Chapter 826: A Rat Lay on a Cat's Back, So He Could

France Football announcement: The performance reference period for the 2022 Ballon d'Or selection is August 2021 to July 2022. The Qatar World Cup (November 21 to December 18, 2022) will be included in the selection scope for the 2023 Ballon d'Or. Additionally, the expected release time for the 30-man shortlist for the 2022 Ballon d'Or is August of this year.

Match report: In the semi-final of the European Qualifiers play-offs, Ukraine defeated Scotland 3-1 to advance to the final, where they will compete against Wales for the last World Cup finals spot in Group C.

One of these two teams, Ukraine or Wales, will become China's opponent at this year's World Cup.

With only half a year remaining until the World Cup kicks off, logically speaking, these two teams should be receiving attention from Chinese fans.

But perhaps because the fans have been completely disappointed by the draw results, surprisingly few people are watching the match between Ukraine and Scotland. Many fans merely glanced at the match report, learned the result, and then turned it off.

Actually, it makes sense; whether it is Ukraine, Scotland, or Wales, as long as the Chinese team cannot deal with the two opponents Argentina and Germany, wanting to advance to the knockout stage is nothing but a pipe dream.

London time, June 6th, marks the start of this season's UEFA Nations League A matches, and many Manchester United players have returned to their respective countries.

Because Tang Ye is an Asian player, he is relatively free at this time; he also received the award for the Premier League Player of the Season in London.

"Starting from the 2015-16 season in the Eredivisie, you have won the Best Player award in your league every single season—not almost every season, but every season. Tom, this fully proves your consistency on the pitch. Do you have any secrets you can teach the younger generation of players regarding this?"

Click-click!

Tang Ye is only 23 years old, so educating the "younger generation" of players should not really be his responsibility.

But you can look at it from another angle: the "younger generation" mentioned by the reporter likely refers to all players who have not yet made a name for themselves; within that scope, there are quite a few people he could talk about.

"Stay focused; that is very important."

"Mm..."

He stopped just after speaking because, while answering this question, Tang Ye thought of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese man is about to make some remarks unfavorable to Ten Hag or the team, so should he speak well of Cristiano Ronaldo at this moment...

After thinking it over, Tang Ye felt these two matters were unrelated.

"I think Ronaldo is a relatively suitable idol, for any young player; hard work and diligence are always important in the sport of football."

"So what you mean is... Ronaldo is more suitable to be an idol than you?"

"Haha!"

Tang Ye leaned his upper body back: "From the perspective of being a role model, yes, that is the case; Ronaldo does very well in certain aspects."

"For example?"

As soon as the reporter finished speaking, Tang Ye picked up a bottle of Pepsi Cola from the table: "I cannot control myself from drinking cola, but he can, so I think he is amazing."

"Oh, that reason is very straightforward."

"Currently, Ronaldo has not officially announced a contract renewal with the team; do you have any insider information? Will he activate the +1 year clause in his contract?"

"Well... I am not clear on that. His performance last season was good; I think it was good enough, but whether he continues to stay with the team involves many factors, so I cannot give an absolute answer here."

Next came some matters regarding the national team.

Next month, which is July, the Chinese team will begin their East Asian Cup schedule for this season.

Under normal circumstances, Tang Ye would not participate in the East Asian Cup, but due to the World Cup, the schedule and significance of this edition of the East Asian Cup have changed.

National team matches during the off-season can completely serve as warm-up games before the World Cup, so most reporters are certain that Tang Ye will return to the squad to compete.

The reporter also asked Tang Ye which Pot 4 team he would prefer to face: "Do you prefer facing Ukraine or Wales?"

"This... actually, I absolutely feel there is no need to discuss this question for now. Our (referring to the Chinese team) grouping is too awkward; all we can do now is find ways to improve the team's strength. Studying opponents is actually... uh, at least for now, useless, because there is still quite a bit of time."

The reporter nodded, then glanced at the memo on his iPhone.

"Al-Nassr has offered you a top-salary contract; if you are willing to go to the Saudi League, you can obtain a job with an annual salary exceeding 300 million US dollars, plus you can receive a signing fee of 500 million US dollars."

