Chapter 294: The Path of Asking Without Shame from the Legend of the 45-Degree Cross, The Golden Ball Award Top 30 List?

【De Bruyne 45-Degree Cross Lv6: Asking Without Shame】 Upgrade Path:

Path One: Reach 88 points in Passing to unlock the Proficiency Upgrade Mission.

Path Two: Use a template similar to the 45-Degree Cross as a medium to directly unlock the Proficiency Upgrade Mission (obtaining De Bruyne or Ward-Prowse templates again will be ineffective).

The reason Lv5 is called "Replica" is that the Level 5 Growth Template displays De Bruyne's single-ability peak performance.

The next step beyond this is to complete the transcendence of De Bruyne!

Looking at the two upgrade paths for 【45-Degree Cross】, just like with the Lv5 Far-Corner Curling Shot, Path One requires extremely high attributes to unlock.

Tang Ye did not have sufficient Shooting attributes.

But if it was Passing attributes, Tang Ye definitely had enough!

Resting by the sideline for a while, Tang Ye waited for the system's message.

Wondering if it was due to the rain, his system seemed a bit laggy today?

【De Bruyne 45-Degree Cross meets breakthrough conditions】

Oh, here it comes!

【De Bruyne 45-Degree Cross Lv5: Replica】

Proficiency: 0/3500

3... 3500?

The system really wants to ramp up the difficulty for him!

But thinking about it carefully, it was understandable; imitation was simple, but wanting to surpass someone through imitation was not an easy matter.

And also...

He remembered that after 【45-Degree Cross】 leveled up from Lv4 to Lv5, there were an extra 2 proficiency points.

This damn system seemed to have secretly swallowed Tom's 2 proficiency points!

Just like Tom eating french fries!

Within one day, his attributes increased by 2 points, and the breakthrough path for 【45-Degree Cross】 was unlocked.

Following convention, Tang Ye prepared to check his panel, but just then Mata suddenly walked over.

The rain was getting heavier; Mata wiped his hair with a Mao Jin: "Impressive, Tom, you pass so accurately even in the rain."

"Haha, thanks."

Tang Ye shifted slightly into the shelter to make room for Mata: "Mata, did you see that header I scored? About half an hour ago, my header hit inside the small penalty area first, then went in."

"I'm more interested in your passing than your headers."

Mata laughed: "You seem to pass very accurately even in the rain; aren't you disturbed by it?"

Mata was very curious about Tang Ye because Tang Ye's long passes in an unpressured state were simply too stable.

Even on rainy days, it was the same.

"I don't know."

Tang Ye shook his head: "Whether it rains or not doesn't matter; just keep your focus on the ball."

His cleats scraped twice on the grass with a swish: "Hmm, but the grass is indeed a bit more slippery on rainy days."

"I totally agree with you."

Mata showed Tang Ye his back, which was covered in grass clippings and muddy water, clearly indicating he had fallen, and not just once.

"We are about to play against Tottenham."

Mata suddenly said.

"Isn't the next match against Swansea?"

Tang Ye corrected Mata's mistake.

"I know, Swansea is for the EFL Cup; I'm talking about the league."

In October, Manchester United had two matches remaining: the EFL Cup Round of 16 against Swansea, and the Premier League Round 9 against Tottenham.

Swansea had performed poorly this season, so Mata didn't pay much attention to that team.

Compared to Swansea, Tottenham was obviously the more interesting opponent.

"I know, they are very strong; last month's Player of the Month was from Tottenham. He beat me and Marcus."

While speaking, Tang Ye's eyes blinked rapidly.

He had only started playing in the Premier League in August this year, and the Players of the Month for both August and September were Kane, which left a deep impression on Tang Ye regarding this player.

That was a very formidable guy!

Tom must combine forces with his teammates to have a chance at defeating him!

In the cafeteria at night, while players chatted at their tables about their affairs with models, Tang Ye ate while studying his current panel.

Tang Ye (Age 39)

【Ball Control: 85; Passing: 89】

【Shooting: 78; Heading: 51; Set Pieces: 76】

【Speed: 74; Stamina: 72; Physicality: 77】

【Defense: 70; Vision: 95】

Overall Rating: 82

The Overall Rating hadn't changed, but Tang Ye had indeed become much stronger.

The most conspicuous attribute remained the 95 Vision.

This thing was the strangest among all of Tang Ye's attributes; it was very high, but as for how to improve his Vision, he truly had no clue at all.

Of course, 95 was already very high, so leaving this attribute untouched for now was fine.

