Chapter 626: Chapter 625 The First Player to Defend the Champions League
Good grief!
It’s Deng Kai again!
Recently, several blockbuster films in Hollywood and those sweeping the awards had some connection with Deng Kai, more or less.
The entertainment media naturally hyped up the story of Deng Kai punching his way through the Oscars again.
But boy, little did you know until you took a look, and it was quite a shock.
Whether it’s luck or vision, Deng Kai seemed to deserve the title of "Golden Producer."
Even a group of obscure little models, calling themselves Kardashians, repeatedly sent their provocative photos to Deng Kai, hoping to break into the entertainment industry through him.
Unfortunately for them, Feng Te handled the spam for Deng Kai’s account.
Deng Kai himself was not interested in this voyeuristic aesthetic.
May 25, the day of the UEFA Champions League final!
Juventus and AC Milan fought in the season’s last match.
Most media outlets were favoring Juventus.
On one hand, it was because Juventus were on a roll this year.
In the league, they settled just below Inter Milan.
Against AC Milan, Juventus had a pretty impressive track record.
And AC Milan’s key midfielder, Rui Costa, was injured in a previous match and missed the final.
This was what troubled AC Milan the most.
Although they had many attacking midfielders, the only one who truly made a significant difference this season was Rui Costa.
Rivaldo hadn’t found his Barcelona days’ form here.
Yet Rivaldo still became the starting attacking midfielder for this game.
Compared to the young Kaká, Rivaldo was more trusted.
Kaká had not made many appearances this season, and mostly came off the bench, performing moderately.
Kaká’s brightest moment of the season was in the last UEFA Champions League semi-final match where he provided Shevchenko with the winning assist!
This earned him a spot on the bench again for this match.
This match wasn’t as thrilling as everyone had imagined.
Because for the first seventy minutes, neither side scored any goals.
In the 74th minute, AC Milan substituted Kaká in for the underperforming Rivaldo.
Rivaldo was not particularly happy.
How many years had it been?
He had gone from winning the Golden Ball and the Best Player in the World to being a player who could be substituted off.
The wheels of history seemed to be turning much faster in these years!
The 85th minute of the match.
AC Milan had a chance to counter-attack.
Kaká got the ball in the middle and ran wildly forward.
The Juventus players thought he would pass to Shevchenko.
But Kaká hesitated to pass, carrying the ball to the edge of the large penalty area instead.
Bang!
At the very last moment when he could have passed to Shevchenko, Kaká feinted and took the ball to the other side, breaking into the penalty area.
Buffon advanced!
However, Kaká was too fast!
He managed to poke the ball in a shot first.
The next moment, Kaká rushed towards the stands, shaking his finger, and leapt high!
Fans of Serie A had hardly ever seen Kaká make this celebration.
But all of them knew what was coming next.
"Siuuuuuu!"
Deng Kai was present in spirit at the UEFA Champions League final!
In the end, AC Milan won over Juventus with Kaká’s last-minute goal, claiming the Champions League title!
The red and black triumphed over the black and white!
"The counter-attack" became the main theme of the season!
Apart from Internazionale retaining the title in Serie A.
The Ligue 1 champions changed from last season’s Monaco to Lyon this season.
The Bundesliga champions switched from last season’s Bayer Leverkusen to Bayern this season.
The Premier League title went from Arsenal last season to Manchester United this season.
And the cup competitions in various countries were almost all undergoing changes as well.
It was an era of change.
And nobody could have ever imagined that among the talented players at Sporting Lisbon, Kaká, who had a performance as unremarkable as Drogba’s, would become the first player since the Champions League reform to successfully defend the title!
Moreover, he did it representing two different teams!
This guy’s luck in winning championships without trying was just too good!
The situation of becoming famous from a single goal occurred for Kaká; his status in the hearts of AC Milan fans soared infinitely.
The fans were all clamoring for Kaká to be made the starting attacking midfielder.
One could imagine that even if Rui Costa were not injured next season, Kaká was very likely to be the starting attacking midfielder.
This was momentum!
Overnight, Kaká caught up and became the third superstar at Sporting Lisbon after Deng Kai and Cristiano Ronaldo.
And previously shinier Ronaldinho, even though he became the absolute core at Barcelona, still lacked some top honors and championships for people to see his brilliance.
Instead, he fell half a step behind Kaká.
So this thing called fortune was really hard to predict.
After the match, when Kaká was interviewed, he said, "This game is very important to me—not just because of AC Milan, but also because Deng Kai sent me a text message last night."
"He told me that he wasn’t that eager to win the Golden Ball initially. But those Oscars people made him change his mind."
"So I must help him defeat Nedved!"
"When we were in Lisbon, Kai always solved all our problems. And it’s been hard for us to do something for him... Being able to help Kai is the most, most, most, most thrilling thing for me in these years!"
"It’s even more exciting than the last time I lifted the Champions League trophy!"
"France Football, did you hear that? If this year’s Golden Ball doesn’t go to Deng Kai, I, Kaká, will be the first to refuse!"
Nedved, who had lost the game, clenched his fists tightly on the side.
You took the championship.
And now you want to help your brother win the Golden Ball too?
Of course, Nedved had his calculations.
Having won the Champions League, he truly had the confidence to compete with Deng Kai and Ronaldo for the Golden Ball.
But without the Champions League... the suspense for the Golden Ball really diminished.
Unless Deng Kai had a cliff-like decline next season, becoming the biggest flop in the Premier League.
Otherwise...
It was going to be really tough!
Then, the young guns from that year’s Sporting Lisbon all praised Kaká one after another.
Ibrahimovic: "The Champions League belongs to Kaká, and the Golden Ball belongs to Captain Kai, that’s the best arrangement!"
Ronaldinho: "Kaká is now speaking with authority! To be honest, it would be an outrage if Kai’s stats don’t get him the Golden Ball!"
Drogba: "I’m in France, if Captain Kai doesn’t get the Golden Ball this year, I’ll directly go to the France Football headquarters and hang a banner!"
Barzagli: "Nedved is undoubtedly the best in Serie A! But Kai... honestly, this season Kai showed us the upper limit of stats! It’s unprecedented!"
Vidic: "Kai has been terrifying this season! Most crucially, his position! He showed what Zidane + Ronaldo would look like!"
Viana, Quaresma...
Real Madrid: ???
Real Madrid: Didn’t our hundred-million-euro signings show people Zidane + Ronaldo?
Deng Kai’s teammates might have been small fries before.
Their words didn’t carry much weight.
But together, they were a force to be reckoned with; scattered, they were stars across the sky.
Because they were all young, almost all of them were still on the rise after leaving Sporting Lisbon.
Even the young players had a popularity in their home countries comparable to top football stars, and they were somewhat stars in Europe as well.
These in-form stars speaking out for Deng Kai, their influence was considerable.
