Chapter 987 Merry is a petty person
Before the start of the European season at the end of August every year, UEFA holds various award ceremonies and group draw ceremonies for the Champions League and Europa League.
This is a huge event for European football.
At the same time, because of the status of European football in the entire world football, it can also be approximated as a major event in world football.
The European Ballon d'Or, which represents the highest honor for players playing in Europe, can be compared with FIFA's World Player of the Year award, becoming the two peaks of personal honor for world football players.
Generally speaking, players who can win the European Ballon d'Or have a great chance of winning the World Footballer.
Of course, the opinions of both parties are not always unified. This is mainly related to the selection methods of the two awards.
FIFA's World Player of the Year is selected based on voting by the head coaches and captains of all FIFA national teams.
The winner of the European Ballon d'Or is voted for by the French "Golden Ball" magazine in conjunction with European professional sports media.
The two are not the same in terms of professionalism.
Of course, the European Ballon d'Or scores higher in terms of professionalism.
But the World Footballer of the Year better illustrates the influence of the winner in world football.
Both awards have their own advantages and disadvantages. If someone can win the World Footballer of the Year and the European Ballon d'Or in the same year, it at least shows that this person's strength must be beyond doubt, and his performance in this award cycle is impeccable. of.
Needless to say, a player who could achieve such an achievement was definitely one of the top ten superstars in world football at the time.
Since this year is the year of the World Cup, there is no suspense about the winner of the European Ballon d'Or. It must be the "Prince" Alexandra Cerrados who won the World Cup's best player and led the Spanish national team to the World Cup championship. He may even win the World Footballer of the Year award at the end of this year.
Four years ago in 2022, "Caesar" Celius Caesar, who helped Italy win the World Cup, won the European Golden Globe Award and World Footballer, two important honors that year.
Although Hu Lai's call for winning the title was particularly loud, Chinese fans and media paid special attention to the European Best Young Player Award this time.
But what the media and fans pay the most attention to is always the top prize.
Award Ceremony The day before the Champions League group draw ceremony, UEFA and "Golden Ball" magazine held a very grand awards ceremony.
There was also a red carpet walk at the scene.
It was also rare for Hu Lai to change into formal clothes. Under the arrangement of the organizer, he and Pete Williams took a car to the award ceremony.
When Williams walked the red carpet on crutches, Hulay was by his side, walking slowly forward.
Then occasionally wave to the fans and reporters outside the red carpet and show a smile.
It can still be seen that as the widely rumored winner of the Best Young Player Award in Europe, Hulay is not actually the protagonist in this event.
Most of the media and fans gathered on both sides of the red carpet were not here for him.
There will be no huge cheers, screams, or flashing lights that turn night into day.
Some people took pictures and some cheered, but that was it.
These treatments may not be as good as the scenes when the two people played in Leeds City.
Just as the two were about to walk out of the red carpet, there was a sudden commotion behind them, accompanied by huge cheers and screams, and the sound of photographers pressing their shutters.
These sounds are connected together and completely impossible to ignore.
Hu Lai and Williams also turned to look back.
I saw a person coming from the end of the red carpet.
It is none other than the main player of the Kings of Madrid, the super genius of Argentine football, and the one who was selected into the final five candidates for this year's European Ballon d'Or... Melly Banega!
After seeing who was coming, Williams withdrew his gaze without any surprise and continued to walk forward slowly.
There is nothing wrong with Melly enjoying such treatment.
Hu Lai, on the other hand, laughed: "This scene is much more exaggerated than what we just did!"
Williams smiled and said: "It's Merry after all."
He didn't explain much, because there was no need to explain anything to Mellie Banega, everyone knew how powerful he was.
At a time when the "Four Kings" are getting old and retiring, everyone thinks that Melli will compete with Kabangka to be the leader of the new generation of players.
Of course, in this World Cup, Melli's results and performance were not as good as Brazil's Kabangca.
Under the leadership of Kabangca, the Brazilian team made it all the way to the final, but lost to Spain.
Melli's Argentina was eliminated in the quarter-finals by later champion Spain.
Melly only had one goal and one assist in this World Cup. Whether it is personal performance data or team results, he is not as good as the Brazilian super genius Kendor Kabangca who is only one year older than him.
However, this does not damage his status in the hearts of many fans and media.
Hu Lai curled his lips when he heard what Williams said: "What about Meili? My men are defeated!"
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People who had already entered the venue did not sit in their seats before the ceremony started, but visited each other.
Those who can often participate in such activities are basically wealthy clubs in Europe, and they are more or less related. Use this time to exchange pleasantries, reminisce about old times, keep in touch with each other, and blend things in private, and maybe a transfer deal will be concluded.
Although the players are their own masters, some of them maintain good relationships in private, so it is normal to greet each other and exchange a few words of greeting.
Awards ceremonies are football events for fans and media, and a social occasion for players, especially those who are less likely to win.
The young players are not so casual. Most of them sit in their seats and wait for the game to start.
At the same time, watch the live action of the red carpet outside at this time on the big screen.
When they saw Hu Lai appear, the eyes of several people changed.
This is, after all, the almost certain winner of the Young Player of the Year award, a sort of winner over them all.
Mario Salado straightened up from his chair and stared at Hu Lai more intently.
It's like you can pierce the other person with your eyes.
