Chapter 462: The 2018 Ballon d'Or Ceremony: The Kopa Trophy is GG

Dongqiu Di pinned post: Southampton vs. Manchester United, Premier League Round 14 underway, current score 1:1, Armstrong with a world-class strike.

Due to Armstrong's sudden goal, the Manchester United coaching staff revised their original plan.

Lin Lin Jiade's substitution was put on hold.

Exactly when he will enter the match depends on when Manchester United can regain control of the game.

Something felt off; Tang Ye actively requested the ball from his teammates to increase his possession time.

This was his preferred method for handling unexpected situations.

Use his dribbling and advancing rhythm to relieve pressure on his teammates!

Receiving the ball in the center, he ran straight forward!

Defenders on the flank were pressing hard!

Tang Ye decisively played a through ball to Rashford!

After completing the switch of play, Tang Ye began making a forward run.

He received the pass sent back by Rashford!

A perfect one-two combination; Tang Ye lifted his foot and turned, letting the ball roll naturally to his feet.

"Go, go, go!"

Urging Martial to make his run, Tang Ye feinted to push the ball into the penalty area.

However, Martial's position was blocked, so in this emergency, Tang Ye switched to a different approach.

"Here!"

Tang Ye gently pushed the ball to the left.

De Jong arrived just in time!

After completing the pass, Tang Ye moved laterally directly behind De Jong, while the latter continued to dribble forward.

With Tang Ye providing cover, De Jong's movements became bolder.

A quick feint.

"Shoot directly!"

Tang Ye's voice came from behind; De Jong gritted his teeth.

Bang!

A pushed shot was unleashed!

The goalkeeper jumped out, but it was already too late.

"Goal!"

"De Jong's goal!"

"Manchester United has scored their second goal of the match at a critical moment."

Tang Ye and De Jong executed an excellent combination, and Manchester United regained their advantage.

This was the tacit understanding between midfielders of the Teng Armor!

"Nice!"

Fan Fan Dejiahe raised both clenched fists above his head.

Ten Hag finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This, after all, was the state Manchester United should have displayed against Southampton.

All the momentum Southampton had built up earlier stemmed entirely from that heaven-defying world-class strike by midfielder Armstrong, but that goal relied far too much on luck and did not reflect the home team's true strength.

Without that momentum, Southampton could not possibly be a match for Manchester United!

"Frenkie!"

Tang Ye shouted, then collided forcefully with De Jong.

The collision was fierce, yet neither felt any pain.

This was because there were two layers of rattan-woven armor between them.

After taking the lead, Tang Ye led his teammates in gradually controlling the game's rhythm, ruthlessly suppressing their opponents.

Once the advantage was sufficiently established, Ten Hag made his substitution.

"Lin Lin Jiade comes on, replacing..."

The fourth official's board displayed the Arabic numeral "10," and the fans in the stands suddenly let out a roar.

"He's off!"

Rashford exchanged a few words with Tang Ye, and then the two walked off the pitch together.

"Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye!"

Although it was not a Manchester United home game, there were still many Manchester United fans present.

Tang Ye raised both hands to greet the fans, and in the instant he looked up, he immediately spotted the sign held high by the Manchester United supporters.

【The best Tom, we will always support you, forever!】

Tang Ye bit his lower lip.

He felt increasingly that defeating Mancheng in December was an absolute necessity.

When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a person...

Fuck, this damn sense of fate!

Dongqiu Di match report: Mancheng defeated Bournemouth 2:1 to continue leading the standings. (Comment count: 8923)

Dongqiu Di match report: Manchester United defeated Southampton 3:1 away; Tang Ye recorded double assists in three consecutive league matches, while De Jong scored and achieved the highest rating of his Manchester United career. (Comment count: 20138)

Round 14 — Mancheng, Manchester United, and Liwupu all won.

The good news is, Manchester United is the only one of the three teams to have a goal difference of +2.

And after this round of matches, the goal-difference gap between Manchester United and Mancheng has been pulled to 2 goals.

"This is the closest we've been to Mancheng so far this season."

In the locker room after the match, Fan Fan Dejiahe stood in the middle speaking, notebook in hand.

However, when Fan Fan Dejiahe spoke, he didn't open his notebook — the notebook seemed to serve only a decorative purpose.

Tang Ye squatted in his own spot, listening to Fan Fan Dejiahe talk while thinking on his own.

【Mission progress: assists (7/10)】

Closer to Mancheng, further from Liwupu, and his own mission was almost complete.

Everything was heading in a good direction!

……

"Sports Weekly" front-page headline — Three-Way Battle enters a white-hot stage: under the squeeze, can Manchester United claim the Premier League crown?

This season's Premier League could be said to be maxed out on entertainment value, especially this special month of December — with all kinds of buffs stacked together, the hype is more outrageous than the other four major leagues combined.

For this, "Sports Weekly"'s illustrator also produced a picture: De Bruyne, Tang Ye, and Salah, the three of them looking up together at the Premier League champion's trophy — these three star players respectively representing the clubs behind them.

