Chapter 635: Who Can Break His Monopoly
As time moved into late August, the small city of Monaco, surrounded on three sides by France, attracted worldwide attention because the UEFA Champions League group stage draw and the UEFA Annual Awards Ceremony were held here.
For the past decade and a half, Wang Feng had been the absolute ruler here, winning nine European Player of the Year awards, including seven Ballon d'Or titles before the restructuring, and two UEFA Best Player in Europe awards after the restructuring.
And this year, his legend continued. In the 2012-2013 season, among the final three candidates for the European Player of the Year award, due to being the main contributor to Real Madrid's back-to-back league and Champions League double, as well as helping the Chinese team win their first ever Confederations Cup, the Chinese superstar was almost certain to lead by a huge margin in the first round of voting.
Apart from this, this year was also a day worth remembering for Chinese people around the world, because not only was the Chinese superstar leading by a wide margin, Dong Fangzhuo also made it into the top three with outstanding performances for Bayern Munich and the national team.
Two of the three candidates on the list were Chinese! As for the remaining one, it was unsurprisingly Argentine star Lionel Messi, who won the La Liga and European Golden Boot last season and helped his team lift the Copa del Rey trophy.
Following were players like Higuaín, Robben, Lewandowski, Ronaldo, Modri?, Ramos, and Thomas Müller. Overall, the majority of the top ten spots were taken by Champions League winners and runners-up.
Only winning the Premier League title and being eliminated in the round of 16 of the Champions League, the Portuguese star's ranking dropped again, which made him very angry. Facing the media, he openly criticized UEFA judges for overvaluing Champions League performance, making his Premier League Golden Boot seem worthless.
He hadn't made it to the top three for several years in a row now. Even though he still had extremely high popularity and value, achievements and honors were the most powerful guarantee for footballers.
When Wang Feng and Dong Fangzhuo entered the Grimaldi Forum, most of the attendees greeted them very friendly. Their performance on the field was enough to earn respect.
In the draw for the new season's Champions League group stage, the Galacticos, as a seeded team, were placed in Group B, followed by Serie A's Juventus, Turkish Super Lig's Galatasaray, and Danish Superliga's Copenhagen.
Although this result wasn't as cruel as last season's, it still couldn't be taken lightly. The Bianconeri had regained their former glory, having just won the league title, and Galatasaray had recently made history by reaching the Champions League quarter-finals. The club was also eagerly strengthening their squad.
Copenhagen might be a team they could get points from, but one should never underestimate the reigning champions of European leagues. You never knew when they would unleash strong energy and cause an upset, something that happened every year.
Barcelona, on the other hand, was grouped with AC Milan, Ajax, and Celtic. From the perspective of overall strength, there was no pressure for them to advance.
Atletico Madrid's opponents were Zenit Saint Petersburg, Porto, and Austria Vienna. It must be said that this was a very favorable draw, with none of the top five league powerhouses encountered. Simeone was already rubbing his hands in preparation.
Real Sociedad, on the other hand, had it very tough. They were grouped with Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen, and Shakhtar Donetsk, none of which were easy opponents. The main goal for them would be to advance from the group stage, and securing a spot in the Europa League would also have to be considered.
Even though the Red Devils lost Cristiano Ronaldo, they welcomed back Rooney and brought in Arsenal striker Van Persie. Teaming up with Benzema, who was already in the squad, they were sure to spark an offensive fire.
Seemingly to taunt the Portuguese star, Rooney's return was warmly welcomed by the club and fans. People took to the streets with banners saying, "Wayne is the true hero of Manchester United, Cristiano is a traitor."
Moreover, the contract offered by the team had a weekly salary of ￡300,000, and the official website prominently stated that after retiring, the English forward would become a Manchester United Football Club ambassador. Articles detailing every achievement of Rooney were published, not mentioning Ronaldo in any of them but indirectly pointing fingers at him.
Naturally, fans of the Portuguese superstar were extremely dissatisfied. They argued that Ronaldo was the club's all-time leading scorer, helping the team win five Premier League titles and one FA Cup. When would it be Wayne's turn to represent the Red Devils, a player like him?
Soon, Ronaldo himself responded. He retweeted and liked this comment, adding the word "Factors!" This immediately sparked a huge discussion. The two were incompatible when they were on the same team, and now, naturally, they wouldn't spare each other any mercy.
In the live voting for the Player of the Year, Wang Feng received 31 votes, Messi received 12 votes, and Dong Fangzhuo received 10 votes. The Chinese superstar won his third "Silver Underpants" with a huge advantage, also his tenth award representing the best player in Europe.
The Argentine star, who had expected to lose, did not show any disappointment on his face. Instead, he stood up very frankly, hugged Wang Feng, and congratulated him. He understood that the next World Cup would be his perfect opportunity. Since the Chinese superstar couldn't participate, if he could perform above standard, he would surely become the first player to break Wang Feng's monopoly on the best player award, just like the Golden Boot award last season!
Dong Fangzhuo mainly congratulated his big brother. He felt that being able to stand on the top three podiums was already without any regrets. He only hoped that Wang Feng could go further and let the world look up to him even more.
Taking the familiar trophy from Platini's hands, the Chinese superstar thanked the club and his family as usual. He then continued, "Every award for me is a new experience, so I won't feel tired or relaxed. Those young players who want to take the trophy from me, please try harder!"
Such an "appeal" caused bursts of laughter and applause at the scene. It wasn't that the young people weren't working hard, but the old man was too formidable. Now, everyone was looking forward to who would be the first to break his monopoly.
Two days later, the UEFA Super Cup was held as scheduled, with Real Madrid facing Chelsea.
The match took place at the Eden Arena in the Czech Republic. This was the first time since 1998 that the UEFA Super Cup was not held at the Louis II Stadium in Monaco.
Chelsea's head coach Mourinho attached great importance to the match. If they wanted to regain the Champions League title, they had to surpass the formidable Galacticos.
The Portuguese sent out a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Cech in goal.
The back four consisted of Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, and Azpilicueta.
The double pivot had Ramires and Lampard, with the three attacking midfielders being Schürrle, Oscar, and Hazard.
Torres played as the lone striker.
Once the match started, Chelsea completely executed their defensive counter-attack strategy, making it difficult for Real Madrid to break through. They could only dominate possession and slowly probe without daring to press forward aggressively.
Both sides were deadlocked until the 78th minute. Wang Feng received a long pass from Alonso on the right side with his back to the goal. He shielded the ball, turned to get past Schürrle, pushed the ball to the left and then feinted right, creating space between Lampard and Oscar. He then dribbled past them.
He dribbled diagonally into the penalty area. Faced with Luiz's block, the Chinese superstar first feinted to shoot, causing the opponent to turn his back to block, and then hooked back to the bottom line to create space. Near the edge of the small penalty area, he aimed at the far corner and shot with a small angle.
"Bang!" The ball went under the goalkeeper Cech's outstretched hand and hit the inside of the far post before entering the net.
With this excellent goal, Real Madrid defeated Chelsea 1-0 and lifted the UEFA Super Cup trophy.
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