The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

Chapter 545: Chapter 108: Unexpected Surprise! Domain Skill: Reverser! Wang Shuo’s Golden Ball Ranking! Ferguson and Wenger Fight Over a Player

Over in the United Kingdom, they now had a warehouse and an office, with around 30 employees.

In 2010, the profits exceeded 20 million RMB.

And their growth was accelerating.

But even though they were both in charge, Shen Qinghe looked very relaxed.

It even gave Wang Shuo the impression that she had nothing to do all day.

Wang Shuo found this very strange.

’One of them was swamped with work, while the other seemed completely idle. They were both in charge, so how could the difference be so great?’

Subotic felt a bit helpless as well.

He understood Wang Shuo as a person. But watching Lina Gerk focus solely on her career and never be home, while that young assistant of Wang Shuo’s was constantly by his side, he couldn’t help but feel it was strange.

"By the way, are you going to Zurich on the 10th?"

January 10th was the date of the FIFA awards ceremony, which would be held at the Zurich Opera House.

"I’m not sure. I haven’t decided yet."

Wang Shuo’s interest waned the moment the topic came up.

At the end of November, FIFA had announced the 55-man nominee list for the Team of the Year, and Wang Shuo’s name was on it.

However, Wang Shuo was not on the final Best XI list that had been announced recently.

Goalkeeper: Casillas;

Defenders: Puyol, Pique, Lucio, and Maicon;

Midfielders: Iniesta, Sneider, and Harvey;

Forwards: Ronaldo, Villa, and Messi.

Wang Shuo was somewhat disappointed by this.

He had originally thought he had a chance to compete for one of the forward spots in the Best XI.

But unexpectedly, he had lost out to others.

And a very important reason was the World Cup.

The impact of Spain winning the World Cup was a massive boost for its players.

This also made Wang Shuo quite anxious, wondering if he would even make the top ten.

As for the FIFA Golden Ball Award, that was out of the question.

FIFA had just announced the top three a few days ago.

Iniesta, Harvey, and Messi.

They were all Barça players.

The public had been speculating about who would ultimately win the award.

Based on the current media buzz, Iniesta was considered the favorite to win.

Many in the media were also crying foul on Sneider’s behalf.

It was the same principle as when the media had complained about the injustice done to Diego Milito.

"Will Ronaldo go?" Subotic asked with concern.

"He gave me a call. He said he’s going and asked me to go too."

At this, Wang Shuo couldn’t help but let out a snort of a laugh.

He suspected that Ronaldo just wanted someone to share his misery.

’Why?’

’Even though he wasn’t in the top three, he at least made the Best XI.’

’If he brought along Wang Shuo, who hadn’t won a thing, then he wouldn’t feel so awkward.’

’That sly dog!’

Messi had also called Wang Shuo to ask if he was going, but Wang Shuo hadn’t given him a definite answer either.

To be honest, Wang Shuo didn’t feel great about it.

But since he had never expected to win in the first place, he wasn’t too upset about it. He could take it or leave it.

"I actually think you should go."

Klopp, who was sitting across from Wang Shuo, chimed in after overhearing his conversation with Subotic.

"Why?"

"It’s simple." Klopp stroked his beard and grinned wickedly. "This time, you go and be a good sport. Even though you didn’t win anything, you’ll get to see how it all works."

"Then, when you come back, we’ll keep working hard. Next year, when it’s your turn to win, you give them a call. How could they have the nerve not to show up and support you?"

Wang Shuo understood what Klopp was getting at.

’Turn shame into courage!’

’If I can’t win this year, there’s always next year.’

’If I can’t win next year, then the year after that.’

That certainly sounded like Klopp.

"I’ll give it some more thought," Wang Shuo said.

This was a decision for Wang Shuo to make himself; others could only offer their opinions.

Not even Dortmund and Klopp could interfere.

After all, Klopp himself hadn’t even received an invitation.

For now, Wang Shuo was the only one at Dortmund who had received an invitation.

So, all that mattered was that Wang Shuo made up his own mind.

...

Alan was a veteran photographer of some renown in the European fashion world.

His photographic works had appeared many times in top fashion magazines like ELLE and Intelligent GQ.

Like all photographers, besides taking on various commercial commissions, Alan also attended a wide range of industry events.

Since he was a football fan himself, he also loved attending major football galas.

For example, the annual FIFA awards ceremony.

He was sure to be found outside the Zurich Opera House on time.

Thanks to his connections with FIFA’s media department, he could always secure an excellent spot for taking photos.

All the players, coaches, and legendary figures who walked the red carpet were his subjects.

As long as he took good photos, he never had to worry about selling them.

The media and reporters drawn to the FIFA awards ceremony were mostly from the sports world, with a few gossip tabloids at most.

As a veteran fashion photographer, Alan had an edge when it came to shooting the red carpet.

Whenever night fell, the streetlights outside the Zurich Opera House lit up.

As the bigwigs, stars, coaches, and legends of the football world began to make their grand entrances onto the red carpet, it was time for Alan to get busy making money—er, I mean, to showcase his masterful technique and unique artistic eye.

Following the Pareto principle, the vast majority of his shots were disappointing.

The reasons were varied.

Sometimes it was his own fault—problems with angles, lighting, and so on.

But more often it was the subjects of the photos.

The sartorial taste of football stars was often questionable.

For example, tonight.

Alan had just spotted Messi, one of the top three finalists for the FIFA Golden Ball Award. He was attending the gala in a suit that was clearly a size too big, and his hairstyle really didn’t suit an occasion like this.