Tang Ye placed his hand on De Bruyne's shoulder.

Salah, on the other hand, brought his mouth close to Tang Ye's ear and started whispering.

"Tom, you're leaving next month — so what about your Manchester United then~"

【Wait, how did I never notice before that the Sports Weekly illustrator has this much talent】

【ggbond, if you leave, what about your Manchester United~~】

The picture "Sports Weekly" photoshopped really did have great effect, but it's a pity they didn't have much time to publish the news — it collided with a French newspaper.

"France Football" — The 2018 Ballon d'Or ceremony will be held on December 3 at the Grand Palais in Paris, France.

It's finally here!

Before you know it, another 365 days have passed — the time for the global football stars' grand showdown has finally arrived.

Sky Sports TV.

"Well, I have to say this scheduling isn't very friendly to Premier League players…"

Two TV commentators began chatting about the Ballon d'Or ceremony news.

"Yes, the ceremony is on December 3, and December 5, 6, and 7 are all Premier League matchdays. For players like Tom and Agüero, this is definitely not good news — because right now Mancheng and Manchester United are in the middle of a fierce battle."

The timing of the ceremony is a bit awkward. Also, speaking of Tang Ye, the TV commentators synced another piece of news with the fans.

2018 is the first year that "France Football" magazine has established the Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Trophy — the award's purpose is to reward the best player of the year under 21, and the ceremony is held together with the Ballon d'Or.

And Tang Ye, Mbappé, Rodrygo and others are all nominees for this year's Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Trophy.

……

"Metro" — Because of the fixture schedule, if Tom and De Bruyne attend the Ballon d'Or ceremony, it will affect their clubs' next match. In Premier League Round 15, Manchester United and Mancheng's opponents are respectively Arsenal (Manchester United) and Watford (Mancheng).

Polish journalist: To ensure the players are willing to attend the ceremony, the organizers may have leaked some information to Tang Ye — the player has been confirmed to have won the 2018 Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Trophy. If true, the Manchester United midfielder will become the first-ever recipient of the Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Trophy.

After the match, Tang Ye was pacing anxiously on the train.

Tang Ye of course remembered that December 3 was the date of the Ballon d'Or ceremony — he'd already seen the news on Check Dongqiu Di last month.

However, it wasn't until December that Tang Ye realized the timing of the Ballon d'Or ceremony clashed a little with the next round's match against Arsenal.

"If I go, won't I have to play Arsenal the day after I get back — can I even play?"

Rodri pointed out the issue: "It's not about whether you play or not — if you play, Eric will definitely let you. The main thing is whether you can rest well in just one night."

Resting for one night…

Tang Ye thought it over carefully — for him, one night was more than enough to recover his energy.

Hiss, this is a bit tricky…

"I feel like you should still go — your ranking should be pretty high. And that Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Trophy, do you know about that Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Trophy?"

From behind, Valencia stuck his head between Tang Ye and Rodri's seats and asked.

"I know — I was just told on the phone that I won."

"Huh?"

Valencia and Rodri exchanged a glance. What Tang Ye said quickly drew the attention of the other Manchester United players in the car.

"So they told you in advance?"

Mata's eyes went wide.

But thinking about it carefully, the organizers' approach was actually quite reasonable.

The Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Trophy is for players under 21.

In that field, isn't ggbond just pure, absolute dominance…

"No no, they told my agent, and then my agent told me — they didn't tell me directly."

Tang Ye corrected Mata's mistake.

"My agent told me the organizers hope I can go, because my Ballon d'Or ranking might be…"

Halfway through, Tang Ye suddenly stopped talking.

"Shit, Tom, don't leave us hanging!"

Ashley Young urged.

"Oh oh, sorry."

Tang Ye scratched his hair: "I mean, they said I've definitely got the Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Trophy, and my Ballon d'Or ranking will be a little high, so… they suggested I go over."

Mm!

Ashley Yang took a deep breath.

"It has to be ggbond."

……

Mancheng club reporter: De Bruyne, Aguero, and Tang Ye will board the same flight to Paris to attend the Ballon d'Or award ceremony.

French reporter: All current evidence points to Tom having already won the inaugural Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa Award.

Premier League official: The Premier League Player of the Month for November is Liwupu forward Salah.

"Tom, did you buy a motorcycle?"

On the plane, De Bruyne sat directly opposite Tang Ye, with Aguero seated beside De Bruyne.

"Damn, how did you know?"

Tang Ye was startled.

"I saw the news about you being caught by the police."

As he spoke, Aguero reached to pull out his phone to show Tang Ye the photo, but the latter stopped him.

"Alright, alright, I feel like it wasn't really my fault; the phone suddenly rang, so I couldn't exactly not reply to the message, could I?"

Tang Ye actually felt somewhat innocent in the matter.

"But,"

De Bruyne made a motion of putting on a hat: "You don't seem to have worn a helmet. Isn't that bike of yours capable of over 180 miles per hour (300 km)? At least, that's what the reporters are saying."

The reporter De Bruyne referred to was, of course, from The Sun.

