Fox in the Penalty Area

Before the start of the European season at the end of August every year, UEFA will hold various awards ceremonies and the Champions League and Europa League group draw ceremonies.

For European football, this is a big event.

At the same time, because of the status of European football in the entire world football, it can also be approximately equal to the grand event of world football.

The European Ballon d'Or, the highest honor for players playing in Europe, can also be compared with FIFA's World Player of the Year selection with the power of one continent, 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 the two parties are not always unified, which is mainly related to the selection methods of the two awards.

FIFA's World Player of the Year is voted by the head coaches and captains of all FIFA national teams.

The winner of the European Golden Globe Award is voted by the French "Golden Globe" magazine in conjunction with European professional sports media.

The two are not comparable in terms of professionalism.

Of course, the European Ballon d'Or scored higher in terms of professionalism.

But the World Player of Football is a better illustration of the influence of the winners in world football.

Both awards have their own advantages and disadvantages. If someone can win the World Player 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 at the same time, his performance in this award cycle is impeccable of.

Needless to say, the players who can achieve this kind of achievement are definitely the top ten superstars in world football at that time.

Because this year is the World Cup year, there is no suspense about the winner of the European Golden Globe Award. It must be the "Prince" Alexandra Celados who won the World Cup best player and led the Spanish national team to win the World Cup. He may even get the World Footballer 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 of the Year that year.

Although the call for Hu Lai to win the championship is particularly high, causing Chinese fans and the media to pay special attention to the European Best Young Player Award this time.

But the media and fans will always focus on the top prize.

The award ceremony On the day before the Champions League group draw, UEFA and Ballon d'Or magazine held a very grand awards ceremony.

There was also a red carpet walk at the scene.

It is also rare for Hu Lai to change into formal clothes. Under the arrangement of the organizer, he and Pete Williams took the same car to the award ceremony.

When Williams walked the red carpet on crutches, Hou Lai was by his side, walking slowly.

Then occasionally waved and smiled to the fans and reporters outside the red carpet.

It can still be seen that, as the winner of the most rumored European Young Player Award, Hu Lai is not actually the protagonist in this event.

Most of the media and fans gathered on both sides of the red carpet were not directed at him.

There will be no huge cheers, screams, or strobe lights to turn night into day.

Some people took pictures, some people cheered, but that was all.

These treatments may not be as good as the scene when the two played in Leeds City.

Just when 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 movement of photographers pressing the shutter.

These voices are connected together and cannot be ignored at all.

Hu Lai and Williams also turned their heads and looked back.

I saw a person walking from the end of the red carpet.

It is none other than the main player of the King of Madrid, the super genius of Argentine football, and the final five candidates for the European Ballon d'Or...Meli Banega!

After seeing who was coming, Williams looked away as usual, and continued to walk forward slowly.

There is nothing wrong with Meli enjoying this kind of treatment.

On the contrary, Hu Lai let out a hey: "This scene is much more exaggerated than what we just did!"

Williams laughed: "After all, it's Melly."

He didn't explain much, because there was no need to explain anything about Meli Banega, everyone knew how powerful he was.

At the moment when the "Four Heavenly Kings" are old and retiring, everyone thinks that Meli will compete with Kabanka for the leader of the new generation of players.

Of course, in this World Cup, Meli's performance and performance are not as good as Brazil's Kabangka.

Under the leadership of Kabanka, the Brazilian team reached the final all the way, and finally lost to Spain.

Meli's Argentina was eliminated in the quarter-finals by later champions Spain.

Meli has only one goal and one assist in this World Cup. Whether it is personal performance data or team results, it is not as good as the Brazilian super genius Kendor Kabanca who is only one year older than him.

However, this does not detract from his status in the hearts of many fans and the media.

When Hu Lai heard what Williams said, he curled his lips: "So what about Melly? My defeat!"

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The people who had already entered the venue did not all sit in their seats before the ceremony started, but visited each other.

Those who can often participate in such activities are basically the wealthy clubs in Europe, and they are more or less related. Use this time to exchange pleasantries, reminisce about the past, connect with each other, and then make a deal in private, maybe a transfer deal will be concluded.

Although the players are their own masters, there are also some people who maintain a good relationship in private, so it is normal to meet and greet each other.

For fans and the media, the award ceremony is a football event, and for players, especially those who are unlikely to win the award, it is a social occasion.

But the young players were not so casual, most of them sat in their seats obediently, waiting for the opening.

At the same time, the live broadcast of the red carpet walking outside was watched on the big screen at the scene.

When they saw Hu Lai appearing, the gazes of a few people changed.