Then came the 89 passing!

This was Tang Ye's greatest strength!

With the 10% bonus from 【Fernandes' First Touch】, Tang Ye had a chance to deliver passes with a 98 ability rating during matches.

Hmm, Tang Ye felt he needed to give his passing a name.

Let's call it... Super Pass!

While Tang Ye was imagining scenes of himself passing to Rashford and Martial in his mind, someone at the dining table suddenly shouted, startling Tang Ye so much that his fork clattered onto the table.

"Jesse, calm down!"

Rashford shouted, while Lin Lin Jiade showed his phone screen to Carrick, who likewise displayed an interested expression.

Tang Ye picked up his fork; he hadn't finished eating, but his attention was no longer on the food.

"What happened?"

Rodri reacted fastest; the Spaniard saw on his own phone what Lin Lin Jiade was looking at.

"It's the Ballon d'Or candidate list; four names have been announced now."

"Oh, I remember now!"

Tang Ye pointed at Rodri's phone: "The night before last, while I was playing games at home, Dembélé mentioned this to me, but I forgot."

Tang Ye and Rashford leaned their heads toward Rodri's phone just as another candidate was announced.

With that, the first batch of five candidates was now complete.

Let's take a quick look.

First batch: Neymar (Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain), Modrić (Real Madrid), Di Di Bala (Juventus), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Kanté (Chelsea).

"It's Júnior."

Tang Ye's eyes lit up; he hadn't expected the first name he saw to be his comrade Neymar.

When playing games the night before last, Neymar had even left the ball at Tang Ye's feet; he hadn't expected him to make the Ballon d'Or candidate list today.

Among the first batch of players, three came from La Liga; as a former Villarreal player from last season, Tang Ye and Rodri were all too familiar with these guys.

Next came the second batch.

Tang Ye saw Suárez and Ramos.

The third batch...

"Damn, that's it? Why are they announcing them one by one?"

Tang Ye tried refreshing Rodri's phone screen, but the players from the third batch still didn't appear.

Tang Ye, who had already stood up, sat back down; at that moment, Rodri asked him a question: "Tom, do you think you can make the candidate list?"

"Me?"

Tang Ye shook his head: "This is the Ballon d'Or, after all."

"You played so well last season, and you're doing great this season too."

Rodri was Tom's number-one fan; just as he was about to analyze Tang Ye's reasons for selection, the third batch of players was announced.

Third batch: Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), De Bruyne (Mancheng), Harry Kane (Tottenham), De Gea (Manchester United)...

"Da... David!"

The Manchester United players in the dining room unanimously looked at the goalkeeper De Gea, who raised one hand.

Tang Ye nodded slightly.

Having a teammate as a Ballon d'Or candidate felt somewhat unreal to Tang Ye, who had been a substitute at Utrecht just two years ago. Moreover, David was a goalkeeper; a goalkeeper making the Ballon d'Or candidate list carried immense weight!

Then came the fourth batch.

Fourth batch: Messi (Barcelona), Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain)...

With Messi already out, Cristiano Ronaldo surely couldn't be far behind.

Fifth batch: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Griezmann (Atlético Madrid)...

The players making the candidate list were all household names, and there were truly many from La Liga; Tang Ye felt he had faced at least one-third of the players on this list.

This included Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo; every time he played against Real Madrid or Barcelona, Tang Ye liked to stare at Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the player tunnel, wanting to see what made these two best players in today's football different from ordinary players.

Tang Ye didn't notice much, but their aura was undeniably powerful.

"Here comes the sixth batch."

At Rodri's reminder, Tang Ye's attention returned to the phone screen.

This was the final batch!

!

Sixth batch: Buffon (Juventus)

"This is another goalkeeper! That's the third goalkeeper!"

Let's keep looking down.

Tang Ye (Villarreal, Manchester United).

"Th... this is..."

Tang Ye suddenly looked up: "This is me!"

"Haha, I told you so! Tom, you were definitely going to make the list."

Rodri tossed his phone onto the table, stood up, and gave Tang Ye a hug: "Viva Tom!"

After Rodri finished, Mata came over as well, along with Ashley Young, who was sitting at the same table, while Rashford and Tang Ye high-fived.

"Clap clap" sounds rang out; Tang Ye seemed unable to believe what he had seen, so he bent down to confirm it once more.

Sixth batch: Buffon (Juventus), Tang Ye (Villarreal, Manchester United), Falcao (Monaco), Mané (Liwupu), Kroos (Real Madrid).

It was indeed GG Bond himself, no mistake!

