Chapter 763: A New Era of Football Beginning with Three Ballon d'Or Awards

The front-page headline of "China Football News," in bold font: Tang Ye wins the 2020 and 2021 Ballon d'Or, totaling three Ballon d'Or awards in a six-year professional career.

"France Football": The winners of the 2020 and 2021 FIFA Ballon d'Or are Manchester United midfielder Tang Ye.

This special Ballon d'Or ceremony indeed attracted significant attention from fans and journalists, as evidenced by the timing of the news releases.

After Tang Ye received the 2021 Ballon d'Or, he gave a clear hint on stage; from that moment onward, newspapers began relentlessly promoting the story of Tang Ye's double Ballon d'Or.

Ultimately, "The Sun," "Mundo Deportivo," "Daily Mail," and "China Football News," among others, released news of the Ballon d'Or even faster than the official "France Football" magazine!

Seeing this release timing, one can imagine the scene of reporters from various newspapers squatting in front of their televisions watching the live broadcast.

After the Ballon d'Or award ceremony concluded, CCTV-5 had no other programs scheduled; let's look at the subsequent arrangement.

Good heavens, CCTV-5 prepared to replay the recording of the Ballon d'Or ceremony three times straight, intending to make fans watch repeatedly and firmly imprint the image of Tang Ye winning the Ballon d'Or in their minds.

Holding two Ballon d'Or trophies, Tang Ye delivered his acceptance speech.

Notably, a significant portion of Tang Ye's acceptance speech was dedicated to Utrecht and Ten Hag.

Clearly, in Tang Ye's heart, the first year of his career was the most important.

Fans familiar with Tang Ye all know that the year at Utrecht can be said to be the starting point where all changes occurred.

Without that year at Utrecht, there would be no Tang Ye of today.

Then there is Ten Hag...

Hiss... Objectively speaking, Ten Hag still played a relatively significant role in Tang Ye's career.

As for your question of whether Tang Ye could not have grown without Ten Hag... this issue is indeed worth careful discussion.

After the award ceremony completely concluded, Tang Ye accepted an interview with a female reporter backstage, answering some questions frequently asked by fans; fans on Dongqiu Di and Tieba compiled a summary.

1. Question: Favorite team, choose only one.

【Answer: Manchester United】

2. Comment on this year's Goalkeeper Goalkeeper Kepa award winner, Bellingham.

【Answer: A genius; Bellingham will become a strong contender for the Ballon d'Or in the future; I can feel the pressure he exerts on me.】

3. Attitude toward Cristiano Ronaldo.

【Answer: In my view, rather than saying Cristiano Ronaldo is a teammate, it is more accurate to say he is a senior. His experience has brought great help to Manchester United and has influenced me greatly; I am unwilling to interfere in the conflict between Cristiano Ronaldo and Ten Hag, because their conflict will end shortly, requiring only concessions from both sides.】

4. How many Ballon d'Or awards do you plan to win in your career? Currently, it seems highly probable your total will surpass those of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

【Answer: Naturally, the more the better. For the me who previously had only one Ballon d'Or, five would have been quite difficult, but now that I already have three, it feels manageable. Of course, I remain convinced that five Ballon d'Or awards is still an extremely difficult feat, because as I just mentioned, players like Bellingham, Dembélé, and Mbappé will become increasingly numerous; they are my competitors.】

5. I still want to repeat the question asked by Pader (the host): Does your experience prove that effort is useless in the sport of football, or rather, that talent determines over 90%?

【Answer: If one looks at the top five leagues, there are indeed many geniuses, so I feel that being a genius is not a very high threshold; most people should be able to reach it very easily, at least that is how it seems to me.】

6. Plans for the World Cup.

【Answer:...】

This was the final question asked of Tang Ye by the female reporter from "France Football."

But right at this last question, Tang Ye froze directly, unsure of what to say.

【Answer: The World Cup is the most important football competition; we must go all out. I have never believed that the Round of 16 is the endpoint for the Chinese national team.】

3:00 AM.

Wuhan.

Jianghan Road Pedestrian Street.

"Roar! Roar!"

"ROAR!!!!"