After all, this is the guy who is almost certain to win the Young Player of the Year award, and in a sense, the winner of them all.

Mario Salado straightened his waist from the chair and stared at Hu Lai more intently.

It's as if you can pierce each other with your eyes.

But when Meli appeared, Salado's sharp eyes were fixed on the super genius of this domestic rival club.

After all, Hu Lai is only a competitor this time.

In Salado's heart, Meli Banega is his long-term challenge target.

This is definitely not the goal of Salado's own hubris.

For some well-known reasons, the Catalan media desperately leaned on Salado to Meli, trying to create a feeling that "Salado and Meli are geniuses of the same level".

There are even Catalan media saying that "Salado's talent is stronger than Meli".

This kind of statement is not completely nonsense. After all, just looking at the performance of the two in the youth teams of their respective clubs, Salado's statistics are indeed more impressive-he once scored 80 points in a season in the youth team. Seven goals record.

Merry had never been this aggressive.

So it is only natural for Salado to regard Meli as his goal.

In fact, not only Salado, but other young players who came to the award ceremony also changed their expressions when they saw Meli Banega appearing on the big screen.

As peers, Meli Banega and Kendor Kabunka are like two mountains across their careers.

People with a little bit of ambition and ambition will 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, and passed into the ears of these young people, impacting their eardrums and hearts.

This is the pomp that people who are at the peak of young players have.

Although they are only twenty-three years old, everyone can tell that Meli and Kabanka are already superstar embryos.

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"Hey, the 3rd ball just isn't as good as the 5th ball..."

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 that:

The trophy of the European Ballon d'Or, which is the best player award, is a football-shaped trophy made of pure gold, which weighs 14 kilograms with the base. This trophy is made on a 1:1 scale with the official game 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, but the size has shrunk across the board, making it look a little smaller, the size of a No. 3 ball with a diameter of 18 centimeters.

So sometimes, in order to avoid awkward names, people will use "Golden Ball No. 5" and "Golden Ball No. 3" to refer to these two awards.

Zhang Qing smiled and said, "So what if it's powerful? Isn't it Hu Lai's defeated general?"

"The defeated general?" This time it was Yong Jun's turn to be stunned.

"Olympics, Uncle Yong." Zhang Qinghuan reminded him.

Yong Jun reacted: At the Olympics, the Chinese Olympic team eliminated the Argentine Olympic team 3:2, shattering Meli's wish to win the Olympic gold medal. In that game, Meli scored twice, but Hou Lai outperformed him, a hat-trick!

So no matter in terms of personal performance or team performance, Meli is indeed the loser of Hu Lai...

Thinking of this, Yong Jun laughed: "What a loss, you boy! Which pot is not open and which pot to carry!"

"Ha! I don't know if Meli saw Hu Lai, would she think of the Olympic Games that year..." Zhang Qinghuan hadn't finished speaking, and saw Meli suddenly change direction slightly, and really walked towards Hu Lai!

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"The defeated general? What defeated the subordinate?" Williams raised a question mark after hearing Hu Lai's words. "We haven't played against the King of Madrid yet, Huh..."

"Olympics. I beat him at the Madrid Olympics." Hou Lai 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 stopped suddenly: "Why..."

Before he finished speaking, he realized that there was someone more beside him, and he looked up—Merry Banega!

Williams froze.

Meli was standing beside him, looking at Hu Lai.

He said, "We meet again, Hu."

Hu Lai didn't seem very enthusiastic: "Why?"

Meli didn't seem to care about Hu Lai's attitude, but kept a faint smile and continued: "I'm very happy to see you on this occasion, because it means that we will meet each other on the field in the future. Then... I will Beat you in the competition and avenge the Olympics!"

In the end, 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 Meli communicating in Spanish, but he couldn't understand them at all. He didn't know what the two said, which caused the atmosphere to change. !

He even came up with the idea that when I go back, I must ask Delphine if she can speak Spanish...

Meili didn't smile, but Hu Lai smiled: "Be careful, how long has it been since the Olympics, do you still remember?"

Meili didn't expect that when he sent a letter of challenge to Hu Lai, the response he received was indeed such a light "narrow-minded", and he was devastated-is this a matter of my narrow-mindedness!

He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and continued to say to Hu Lai: "Don't think that you can escape by doing this. I look forward to meeting you again in the game."

After speaking, he ignored Hu Lai's response, turned around and left.

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 seek revenge from me. I have been brooding about losing a game, and I remember it until today...Pete, do you think Melly is narrow-minded?"

Williams' lips moved, but nothing came out.

Because he doesn't know what to say...

Is this really a matter of narrow-mindedness!