Click-click!

"Are you interested in this new job?"

"Wow, an annual salary of 300 million US dollars is indeed a lot; anyone would be interested."

Tang Ye shook his head and swayed: "But... I can only say that my contract with Manchester United has not ended yet, and just now I also answered the question that I will contend for this year's Ballon d'Or. Since I want to contend for the Ballon d'Or, I definitely cannot go to Saudi Arabia."

Check Dongqiu Di match report: UEFA Nations League A group stage, Portugal defeated Switzerland 4-0; Dalot scored twice, while Felix and Cristiano Ronaldo also found the net.

Reposted from an ESPN interview: Although he has not yet played in the East Asian Cup, he used to watch it on TV as a child, and if he could participate, it would be a nice thing.

Tang Ye responds directly to the 300 million US dollar annual salary offer: Anyone would be interested in this, but his contract with Manchester United has not yet ended.

The Sun: Cristiano Ronaldo has recently maintained close contact with Morgan; the Portuguese man seems to hope to actively participate in radio programs.

The news reported by The Sun initially received some attention from fans, but was quickly overshadowed by transfer window news.

What Cristiano Ronaldo and Morgan are up to is not important; what matters is that when Ten Hag gave his end-of-season summary as head coach to ESPN, he specifically mentioned both Escrivá and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ten Hag is very smart; he did not point out the reasons for Cristiano Ronaldo coming to Manchester United, thereby avoiding the possibility of offending the management. When commenting on Cristiano Ronaldo, he seized upon the two elements of match attitude and discipline to severely criticize the player.

"Cristiano is a good player, a legend; he has a legendary era of his own. But you know, everyone knows, times are always changing; if you cannot keep up with the times, you will be eliminated. That is the logic, and this logic will not change, never."

Besides Cristiano Ronaldo, Ten Hag, who has won his second treble, also turned his spearhead toward Escrivá.

The Manchester United manager emphasized in the interview the gap between himself and Escrivá: Ten Hag's number of trebles is two, while Escrivá has only one.

Although not much space was devoted to Escrivá, this interview video immediately caught the attention of the Chinese national team's head coach.

This fellow Escrivá is also a talented character; he directly posted a "clown" avatar in the comments section of this news, and the next day he directly sought an interview with Titan Sports.

"Previously I said I wanted to invite Erik to dinner, and that I would beat him up during dinner, but at that time Manchester United was still in the Champions League schedule, so I did not do so."

The Spanish manager stated that now the Champions League schedule has ended and Ten Hag's time is free, so the dinner should also be put on the agenda.

The off-season has just begun, and Ten Hag and Escrivá are clashing again.

However, their way of fighting is very special; they are not calling each other to trade insults, but rather using football reporters to relay their statements to each other. This not only satisfies the reporters' desire for performance metrics but also allows many idle fans to eat melon (gossip).

Transfer window press conference.

The first two questions Ten Hag was asked were about Cristiano Ronaldo and Kane.

The third was about Escrivá.

"Ferran has expressed a desire to invite you to dinner; will you accept?"

"Of course, there are some misunderstandings between us; if we could sit together for a dinner, I believe those misunderstandings could be resolved."

"But he stated he would make a move against you during that dinner; under such circumstances, would you still accept the invitation?"

"..."

Click-click!

Ten Hag's arm twitched slightly.

Clearly frightened, but Erik was not the type to show weakness in front of the cameras.

"Fine, it's nothing; as I said before, if it truly comes to a fight, he may not be my match."

"No, not 'may not'—it is highly probable; I believe he is the one who will lose."

Click-click!

The flashbulbs and the reporters' admiring gazes made Ten Hag somewhat proud.

The next second, a reporter from China representing "Sports Weekly" stepped forward and handed an envelope to Ten Hag.

"What is this?"

"This is an invitation from Ferran, inviting you to share a dinner together."

"..."

Ten Hag's pupils instantly dilated; he crouched on the chair, motionless.

So...

Ferran wasn't just talking big.

He intends to make it real?

"This..."

Click-click!

Click!