Chapter 688: Chapter 687: Injury Strikes, Opponents Level Up
The movie did well commercially, but was at a disadvantage when it came to awards.
Yet Hathaway still became one of the most spotlighted figures of the evening.
That’s because "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," in which she starred, was enshrined with a sweeping victory at this Oscars!
This was the third installment of The Lord of the Rings.
The previous two movies in the series had both been hugely successful at the box office, with an unrivaled influence.
They became a super IP, chasing after Star Wars along with Harry Potter!
And their artistic value was also very high.
Yet the first two had received few awards.
But with this third one, their efforts finally paid off.
Of course, some believed that this was the Oscars reflecting on the slap they received from Deng Kai last year.
They were really scared.
If Deng Kai leaked all the winners again in advance, the Oscars would truly no longer need to be held.
In the end, the Best Actor award at this Oscars ceremony went to Sean Penn.
The Best Actress award went to Charlize Theron.
Best Supporting Actor was Tim Robbins.
Best Supporting Actress was Renee Zellweger.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" swept the awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound Editing, Best Art Direction and Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects for a total of eleven Oscars, becoming a super winner!
It tied with "Binxu" and "Titanic" for the most Oscar wins in history.
But "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" was different from them in that it achieved a perfect score!
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" received eleven nominations and won in all categories!
It is the only film with more than eight nominations in Hollywood history to accomplish such a feat!
It’s hard to say this had nothing to do with Deng Kai.
After this award ceremony, the staff of "The Lord of the Rings," already well-recognized, ascended even higher in status.
The rights holders of "The Princess Diaries" approached Hathaway once again, hoping to make "The Princess Diaries 2."
However, after reading the script, Hathaway said the script was terrible and told them to come back when they had a good one—she was nothing if not full of confidence.
March 3rd.
In the third round second leg of the Europa League, Manchester City hosted Bordeaux at home.
In the first half, Tu Lei provided an assist for Roberto Baggio to score.
But then he had to leave the field due to injury.
In the second half, Deng Kai and Tu Lei scored one after the other.
Ribery provided the assist.
Manchester City advanced to the knockout stage of the Europa League with an aggregate score of three to two!
However, after the match, Manchester City announced, "Roberto Baggio’s injury is quite complicated. Although he could be treated conservatively, he would miss the European Championship this summer."
"While the Italy national team has not yet announced the final 23-man squad, we are willing to support Baggio at all costs to chase his dream of participating in his last major tournament with the national team!"
"Therefore, we’ve agreed with Baggio that he will undergo surgery and should fully recover before the start of the European Championship!"
"Let’s look forward to the final squad of the Italy national team!"
"Cheer up, Baggio!"
Manchester City’s announcement was moving.
The Prince of Melancholy seemed to be facing regret yet again.
The tail end of his career had seen a clear rise at Manchester City.
But alas... he still hadn’t managed to capture the Champions League trophy he longed for.
Manchester City would only play in the Champions League next season.
And after this season ends, Baggio is likely to finalize his retirement.
He just can’t keep up anymore.
Thus, his last hurrah in the European Championship for the national team became his sole focus.
The coaching staff of the Italy national team was quite troubled.
It’s time for Pierro, Baggio’s successor, to find his own successor, yet Baggio is still playing—this was really ... and you couldn’t even argue about Baggio’s level.
Last year, as an absolute mainstay, he helped win the double crown.
This year, despite reduced playing time, his position as a regular player remained unshaken. Even as the terrifying Manchester City swept across Europe, even if they ended the season without a title, no one could ignore the storm they unleashed this season.
English League Cup: ???
Italy even suspected that the Portugal national team was creating trouble for them.
After all, the Italy team was very strong and a leading favorite to win the European Championship.
Chuckling at this, Trigella was almost in tears.
If you’re the favorites, then what does that make France, the super favorites?
On March 6th, Manchester City pretty much kept up the pace of having a match every two to three days.
This time, it was the quarter-final of the FA Cup, and their opponent was Tranmere Rovers.
This time, even Deng Kai was rested.
But fortunately, Manchester City’s reserve team continued to withstand the pressure, delivering a brilliant 4-1 match.
Manchester City continued on the path of courting disaster.
However, the reason they rested players this time was... they needed to prepare for the UEFA Cup round of 16, just four days later.
Their opponent was significantly stronger compared to before, having a clear upgrade.
It was none other than the powerhouse from Italy, AS Roma!
On March 11th, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the match between the two sides kicked off.
Roma fielded what could be said to be their elite team.
Totti, Cassano
Lima, Dakota, Emerson, Mancini
Candela, Cristian, Samuel, Jonathan
Pellizzoli
=
You wouldn’t be exaggerating if you called it a gathering of superstars.
The Wolf of Rome, Totti, needs no further words; even now, he’s still a sought-after target for heavyweight clubs like Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Bayern.
Cassano, the gifted boy from Bari, is deemed by Italian fans to be "Italy’s Cristiano Ronaldo"!
He is also viewed as the successor to Roma!
Emerson, one of the world’s top defensive midfielders.
A main player in the Brazilian national team.
As for Brazilian players, well, everyone understands; even the defensive players have exceptional ball control, dribbling, and attacking skills.
He is also an expensive target for both Juventus and Real Madrid.
But Juventus is closer to acquiring Emerson.
Samuel, the starting centre-back for Argentina, known as ’The Rock’.
From this nickname, one can infer his defensive prowess.
Real Madrid, desperate for improvements in defense, seems intent on bringing him in.
With these superstar-level players, Roma have displayed quite impressive form in Serie A this season, currently proudly holding the second spot in the league table!
This sufficiently demonstrates their competitiveness.
Manchester City’s starting lineup, on the other hand, was as follows:
Villa, Adriano, Ribery
Deng Kai, Essien, Tu Lei
Lahm, Desailly, Kompany, Maicon
Cech
=
With the referee’s whistle, the game officially began.
Roma fans cheered endlessly.
The team’s good performance had filled their fans with boundless passion.
The atmosphere in a strong team is often much better than that of a weaker one.
But by the seventh minute, the cheering of the Roma fans abruptly stopped.
Deng Kai cut inside from the flank and, after dazzling Emerson with a swift move, was brought down by Emerson.
Emerson was lucky to avoid a yellow card.
But he gave Manchester City a very dangerous free kick.
Without a doubt, Deng Kai was the taker.
He ran up to the football, bypassed it, and with a back heel motion, pushed the ball backward.
Ribery, beside him, took a swing and easily broke through the goal as there was no wall to block the shot.
Roma: ???
Roma: Is this what you call ’Deng Kai is undoubtedly the taker’?
One-nil!
Manchester City took the lead!
"Brilliant combination! Deng Kai and Ribery are in perfect sync!"
"That’s Manchester City for you, they never miss any opportunity to score."
"I believe they’ve practiced this free-kick routine many times over in the squad!"