Several motorcycles sped out at full throttle; each motorcycle carried two people, with the person in front responsible for driving and the person in back holding a Chinese national flag.

"Wow!!"

People nearby were heckling.

The person sitting in the back stood directly on the motorcycle, allowing them to hold the flag even higher.

"Wow!!!"

"Awesome!!"

The road was packed tight, yet the fans showed remarkable tacit understanding, specifically clearing a path for these dozen or so motorcycles and rushing out alongside them.

"You damn zebra (insult), aren't you going to sleep?!"

They disturbed residents in the distance.

Disturbing the peace at dawn was clearly inappropriate, but by this time the fans were too hyped up to be polite to the people in the houses, cursing right back.

"Hey, hey, forget it, forget it! (Let it go, let it go!)"

The cursing fan was grabbed by someone unfamiliar from behind.

Celebrating is one thing.

But it's better not to draw hate onto our Tang Tang Qiuwang.

"Damn zebra!"

"Forget it, forget it, none of us have it easy! (Let it go, let it go, none of us have it easy!)"

"..."

"Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye!!!"

It wasn't just Wuhan; fans in other cities were also somewhat delirious.

Fortunately, the current Tang Ye can be said to be a household name in China; otherwise, these celebrating fans would probably be mistaken for a cult.

The Ggbond cult!

They are chanting Pope Ggbond's true name!

……

"Munich Evening Post"—TY highly praises Bellingham: A strong contender for the future Ballon d'Or?

Manchester United legend Ferdinand: Barcelona should hurry up and fight to sign Bellingham.

During an interview with reporters, Tang Ye lavishly praised Bellingham.

The words of a three-time Ballon d'Or winner clearly carry more weight than those of some senior scouts, so Tang Ye's remarks drew the attention of many coaches from clubs interested in Bellingham.

However, some journalists pointed out that Tang Ye likes to view events and people through colored glasses.

"The opinion of a three-time Ballon d'Or winner is certainly important, but if the player TY is evaluating is a former club teammate or national team teammate of his, then I do not believe his words hold any significance. We should instead look at his evaluations of other players—those who have never been teammates with TY."

If one wants to see Tang Ye's true evaluation, one must definitely not look at club teammates or national team teammates; what this journalist said online makes perfect sense.

Thus, very quickly, fans brought up an example.

Not a club teammate, not a national team teammate, yet still bearing Tang Ye's evaluation!

That person is...

LeBron James!

Original interview quote: "I think LeBron is indeed the GOAT; at least in my view, there should be no controversy about that, haha. I started watching LeBron's games when I was young, and my father is also his fan. James is simply the greatest of all time."

【66666】

【You guys are truly talented, looking for loopholes, aren't you?】

【How dare you! When has my old man Zhan ever not counted as the GOAT?】

【Believe it or not, James will soon be giving an interview too; he won't miss this opportunity. Old Zhan and Tang Tang Qiuwang are bound to have a round of mutual commercial praise. If they don't blow trumpets for each other, I'll blow them for them!】

【I feel Manchester United could make a move for Bellingham, Barcelona could too, it's just that the price is a bit high.】

【Three Ballons d'Or at 22 years old, damn it! Who was that idiot earlier saying Tang Ye isn't worth 300 million euros? One Ballon d'Or equals 100 million; that makes perfect sense, doesn't it?】

……

Chinese Football Association: Congratulations to men's national team player and captain Tang Ye for winning the 2020 and 2021 FIFA Ballon d'Or.

Sohu. com: A dying flare? After Tang Ye won the double Ballon d'Or, Evergrande's Hong Kong shares jumped 7.4%, sustained the high for 15 minutes, then plummeted.

Bang!

Manchester Airport.

It was a rainy day; quite a few fans had gathered at the airport, including some delayed passengers, making the place seem slightly crowded.

Soon, the Manchester United players walked out under the flashbulbs.

Tang Ye held two Ballon d'Or trophies, one in each hand, while Rodri cradled the 2020 Best Club trophy.

Click-click!

Click-click-click!

"Tom! You are the fucking King of United! (You are the damn King of Manchester United!)"

"What the fuck! Tom!!!"

Click-click!