Chapter 98: Shortlisted for the ballon d'Or
Wang Feng is well aware of the fluctuations in his current performance, but he believes that this state will not last long. With continuous practice in normal times and the tempering on the league field, he is becoming increasingly adept at handling the ball.
In the 14th round of Serie A, Inter Milan challenged Brescia away. Brescia is a team from the northern part of Italy, currently ranking 14th in the league, and considered a weaker team.
In this match, Wang Feng regained his form. In the 17th minute, Inter Milan launched a quick counterattack. Di Biagio advanced with the ball on the left and then crossed into the penalty area.
Wang Feng first stopped the ball with his chest in the penalty area, then flicked it to the right with the tip of his right foot, bypassing the rushing defensive players. Then Wang Feng met the ball and scored directly with a volley, opening the scoring for Inter Milan.
In the first half injury time, Inter Milan's midfielder got the ball, Grzesk passed it long to the left, and Di Biagio successfully beat the offside trap, catching up with the ball near the goal line.
Then he passed the ball to the middle, where Vieri won the first ball at the far post and headed it to the other side, where Wang Feng was waiting to receive.
"Vieri's header to Wang Feng, Wang Feng faced two defensive players, chest control, shot!!! Goal!!! Goooooooal!!!"
"Wang Feng, after controlling the ball with his chest with his back to the goal, used a beautiful backheel shot, once again breaking Brescia's goal."
"We can see the ball passing through the gap between the two defensive players marking Wang Feng, blocking the Brescia goalkeeper's line of sight, preventing him from reacting in time."
"Wang Feng's goal is full of imagination. Before the game, some media speculated how many rounds of goal drought Wang Feng would face, but he unexpectedly slapped them hard with a brace."
"This is not the first time Wang Feng has left the Italian media speechless. At the beginning of the season, he used a series of goals to fiercely counter those who doubted him. Unexpectedly, it's the same this time."
After scoring, Wang Feng ran wild on the sidelines. He finally felt the kind of playing state Ronaldo had back then, making the best shooting decisions before his body reacted, everything seemed very comfortable.
In the second half, Inter Milan continued to dominate the game. In the 60th minute, coach Cooper substituted Wang Feng, and in the 67th minute, Di Biagio assisted Recoba to score the third goal.
The only downside was that Brescia capitalized on a mistake in Inter Milan's backline just before the final whistle, pulling one back and salvaging some pride at home.
After the game, Wang Feng is set to go to Zurich, Switzerland, to attend the annual FIFA awards ceremony.
Earlier, the winners of the European Golden Ball Awards had been revealed. Some media captured "France Football" magazine's editor-in-chief, Jette Puffenastier, appearing in Madrid, Spain.
In the end, Raul defeated Owen and won the 2001 European Golden Ball Award. Although Liverpool won the FA Cup, League Cup, and English Community Shield last season, achieving a domestic treble, they were knocked out by Genk in the UEFA Cup semi-finals, missing out on the UEFA Super Cup. Ultimately, they regretted not achieving the historic quintuple, diminishing Owen's achievements.
In contrast, Raul helped Real Madrid win the league title, won the Pichichi Trophy, and also won the Champions League Golden Boot. At the beginning of this season, he also won the Spanish Super Cup for Real Madrid, making his achievements more dazzling.
With this news, Spanish media were jubilant while English media lamented. Since Kevin Keegan won the Ballon d'Or in 1979, no English player has won this honor.
The headline of the English "The Times" read "Chinese prodigy emerges, Owen's dream shattered by the Golden Ball." The article analyzed that if Owen could achieve the historic quintuple, even without the Champions League, he could have had a chance against Raul, but unfortunately, Wang Feng dashed all these hopes.
"The Sun" once again led everyone to review the entire process of last season's UEFA Cup semi-final. They wrote, "Wang Feng scored all five goals in the two legs of the series, almost single-handedly blocking Liverpool's path to the final."
"Although Owen also scored three goals, he failed to help the stronger Liverpool team win. This makes people reflect, is it the coach's tactical arrangements that were flawed, or Owen's performance lacked dominance."
"The Guardian" analyzed the pursuit of Wang Feng by major clubs in the summer transfer window, "No one expected Wang Feng to choose Serie A, but his displayed abilities still exceed everyone's expectations."
"Up to now in Serie A, Wang Feng has scored a total of 18 goals, leading the Serie A top scorer chart by a large margin, and also has 6 assists. It can be said that his transition from the second-rate Belgian league to the pinnacle Serie A league has been seamless."
"Everyone can see that this young player who has just turned eighteen will surely dominate European football in the near future and win more honors."
"But what is our Football Association doing? They spent a lot of time researching and concluded that it will take another two years to amend the so-called special talent introduction bill, which is very unreasonable."
"This almost ensures that the English Premier League will forever shut out this super talent."
The eager reports from major European media aside, Wang Feng, with his Belgian league championship and top scorer award, UEFA Cup championship, and UEFA Cup Best Player accolade, successfully made it to the shortlist for the 2001 Ballon d'Or. He also made it to the shortlist for the 2001 Ballon d'Or, ranking as high as tenth.
It is worth mentioning that Hidetoshi Nakata, who also plays for Parma in Serie A, also made it to the shortlist, albeit ranking outside the top 30.
This is another glory for Asian players. Although Wang Feng is not the first Asian player to be shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or, he is the first to make it to the top ten.
The AFC's official website immediately sent blessings to the two players, with Wang Feng unsurprisingly occupying the central position in the website's image, while Nakata stood on the side.
This year's AFC Footballer of the Year underwent a reform, adding an award called "Best Overseas Player," specifically for Asian players who do not play in Asia.
The inaugural "Best Overseas Player" award naturally went to Wang Feng, but he did not go back to receive the award, but instead prepared to attend the FIFA awards ceremony.
The AFC Footballer of the Year eventually went to Fan Zhiyi, who led the Chinese team to qualify for the World Cup qualifiers for the first time. Although he also plays for Dundee Football Club in Scotland, he spends a considerable amount of time competing in the Asian World Cup qualifiers.
For two consecutive years, the AFC Footballer of the Year has been won by Chinese players, which has excited domestic fans, who expressively state that this is the best era for Chinese football.
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