Chapter 483: Chapter 99: A Wager with the Football Kings
Not a single team from the big four leagues!
Who would’ve believed it?
Dortmund had somehow perfectly avoided all the giants from the first two pots.
Wang Shuo was sitting right there in the Prince’s Hall at the Grimaldi Conference Center. He had watched Sneider and the others draw the teams with his own eyes.
Besides, with so many club executives, reporters, and live television cameras on-site, it would be absurd to claim it was rigged.
But their luck was just off the charts!
"This is a little hard to believe!" Wang Shuo said with a wry smile to Raul, who was sitting next to him.
Raul was there representing Schalke 04. He had transferred to Schalke 04 this season for the sole purpose of playing in the Champions League.
"To be honest, your group isn’t necessarily going to be a walk in the park. Especially in the crucial fourth matchday in November. You’ll have to go to Moscow, and that will be very tricky."
Wang Shuo understood.
Moscow is very cold in November. Even for a team from Germany, that climate would require some adjusting.
"Plus, Spartak Moscow is not a weak team, to say nothing of Lyon and Benfica."
"One little slip-up and you could lose. So, while your group may have avoided the giants, it’s actually the most evenly matched in terms of skill."
Wang Shuo mulled it over and realized Raul was right.
The other top teams were probably relieved to have avoided Dortmund, too. They had all drawn relatively weak opponents.
The groups were mostly two strong teams against two weak ones, or perhaps one strong, one mid-tier, and two weak teams.
Playing in this kind of group stage might even be easier than in Dortmund’s group.
Of course, if they had been drawn into the group of death, that would be another story.
"If you guys put in the work this season and make it into the Champions League again next year, you’ll be in Pot 3," Raul analyzed with a smile at Wang Shuo.
’The pot system is like a ladder you have to climb.’
Wang Shuo felt that seeding the pots based on five seasons of European competition points was really just a way of building a moat around the elite clubs.
Need proof?
Look at Lyon making it into Pot 1.
And Arsenal.
The Gunners reached the round of 16 year after year, finished fourth in the Premier League year after year, and their European coefficient points even ranked them 5th out of all 32 teams.
Of course, that was mainly because this year’s coefficient calculation still included the 2005-06 season, back when Arsenal were Champions League runners-up and had more points than most other teams.
The award ceremony, which was interspersed with the Champions League group stage draw, held little suspense.
Inter Milan swept all the awards.
The best goalkeeper was Cesar, the best defender was Maicon, the best midfielder was Sneider, and the best forward was Diego Milito.
After the draw was complete, Platini took the stage to present the most significant award, Best Player, to Inter Milan’s Milito.
"Does this mean Milito has a shot at the Golden Ball Award and World Footballer of the Year?" Wang Shuo asked Raul again.
"Unlikely," Raul said, shaking his head. "It’s a World Cup year. Typically, the winner comes from the World Cup champion—which is us, Spain. Iniesta and Harvey both have a claim to the award."
"Based on the Champions League, Sneider and Diego Milito both have a chance, but it’s hard to predict."
"Besides, didn’t France Football Magazine just announce that the Golden Ball Award is merging with FIFA’s World Footballer of the Year? The voting system for the new FIFA Golden Ball Award is going to change..."
At this, Raul shook his head. "It’s hard to say. It’s anyone’s guess."
The voting systems for the Golden Ball Award and the World Footballer of the Year were different, so the results were naturally hard to align.
After the two merged, no one knew what would happen.
...
While the Champions League gala at Monaco’s Grimaldi Conference Center was still in full swing, the workday was just beginning at the Twitter Company in San Francisco.
Co-founder and CEO Evan Williams had just parked his car when his phone suddenly rang.
It was his co-founder, Jack Dorsey.
"Hey, Evan, something’s happened. Where are you?"
"Just got to the parking lot."
"Get over here, quick."
Evan Williams was stunned. He jumped out of his car without even bothering to lock it and sprinted toward the office.
When he arrived at the office, out of breath, he found everyone gathered together.
Even Biz Stone, the head of creative product design, was there.
And he was usually the most laid-back of them all.
"Hey, guys, what’s going on?" Evan Williams asked, rushing over in surprise.
"We were tracking an account from Europe that was showing abnormal traffic, so we kept a close eye on it. Then we found this tweet."
Evan Williams followed Jack Dorsey’s pointing finger and saw an account named Wang Shuo on the monitor.
"I just made a bet with @Ronaldo @Messi: For the 10/11 season, let’s see who wins the Golden Boot Award! Yep, I must be crazy!"
When Evan Williams saw this tweet, his first reaction was...
"Isn’t this just a very ordinary tweet?"
"Yes, but do you know who this person is?"
"Wang Shuo? Who’s that?"
"Look here."
A colleague immediately pulled up a Google search.
"Wang Shuo. Dortmund’s top star, last season’s European Golden Boot Award winner. His IP address shows he’s currently at the Grimaldi Conference Center in Monaco for the UEFA awards ceremony."
"And?"
"The Ronaldo and Messi he tagged are there, too. So both of them replied under the tweet to confirm it."
"So it’s just a normal interaction between the three of them. What’s the big deal?"
Jack Dorsey let out a helpless, wry smile. "It’s obvious you don’t follow football, Evan."
