Chapter 591: Chapter 590: Eighteen Sets of Lingerie, Is Hathaway Preparing a Coming-of-Age Ceremony for Deng Kai?
December 18th, Madrid City Hall, Spain.
The annual World Footballer of the Year award ceremony was held in grand fashion.
This time, C. Ronaldo had learned his lesson.
He brought over his mother from Madeira Island, no longer walking the dark alleys alone.
Excitingly, C. Ronaldo’s ranking even surpassed that of England’s golden boy Michael Owen.
In recent years, the World Footballer of the Year award hasn’t been as prestigious as the Golden Ball, or one could say they prioritize fame more, hence there’s a lag in highlighting players’ shining moments.
This year, ranked eleventh in the World Footballer of the Year was Thierry Henry.
Not making it to the top ten was a point of dissatisfaction for many Arsenal fans.
However, considering France’s performance in this year’s World Cup group stage exit... well.
Tenth place went to Beckham.
Ninth place was Michael Ballack, who received a significant boost due to Germany’s runner-up finish in the World Cup.
The World Cup performance still unmatchedly boosts a player’s ranking.
Eighth place was Raul.
Seventh place went to Rivaldo.
Sixth place was Roberto Carlos.
Fifth place went to Zidane.
Fourth place was... Deng Kai!
Before the Golden Ball award, Deng Kai’s fans definitely had complaints about this ranking.
But now, they’ve all become indifferent.
Go ahead, take your chance and grab it.
In a few years, it will all be Kai’s!
And what everyone was really focused on wasn’t Deng Kai’s ranking, but who he had brought with him this time.
The answer was... Anne Hathaway!
One time with Keira, one time with Anne Hathaway, the rivalry between them was still quite intense.
The Sun Newspaper is awesome!
With the help of Deng Kai and the recent promotion by the German media, Matthaus successfully broke into the top three.
He even surpassed Kahn to rank second!
Ronaldo, following his Golden Ball victory, once again claimed the top spot in the World Footballer of the Year award.
At the same time, this was Ronaldo’s third time being honored with this award.
That year, Ronaldo’s fame reached its peak!
He dominated the two major awards, surpassing both Deng Kai and Matthaus.
But sometimes, losing is winning.
"Matthaus’ last professional year falls just short to Ronaldo! Success and failure at the World Cup leave many sighing with regret!"
"Missing out on World Footballer of the Year, Matthaus’ career fails to come full circle!"
"1994’s Baggio, 2002’s Matthaus! Regret forges a classic! Brazilians’ heartlessness is too cruel!"
"German football king Matthaus needs no honors to prove himself! His greatness is already destined!"
"The journey reveals the horse’s strength! Matthaus may be late but he arrives, sharing the second-generation football king’s crown with Maradona!"
"Let regret crown him! The imperfect perfection of football king Matthaus!"
"Real Madrid wins the Golden Ball and World Footballer of the Year for Ronaldo! But in doing so, they ruined two fairytale stories in world football!"
"Deng Kai for Golden Ball! Matthias for World Footballer of the Year! The year should have been like this!"
"Ronaldo’s dual award wins are well deserved! But if it were Deng Kai and Matthaus, fans, players, and history would all give greater recognition!"
"Outpouring of strength in laughter! Golden Ball runner-up Deng Kai gives a heartfelt embrace to World Footballer of the Year runner-up Matthaus!"
Some fans analyzed that if the team that won the UEFA Champions League wasn’t Sporting Lisbon but another European powerhouse, Deng Kai and Matthaus could truly have overshadowed Ronaldo this year.
The platform is indeed too important.
With the conclusion of the World Footballer of the Year award ceremony,
the summary of the year came to an end.
A new year was about to unfold.
And it began with Hathaway.
The Sun Newspaper: "Winning an award or not doesn’t matter, Anne comes to reward team Kai! According to store clerks, Hathaway dragged Deng Kai around the lingerie store for three hours, changing into hundreds of enchanting outfits to please him! Ultimately, she bought eighteen sets!"
"Could it be that on Deng Kai’s eighteenth birthday, Hathaway plans to slip into these eighteen sets of lingerie to enjoy the pleasures of adulthood with him?"
The internet exploded!
Media outlets went wild with the news from The Sun Newspaper.
Who cared about winning awards.
My Kai was the true winner in life, all right.
His treatment was on par with the second-generation football royalty.
On the romantic front, it seemed all was smooth sailing, making everyone jealous.
Delicious!
...
December 20th, the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
Manchester City beat Crystal Palace at home with a score of three to one.
Crystal Palace also rotated their squad, fielding half of their substitutes, seemingly conceding the match voluntarily.
But it was from this day that Manchester City faced a brutal schedule.
Or to say, the entire Premier League entered the most terrifying stage of the Christmas fixtures.
Most leagues in Europe have a winter break.
But the Premier League doesn’t just forgo the break, they play even more intensely.
This is the result of commercial development taken to the extreme.
But the cost is an increase in injuries among Premier League teams in the second half of the season.
Most teams went from playing once a week to twice or even three times a week.
December 23rd, the nineteenth round of the Premier League.
Manchester City lost two to three at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
December 26th, the twentieth round of the Premier League, Manchester City triumphed over Aston Villa at home with a score of three to one.
December 28th, the twenty-first round of the Premier League, Manchester City lost zero to one away at Fulham.
On New Year’s Day 2003, Manchester City sent blessings to Chinese fans.
They also faced the twenty-second round of the Premier League, drawing two to two away with Everton.
Maxa evaluated the team’s recent games after the match: "Our performance was normal; this is the Premier League, it’s always intense."
"Getting one point from this game was within our plan."
"Drawing with Everton under rotation conditions is good news."
"We will focus more on the FA Cup match against Spurs in three days."
Journalists weren’t surprised: "Are you talking about the third-round FA Cup match? Will you go all out?"
Maxa nodded: "Of course! The FA Cup is also one of our goals this season. We may not expect to win it, but we at least want to make it to the semi-finals!"
"We need to familiarize ourselves with all the competitions in England, which is beneficial for us to make a charge for various trophies after completing our rebuild!"
"We’re not just focusing on the team for this year; we’re in no hurry. But we hope that in the next three to five years, the team will maintain a very strong competitiveness for all kinds of championships!"
Manchester City showed off their grand ambitions.
This somewhat influenced Spurs’ personnel arrangement for the FA Cup match.
January 4th, the third round of the FA Cup.
Manchester City faced Spurs at home.
In this game, Manchester City still fielded their full starting line-up, bringing a level of play that hadn’t been seen even in league matches.
Meanwhile, Spurs fielded their academy players and substitutes, following tradition to focus on training newcomers.
Most Premier League clubs arrange it this way, only putting their main squad all-out when they reach the quarter-finals or semi-finals of the FA Cup.
If everyone did it like Manchester City, the final stage of the league would definitely collapse.
In the end, Manchester City trounced Spurs four to nil!
They avenged their league loss to Spurs with this victory and stormed into the FA Cup semi-finals!