"Hiss——!!"

Taking a deep breath, Tang Ye felt he needed a moment to compose himself.

The Ballon d'Or is the highest individual honor in the football world.

And Tang Ye had made it onto the 30-man candidate list for the Ballon d'Or!

Sitting down on a chair, Tang Ye suddenly remembered a question.

A very crucial question.

"Rhodes, does that mean I'm now one of the strongest 30 players among all footballers?"

"Hmm... to be precise, one of the strongest 30 in 2017."

Fan Fan Dejiahe, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

"That still makes him one of the strongest," Rodri added.

Opposite Fan Fan Dejiahe, Ten Hag suddenly stood up and began clapping.

"Clap, clap."

"Let's give Tom a round of applause; he is the only player in our team selected for the Ballon d'Or list."

"He truly deserves it!"

After Ten Hag finished speaking, all the Manchester United players in the dining hall turned to look at him.

"Hmm?"

Ten Hag didn't immediately notice anything amiss, until Fan Fan Dejiahe whispered a sentence.

"And David too."

"Oh, right, and David!"

The players resumed their smiles.

"Congratulations to Tom and David!"

Clap, clap, clap!

"Haha!"

Outside, the rain was still falling, while inside the room, more than twenty teammates were celebrating for him.

Leaning back in the soft chair, Tang Ye rested his hands behind his head.

He thoroughly enjoyed the warm feeling this moment brought him.

Check Dongqiu Di Pinned Post: Ballon d'Or 30-Man Candidate List Led by Messi and Ronaldo; Tang Ye Selected for the First Time. (52,312 comments)

China Sports Daily Front Page Headline: Tang Ye Selected for Ballon d'Or 30-Man Candidate List, a First in History for Chinese Players.

【Almost forgot about the 30-man candidate list; King Tang of Football is awesome!】

【Cristiano Ronaldo is too fierce this year; how can Tang Ye compete?】

【Tang Ye is only 18; winning the award isn't the point, he's just cool, that's enough!】

【Last season Villarreal drew twice against Real Madrid, so Villarreal equals Real Madrid; therefore Tang Ye equals Cristiano Ronaldo, so Tang Ye wins the Ballon d'Or.】

Whenever such awards are announced, fans are bound to jump into the fray.

Tang Ye's selection for the Ballon d'Or candidate list undoubtedly increased Chinese fans' attention toward the award; many fans who had only recently started watching football were already asking in the comments section about the announcement time for the winner.

But these new fans quickly realized something after scrolling through the comments.

That was, this year, Tang Ye most likely had no chance at the Ballon d'Or.

Holding the Champions League title, La Liga title, Club World Cup title, and the Champions League Golden Boot, Cristiano Ronaldo's probability of winning had already surged to 80% on betting websites.

It was regrettable, but this was not something to be sad about.

GG Bond is a hero; Chinese fans believe in GG Bond!

Maybe not in 2017, but there will surely be a year when the Ballon d'Or belongs to him!

Returning to his apartment that night, while waiting for Dembélé to come online, Tang Ye operated his phone.

First, he retweeted Rashford's fundraising post.

Rashford's influence was still immense; in just two days, over 300,000 euros had been raised!

Tang Ye's math wasn't very good, but he knew that over 300,000 was a huge sum, enough to buy a lot of food.

Then came his own matter.

Entering "Ballon d'Or candidates" into the search bar, he found the official post from France Football newspaper and clicked to retweet it.

Caption...

Rubbing his chin with his left hand, Tang Ye thought for a moment, then opened the emoji menu and found his favorite cool-looking emoji wearing sunglasses.

Caption: (Sunglasses) (Sunglasses)

Hiss—

Feeling that two weren't quite enough, Tang Ye clicked to add one more.

Confirm retweet!

Baidu Hot Search No. 2: Tang Ye Selected for Ballon d'Or Candidate List.

Brother Chao's QQ Fan Group Two (1,992 members).

【Wang Chao (Group Owner): Live stream at 2:30 AM on October 25 for Manchester United vs. Swansea (EFL Cup Round of 16). Prediction: Manchester United wins by 2 or 3 goals.】

【Finally here; is Brother Chao's pick reliable this time, or are we going to lose money again?】

【Why panic over King Tang of Football's match? If we're behind in the first half, King Tang will step up in the second; do you understand what it means to be a Ballon d'Or candidate?】

【Swansea's wingers are very fast; Manchester United fears this kind of team, so I'm choosing to wait and see.】

"Charge, Tang Tang Qiuwang!"

(End of Chapter)