Chapter 602: There Is Still Hope
The FIFA awards ceremony came to a close, but the ensuing reports and discussions continued unabated. Besides the winner, Wang Feng, two other hot topics drew widespread attention.
The first was the surprising fact that Spain, the two-time European Championship winner, failed to produce a Ballon d'Or winner. In 2008, the favorite Torres lost to the Chinese superstar, and now Iniesta fell to the same fate. Some media jokingly remarked that "Wang Feng creates eternal grievances."
Of course, this is also closely related to their preference for a team-oriented approach. Every player has had outstanding performances, but there hasn't been a standout superstar who clearly outshines their teammates. Players like Xavi, Iniesta, Casillas, Villa, Silva, and Puyol have all contributed to the championships, but who had the greatest impact? Even the head coach, Del Bosque, may find it difficult to answer.
When talking about the French champions, Zidane immediately comes to mind; when talking about Brazil, Ronaldo is immediately remembered. They also had outstanding teammates, but their strong individual personalities and playing styles made them stand out.
This is why every time the best player is selected, it has a Spanish flavor, but when it comes to winning the ultimate award, it feels lacking.
Another hot topic is Cristiano Ronaldo's unexpected exclusion from the Best XI lineup. This is the first time since 2007 that he has been left out, and it is widely believed that this is probably due to Manchester United's poor performance last year, losing the league title to Manchester City and being eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League.
But the Portuguese clearly doesn't think so. In an interview, he expressed strong dissatisfaction with FIFA, saying, "I don't know why, everything is biased towards La Liga. They favor Spain too much!"
"No one sees the contributions I've made, leading Portugal to the semifinals of the European Championship, our best result since 2004."
Regarding the upcoming Champions League Round of 16 match against Real Madrid, Ronaldo confidently stated, "I will make everyone understand that the Premier League is no weaker than La Liga, and the best players don't just come from there!"
Ronaldo's passionate and confident words lingered, and some media outlets revealed that as the captain of the national team, he voted for himself for the Ballon d'Or. How did he do it?
It was a last-minute switch before voting. He handed over the captain's armband to Bruno Alves, who would naturally vote for himself, and he didn't choose the popular candidates for second and third choices either. After completing the process, Ronaldo took back the captain's armband.
"I missed the last game of the national team due to injury, so naturally, Bruno inherited the voting rights," Cristiano explained, obviously just making excuses. He played a little trick.
Even so, the Portuguese star still failed to make it into the top three of the voting, revealing extreme lack of confidence. "Perhaps Ronaldo has a strongly performative personality. He likes to show generosity in public, but in fact, he is very sensitive inside," analyzed The Times of England.
On January 9th, in the fifth round of the Copa del Rey, Real Madrid played against Celta Vigo at home.
With a lineup dominated by youth team players, they played above their level and eventually defeated their opponents 2-0, reversing the tie with an aggregate score of 3-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey. Valencia awaits them next.
On January 12th, in the 19th round of La Liga, Real Madrid played against Osasuna at home.
Before the game started, Wang Feng received the Ballon d'Or trophy engraved with his name, and the club specifically asked him to display it at the Bernabeu.
Unlike before, this time the staff prepared a long table display stand, on which were placed 8 shining Ballon d'Or trophies, the honors won by the former Chinese superstar.
When he walked out with the 9th trophy and lifted it high, the entire stadium of 90,000 fans shouted "Dios" (God), worshiping the god of football together.
Then Wang Feng placed the new trophy on the long table and stood behind them in a hugging posture, for the media and fans to take pictures with. Flashlights were constantly flashing, capturing this precious moment.
History will always remember this day. Fans, coaches, teammates, and club officials present all applauded him warmly.
The next game unexpectedly became difficult, as Osasuna showed their ultimate defensive strength, exposing the shortcomings of the forward line led by Iguaín and Morata in breaking through.
What's even more frustrating is that it started raining heavily after about 30 minutes of play, making the pitch suddenly wet and increasing the difficulty for Real Madrid, who dominated possession.
In the 47th minute, Wang Feng and Carvajal passed the ball continuously on the wing, suddenly approaching the penalty area to attract defenders, and then delivered a precise cross. Iguaín, almost facing an empty goal at the far post, somehow missed the ball with his shot.
"Damn, the rain blinded my eyes," the Argentine complained.
Nine minutes later, Osasuna's Sehudo took a powerful shot from 18 meters on the right side of the penalty area, hitting Ramos and causing a rebound. Although Casillas made a save, he couldn't prevent the ball from entering the net, and the away team broke the deadlock!
In the 79th minute, it was the Chinese superstar who saved the team. He took a corner kick into the penalty area, Morata's header was saved by Fernández, and then Rubén cleared the ball.
Kroos intercepted the ball outside the penalty area, passed it to Wang Feng on the wing who came to support, and the latter unexpectedly used his left foot to directly shoot with a half-volley. At this moment, the trajectory of his shot was about 45 degrees from the goal line.
"Bang!" The ball shot like an arrow towards the far end of the goal, before Fernández could make the save, it had already entered the net.
The final score was locked at 1-1, and the Galacticos gained 1 league point.
In the Real Madrid locker room, the players looked gloomy with their heads down. After finishing his hot shower, Wang Feng walked in, feeling surprised at the sight. "Guys, what's wrong? You look like it's the end of the world."
Casillas smiled bitterly and replied, "Barcelona won again. They defeated Malaga 3-1, and now the gap between us has widened to 6 points."
"18 wins and 1 loss, tsk tsk, my God, how did they manage to achieve such a record? They're even more abnormal than us in the past."
The Chinese superstar was also surprised, but he remained calm as he sat down and said, "We're not bad either; we just lost one game and drew three."
"Moreover, Barcelona's only defeat was against us, right? This shows that they only know how to bully weaker teams; when they encounter real obstacles, they lose. We still have hope of a comeback."
"What if they keep winning?" Modric asked anxiously, "Then we'll beat them twice and let Barcelona win the title with 36 wins and 2 losses. Even if they win against all other teams, they'll still be under our feet!"
At these words, everyone's spirits lifted. Yes, this was a completely achievable goal. They were no longer depressed but shouting slogans of "Beat Barcelona Twice" enthusiastically.
The outside world was shocked by the Catalan team's creation of the best record in the first 19 rounds of La Liga, especially winning 18 out of 19 games, which was considered terrifying. Cruyff excitedly wrote in his column, "It's their year!"
The Dutch legend believed that such a strong Barcelona was the best weapon to end the reign of Real Madrid. "Winning one game after another, we are champions of the era!"
Marca organized a public survey, and still, 40.6% of the respondents believed that there was still suspense about the championship. "Barcelona shouldn't forget the humiliation of being the runner-up," said a fan interviewed.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