because Figo was also one of the best performers of the year!"
Raul, with his high Emotional Intelligence, pulled one for Figo, showing the affection between teammates.
He also lifted Deng Kai, making it known that Deng Kai deserved a higher ranking.
As is customary, the Golden Ball quickly passed the microphone to Deng Kai, the master of creating buzz.
Deng Kai immediately expressed modestly, "The honors that Raul has achieved are all well-deserved. There is his own merit, as well as that of Real Madrid and the fans, but there’s nothing that belongs to me."
"In my homeland China, fans call Raul ’The Lord of the Rings.’ It’s because when he got married, he kissed his wedding ring to celebrate goals. And the movie ’The Fellowship of the Ring,’ starring my girlfriend Hathaway, is also referred to as ’The Lord of the Rings’ by us."
"I hope that while everyone supports Raul, you will also enter the cinema on December 19th this year to support ’The Lord of the Rings,’ to support Hathaway! Thank you all!"
Applause broke out!
When the production team and the entire cast and directors of The Lord of the Rings saw this live broadcast, they were so excited they almost wanted to kneel down to Deng Kai.
With the promotional effects of ’The Princess Diaries’ and ’Tomb Raider’ still fresh in their minds, how could ’The Lord of the Rings’ not be thrilled?
Who’s strong in movie promotion?
Lisbon Athletic goes for Emperor Kai!
The meaning of crossover lies in being able to drive the flow of one area into another.
Spicy Girl Victoria had already implemented a similar operation on Beckham under Deng Kai’s inspiration, and the effect was frighteningly good.
As a pioneer in this field, Deng Kai’s guidance was even smoother.
Raul, standing on the award podium, nodded repeatedly, "I will definitely watch it if there’s no game that day. I will book the whole theater and invite the entire team to watch it together!"
Deng Kai, "That’s really great, since Raul has said so. As one of the superstar players of Real Madrid, how could Figo and Zidane not book the whole theater as well?"
The camera turned to Zidane, who rolled his eyes.
Figo nodded helplessly, "Book it, whatever it takes!"
Finally, as Raul was about to leave the stage, Deng Kai spoke anxiously, "Raul, I have one last request, I..."
Raul interrupted Deng Kai with a tone that was half-joking and half-mocking, "I know, you’re my fan and want my autographed football, right?"
Deng Kai, "Preferably the one from your next scoring match! It’s worth more—oh no... it has more commemorative significance!"
The audience roared with laughter.
Those who were used to Deng Kai found him to be a really interesting kid, his quirky little habits made him seem more genuine.
People don’t like a kid without any flaws; what they like is a child who, although has some shortcomings, is in the process of striving to improve.
Deng Kai was the latter.
Cristiano Ronaldo: May I ask where I fall short?
Having some flaws is very different from having a lot of flaws.
Those who didn’t like Deng Kai thought it was incredulous how this kid managed to stumble into the tenth spot of the Golden Ball award—simply by a dumb stroke of luck.
Deng Kai always loses what he gets by luck through his own ability.
Wait until he’s older; he will find that he can no longer laugh so freely at the Golden Ball award ceremony.
Because he won’t be able to enter this place at all.
Similarly, Deng Kai looked at the people who laughed at him or mocked him and was very satisfied.
Because perhaps starting from next year or the year after, these people might not be able to smile when they meet him.
After all, when everyone becomes competitors, although there may still be a sense of mutual appreciation, it really becomes difficult to talk and laugh freely.
Especially when the younger junior coming up has the upper hand.
Since time immemorial, the only ones who talked heroes over wine were Cao Cao and Liu Bei, with the Young Emperor Uncle still smiling begrudgingly.
Golden Ball, I’ve greeted you with six Championship Trophies and six MVP awards.
Next time I come to see you with an even greater Championship Trophy, it won’t be just a brief encounter from a distance anymore.
By then, you can no longer use seniority to pressure me!
...
"Ding! You have led the team to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 as the group leader, obtaining star drops ’Tackling Master Nesta’ and ’Simeone’s Tactical Board’."
"Tackling Master Nesta: Nearly every player will tackle, but few can do so elegantly. And a perfect tackle is the ultimate goal many players pursue, one that Nesta was fortunate enough to achieve. Steals +5, defensive positioning +2, interceptions +2, blocking +2, clearing +2. Acquires the purple star skill ’Commander After Tackle’."
"Commander After Tackle: After a failed tackle, the recovery speed, dueling, and jumping are enhanced. After a successful tackle, the passing ability is significantly improved."
"Simeone’s Tactical Board: As one of the highest-paid coaches in the world for an extended period, Simeone’s coaching career has been more successful than his playing career. The entire team’s defensive awareness, steals, interceptions, blocking, and stamina are improved. The players’ defensive aggressiveness is significantly enhanced. During the match, players’ resistance to injuries is temporarily increased by three points, with a maximum of eight points."
