Chapter 524: The 10th Golden Boot
As the La Liga season came to a close, Real Madrid once again clinched the title, achieving the feat of winning the league for five consecutive times, which quickly became the focus of attention for media worldwide.
Looking back at the history of Spanish football, the longest streak of consecutive titles is also five times, held by the Galacticos. This feat occurred twice: from 1961 to 1965 and from 1986 to 1990.
Each occurrence signaled the peak period of the Galacticos' dynasty, but their achievements now clearly surpassed that, as they had also won the Champions League four times in a row and reached the final for the fifth time, with the epic feat of five consecutive Champions League titles within reach.
The Galacticos were destined for this! As soon as the league ended, they headed to London, England, and a week later, the showdown would take place at Wembley Stadium.
Real Madrid president Florentino expressed strong confidence in the team during an interview, saying, "We have just created a monumental lead in history, both in morale and form are at the highest level. I believe the players will not let the club down, and reliving the past glory is within reach!"
"Prize money for winning? Of course, the club will naturally not disappoint the hardworking players. I cannot disclose the specific figure, but it will definitely satisfy everyone."
Compared to the slightly rushed Real Madrid, Manchester United was in a comfortable position, having secured their position as champions of the English Premier League early on, even leading second-placed Chelsea by more than 9 points at one stage.
Furthermore, with the final taking place in England, the players started preparations early, with more time to adapt to the venue compared to the Galacticos.
Manager Ferguson stated that the team was fully prepared for the Champions League final. He admitted that the Galacticos' overwhelming victory over Barcelona in the semifinals surprised him but would not make them timid.
"It's just a coincidence because the Barcelona players were in poor form. Obviously, their matches in the league affected them, but it won't bother us."
"In recent years, losing to them in the Champions League matchups? Yes, but these defeats will serve as motivation for Manchester United to seek revenge and valuable experience."
"Many players, including Cristiano and Wayne, are eager to defeat Real Madrid. They are all very talented kids, and I am proud of them."
Manchester United, having won four Premier League titles in five years, had also reached the pinnacle. Therefore, star player Ronaldo bluntly revealed his ambitions during an interview, saying, "Real Madrid won't get their fifth title, mark my words!"
In reality, Ronaldo's mood was actually very gloomy because he missed out on the European Golden Boot once again, despite this season being his most hardworking and prolific period, scoring 40 goals in 38 league matches, setting a new record in the Premier League.
But Wang Feng left him no room to maneuver, scoring 54 league goals, surpassing him by a staggering 14 goals, a gap that he couldn't bridge no matter what.
Thus, the European Golden Boot award undoubtedly went to the Chinese superstar again. Moreover, since this was his tenth consecutive time winning the award, the organizing committee consisting of European sports magazine groups and "World Soccer" decided to hold a grand ceremony to celebrate.
In fact, Wang Feng had displayed an attitude of winning the award since February because the European Golden Boot only focused on the actual league category and number of goals scored, making it easy to predict who would win.
Therefore, the organizers, led by the editorial department of "World Soccer" magazine, began preparations for the event. They planned to emulate the Super Ballon d'Or system previously used for the Ballon d'Or award, creating a Super Golden Boot award.
However, unlike the Ballon d'Or, this super award didn't require past Golden Boot winners to vote; it was directly awarded. They believed that as long as someone could win the European Golden Boot for ten consecutive years, they would be eligible to receive the Super Golden Boot award.
This news indeed attracted worldwide attention, with other sports media giving thumbs up in admiration. What used to be an uninteresting award and winner suddenly became so intriguing.
French newspaper "L'Equipe" believed that this selection method touched on the realm of the divine. "Winning the European Golden Boot for ten consecutive years? Come on, we can't think of anyone other than Wang Feng who can do it. Just call it the Wang Feng Award."
"Change it to receiving a total of 10 Golden Boots in one's career to be eligible for the award. Even then, it's difficult to achieve. It has never happened in history."
However, "World Soccer" still insisted on the ten consecutive years selection system for the award. "The Golden Boot award is based on data; we must be rigorous enough."
"If no player in the future can achieve this feat, then the Super Golden Boot award will never be awarded again!"
Wang Feng, actively preparing for the Champions League final, received an invitation to the ceremony. Unlike in the past, where he was directly approached for the award, this time "World Soccer" specially organized an awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London.
Although the team was in a critical preparation period, the Chinese superstar had to take half a day off to attend because he was the absolute protagonist of this show, and if he didn't go, it wouldn't be possible.
"Go, go, this is a historic moment that seals your fate. In the future, no matter how many years pass, people will mention tonight's awards and the Super Golden Boot award. The glory belongs to you and to Real Madrid as a whole," said Benitez.
Due to the first-time organization of such a large-scale event, everything seemed somewhat rushed and simple, with no red carpet or banquet. However, there were quite a few invited guests, most of whom were past Golden Boot award winners, including Portuguese legend Eusebio, German bomber Gerd Muller, Dutch legend Marco van Basten, and the alien Ronaldo, among others.
The ceremony not only awarded the Golden Boot-related awards but also included the World's Best Player, World's Best Coach, World's Best Team, World's Best Young Player, and World's Best Referee, as voted by readers.
First, the World's Best Young Player was announced, with 19-year-old Brazilian sensation Neymar winning with 40.3% support. He had just helped Santos defend their state league title, won the individual award for the best player in the state league, and was selected in the Brazilian Serie A season's best lineup.
Moreover, Santos reached the Copa Libertadores final again after 48 years, and his contribution was outstanding, likely to be crowned the best player and top scorer of the tournament.
Therefore, Neymar now had considerable popularity in Europe, with many top clubs frequently contacting him to try to recruit him, including Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The World's Best Referee was won by Kassai, and the World's Best Team was Real Madrid. The World's Best Coach, Ferguson, narrowly defeated Benitez, and the World's Best Player was naturally Wang Feng.
His support rate reached an astonishing 81.2%, once again breaking the record for the highest percentage of votes in history, with only a small portion of die-hard fans voting for Ronaldo and Messi.
After a series of awards were announced, it was the European Golden Boot award. As the presenter, Muller handed the familiar golden football boot to Wang Feng.
Finally, the long-awaited Super Golden Boot award was unveiled. The crystal base stood tall like a mountain, with a giant golden boot on top, and ten small golden boots arranged below it. The base plaque was intricately engraved with the names of the winners, their clubs over the ten years, and the number of goals scored each season.
The entire trophy weighed an impressive 15 kilograms, with about 10 kilograms of gold in it. Due to its size and weight, the presenter van Basten had to hand it over to Wang Feng with both hands, and the Chinese superstar could only accept it with both hands.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om