But when Melli appeared, Salado's sharp eyes were fixed on the super genius of this domestic rival club.
After all, Hu Lai is just a competitor this time.
In Salado's mind, Melly Banega is his long-term challenge target.
This was definitely not Salado’s own arrogant goal.
For some reasons that everyone knows, the Catalan media tried their best to put Salado closer to Melli, trying to create a feeling that "Salado and Melli are geniuses of the same level."
Some Catalan media even said that "Salado is more talented than Melli."
This kind of statement is not completely nonsense. After all, just looking at the performance of the two people in their respective clubs' youth teams, Salado's statistics are indeed more eye-catching - he once created a record of 80 goals in a season in the youth team. A record of seven goals.
Melly has never been so aggressive.
So Salado naturally regards Melli as his target.
In fact, it was not just Salado, but other young players who came to attend the award ceremony at the venue also changed their expressions when they saw Mellie Banega appearing on the big screen.
As peers, Meli Banega and Kendall Kabangka are like two mountains that stand between their careers.
Anyone with a little bit of ambition and ambition would probably regard them as their opponents.
The cheers and screams of the fans on the red carpet were also transmitted to the venue through the big screen, reaching the ears of these young people, impacting their eardrums and hearts.
This is the pomp and circumstance of a young player at the top of his game.
Although they are only twenty-three years old, everyone can see that Meili and Kabangka are already superstars.
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"Hey, ball three is just not as good as ball five..."
Yong Jun, who was watching the live broadcast in front of the TV, suddenly expressed such emotion.
Zhang Qinghuan was stunned for a moment, and then realized why Uncle Yong said this:
The trophy of the European Ballon d'Or, the best player award, is a football-shaped trophy made of pure gold and weighs fourteen kilograms with the base. This trophy is made in a 1:1 ratio based on the official match ball.
The official game ball is a No. 5 ball with a diameter of about 21 cm to 22 cm.
The trophy for the European Best Young Player Award is exactly the same as the Goal Award, except that the size has been completely shrunk, and it looks a bit smaller, the size of a No. 3 ball with a diameter of 18 centimeters.
So sometimes, in order to avoid confusing names, people will use "Golden Ball No. 5" and "Golden Ball No. 3" to refer to these two awards.
Zhang Qing said with a smile: "So what if you are more powerful? Isn't Hu Lai's subordinate defeated?"
"Defeated general?" This time it was Yong Jun's turn to be stunned.
"The Olympics, Uncle Yong." Zhang Qinghuan reminded him.
Yong Jun reacted: In the Olympics, the Chinese Olympic team eliminated the Argentine Olympic team 3:2, shattering Melli's desire to win the Olympic gold medal. In that game, Melly scored twice, but Hulay performed better than him, scoring a hat trick!
So whether it is in terms of personal performance or team results, Melli is indeed Hu Lai's loser...
Thinking of this, Yong Jun laughed: "What a loss, you kid! Which pot should you not open and lift?"
"Ha! I wonder if Meili would think of the Olympic Games when she saw Hu Lai..." Before Zhang Qinghuan finished speaking, he saw Meili suddenly adjust his direction slightly and actually walked towards Hu Lai!
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"A defeated general? What kind of defeated general?" Williams had a question mark after hearing Hu Lai's words. "We haven't fought against the King of Madrid yet, Hu..."
"The Olympics. I beat him at the Madrid Olympics." Hulay shrugged.
"Ah, yes..." Williams reacted. He remembered that it was indeed Hu Lai's victory over Melly...
At this moment, he noticed that Hu Lai beside him suddenly stopped: "Why..."
Before he finished speaking, he noticed that there was someone else around him. He looked up and saw - Mellie Banega!
Williams froze.
Meili was standing next to him, looking at Hu Lai.
He said: "We meet again, Hu."
Hu Lai didn't seem very enthusiastic: "What are you doing?"
Melly didn't seem to care about Hu Lai's attitude, but kept a faint smile and continued: "I am very happy to see you on this occasion, because it means that we will meet on the field again in the future. Then... I will Defeat you in the game and avenge the Olympics! ”
At the end of the sentence, the smile on Melly's face disappeared and was replaced by a sharp expression.
This sharpness startled Williams next to him. He watched Hu Lai and Meili communicating in Spanish. He couldn't understand it at all. He didn't know what the two people said, which caused the atmosphere to change. !
He even had the idea - I must ask Delphine if he knows Spanish when I go back...
Meili didn't laugh, but Hu Lai smiled: "Smug, how long has it been since the Olympics? Do you still remember it?"
Melly did not expect that when he issued a letter of challenge to Hu Lai, the response he received was such a light "small-minded". He was devastated - is this a small-minded thing on my part!
He took a deep breath to calm down again, and continued to say to Hu Lai: "Don't think you can escape like this. I look forward to meeting you again in the game."
After saying that, he ignored Hu Lai's response, turned around and walked away.
It wasn't until he left that Williams came back to his senses and hurriedly asked Hu Lai: "What did you say?"
Hu Lai shrugged: "It's nothing, I want to take revenge on me. I have always been worried about losing a game. I remember it to this day... Peter, do you think Melly is a small-minded person?"
Williams' lips moved, but no words came out.
Because he didn't know what to say... Is this a petty issue?
(End of chapter)