This newspaper enjoys immense popularity among fans, and players like to read it too.

Hiss—

Tang Ye rubbed his hand, looking just like a student caught making a mistake by a teacher: "Mainly, mainly, if I wear a helmet, it blocks my vision; I can't see above or below."

Shaking his head, Tang Ye indicated that he disliked the feeling of his vision being obstructed.

So this matter truly couldn't be blamed on ggbond.

If anyone was to blame, it was ggbond's eyes; those eye-brothers were just too delicate!

China Football News: The 2018 Ballon d'Or award ceremony will be held at 23:00 Beijing Time on December 3rd, at which time the Ballon d'Or rankings will be announced sequentially.

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Real-time record of the 2018 Ballon d'Or award ceremony.

【30th Place:】

……

Paris, France!

"Junior!"

Immediately after getting out of the car, he greeted Neymar.

Although Neymar led the Brazilian team to defeat China during the World Cup, this did not affect the camaraderie between Tang Ye and Neymar.

Standing next to Neymar was Mbappe, who was also one of Tang Ye's good friends.

"Tom."

Mbappe gave Tang Ye a hug, and the two walked onto the red carpet smiling.

Click click!

Click click!

"Kylian, look here, Kylian!"

"Tang Ye!"

Tang Ye handed out his autographs to the surrounding reporters and fans.

Today he was wearing a deep black suit, provided by Heilan Home for the Chinese national team players during the World Cup.

It fit very well and was comfortable to wear.

There was just one downside.

Tang Ye touched his slightly prickly yellow hair.

The black suit and Tom's yellow hair didn't seem to match very well!

"Come on, bro, lend me the lens."

Gesturing for the reporter to bring the camera closer, Tang Ye took a look.

Hmm...

Although the colors didn't match, the aura was still there.

To be honest, the overall impression was still quite good.

"What are you doing, Tom?"

Mbappe's eyes widened, curious about Tang Ye's behavior.

"Oh, his lens is a bit dirty; I'm helping him wipe it."

Tang Ye rolled up his cuff and very considerately wiped the lens for the reporter.

Walking into the award ceremony venue, Tang Ye went to his seat and sat down.

【Tang Ye】

That was what was written on the nameplate.

Tang Ye gave it a try, using his hand to simply snap the nameplate off, leaving Ramos, who was sitting nearby, completely bewildered.

Happily approaching Hazard, he said: "Eden, can I switch seats with you? I want to sit next to him."

Tang Ye pointed to Neymar and Mbappe sitting beside Hazard.

The organizers had arranged an excellent seat for the Belgian; everyone sitting next to him was one of Tom's friends.

"Oh, of course you can, but..."

Hazard pointed to the nameplate stuck on his own chair.

【edenharzard】

"That's a small problem."

Tang Ye reached out and pried the nameplate off.

Hazard: 6

Tang Ye loved his new seat very much and happily exchanged stories of the past with Mbappé and Neymar.

Then he suddenly remembered the dreams he'd had that night, and Tang Ye began searching for Cristiano Ronaldo's figure.

Ever since being scolded in that dream, Tang Ye hadn't dreamed of Cristiano Ronaldo again, a matter he still found hard to let go of.

Looking left and right, his bright eyes darted around the venue.

Yet Tang Ye did not spot Cristiano Ronaldo anywhere.

"..."

The sharp-eyed Tang Ye noticed something slightly off, so he opened Twitter and typed in the keyword #cris...

cris d...

cristia?

Realizing he didn't know how to spell Cristiano Ronaldo's name, Tang Ye felt a bit awkward, but he quickly found a solution.

Keyword: Ballon d'Or Award Ceremony.

News about Cristiano Ronaldo would surely be near the top; Tang Ye simply scrolled a few times and, unsurprisingly, found it immediately.

【According to insiders, Cristiano Ronaldo will not attend this year's Ballon d'Or Award Ceremony, and Lionel Messi is also highly unlikely to attend. However, the veracity of these two reports cannot currently be confirmed.】

Well, there was no need to confirm their veracity anymore.

Tom himself was right here on site, and his bright eyes had not spotted either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

What a pity!

Tang Ye hung his head.

It seemed the grievances from the dream would have to be settled within the dream itself.

All he needed to do was sleep a few more times.

He would definitely dream of Cristiano Ronaldo again!

After waiting for about twenty minutes, guests filed into the venue one after another; during this time, Tang Ye added contact information for more than twenty people.

The award ceremony would begin very soon!

【France Football】

【FIFA】

【2018】

The video on the large screen quickly captured the attention of the guests present.

The video was a bit long; Tang Ye watched for half a minute before stopping.

"Ah!!"

He let out a yawn, whereupon Mbappé suddenly slapped his thigh.

"What are you doing, Kylian? Don't hit me, okay?"

Mbappé gestured for Tang Ye to look at the large screen.

【2018 Kopa Trophy Winner】

France Football — The winner of the inaugural 2018 Kopa Trophy is Manchester United midfielder Tang Ye.

(End of Chapter)