Capítulo 653: Postponing Doubts
Entering December, FIFA announced the five candidates for the annual best goalkeeper award, including Real Madrid's Casillas, Monaco/Barcelona's Valdés, Juventus' Buffon, Chelsea's Cech, and Bayern Munich's Neuer.
Due to some crucial mistakes by Casillas, it was highly likely that Bayern Munich's Neuer would win the best goalkeeper award.
There was important evidence to support this prediction because later on, FIFA announced the final three candidates for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award: Wang Feng, Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Dong Fangzhuo was surprisingly absent from the list! If Bayern didn't even get the best goalkeeper, then what did their achievements in the past year count for?
This list also sparked great controversy and discussion. Wang Feng was undoubtedly the hottest favorite. With seven consecutive La Liga and Champions League titles, 30 league goals and 39 assists, and 13 goals and 13 assists in the Champions League, how could anyone compete without a major international tournament?
Messi's performance was still decent, even though his form had declined in the first half of the new season, but he still had the European Golden Boot from the 2012-2013 season.
Cristiano Ronaldo's inclusion in place of Dong Fangzhuo surprised many. Despite winning the Premier League title and performing well after transferring to Manchester City in the new season, he was knocked out of the Champions League early last season and couldn't be compared to Bayern, who reached the final.
There was no doubt that the 2012-2013 season was the peak year for Dong Fangzhuo. He made 27 league appearances, scoring 10 goals and providing 14 assists, becoming the Bundesliga's assist king. He also scored 1 goal and provided 5 assists in 12 Champions League matches.
With Bayern Munich winning the Bundesliga, the German Cup, and finishing as runners-up in the Champions League that season, Dong Fangzhuo, as the absolute core, was named the Bundesliga Player of the Season.
So when UEFA nominated the best player in Europe, his inclusion alongside Wang Feng in the top three was well-deserved, causing jubilation not only in China but throughout Asia. This was their peak era!
However, despite being such an outstanding player, Dong Fangzhuo failed to make it into the top three of the Ballon d'Or, leaving the media sensing something unusual and continuously digging for more information.
Some reports suggested that while Dong Fangzhuo was outstanding, Bayern's achievements were not solely reliant on him. Players like Robben, Neuer, and Müller also made significant contributions.
Others argued that the overall atmosphere in the Bundesliga was exceptionally low-key, and they didn't know how to package and promote themselves, putting them at a disadvantage in award selections.
Of course, this was just a minority opinion. Most people tended to believe in conspiracy theories because the Ballon d'Or voting date was unexpectedly postponed from mid-November to the end of the month.
Such a situation had never occurred before in history!
Furthermore, insiders revealed that the reason for the delay was because, based on preliminary statistics, the original three candidates were Wang Feng, Messi, and Dong Fangzhuo. However, Blatter believed it was too much to have two Chinese players in the top three.
There were two reasons for this. Firstly, Wang Feng's long-standing dominance of the Ballon d'Or had caused dissatisfaction among many European supremacists. Now, having another Chinese player was like adding insult to injury.
Secondly, as the reigning champions of the World Cup for the past ten years, the fact that the Chinese team failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup was absurd and left a bad impression.
By choosing to postpone and giving "guidance" to some judges, it would be easy to change the result of the third place.
Moreover, during the extended period, Cristiano Ronaldo also performed exceptionally well, single-handedly leading Portugal to victory in the World Cup playoffs and securing a spot in the finals, earning him many points.
This news ignited public opinion nationwide, with countless fans spreading the word in support of Dong Fangzhuo, even prompting high-level interventions and protests. If European football wanted to taste the vast Chinese market, it would also have to endure the united power of China!
Wang Feng also spoke up for his compatriot: "The development of the Ballon d'Or to this day has not been easy. After several reforms, it has become more inclusive and global. So I don't understand why this regression is happening."
"If the selection criteria are not based on player performance but on nationality and region, I believe it will quickly lose its authority!"
The public outcry intensified, even rising to the level of discrimination. FIFA President Blatter had to hold a special press conference to explain the situation.
He stated that postponing the deadline for voting was by no means for the widely circulated reason but rather because it was nearing the final World Cup qualifiers, and many player and coach judges were busy and couldn't submit their results on time, hence the delay.
At the same time, Blatter admitted that this approach indirectly disadvantaged Dong Fangzhuo, expressing his sincere apologies to the Chinese player.
Dong Fangzhuo actually felt quite guilty about being left out, as he was indirectly responsible for it. If possible, he would rather give up his spot to the other.
"I don't really mind," Dong Fangzhuo said to Wang Feng during their conversation, "Being among the top three nominees for the Ballon d'Or is already a great honor."
"Compared to making it into the top three of the Ballon d'Or, winning it is the big deal, the tenth Ballon d'Or, wow, it's so shocking, absolutely perfect."
"And Blatter is giving face as well. He personally called me to apologize, according to Beckham, the usually strong-willed Swiss rarely backs down."
"This also shows the power of unity when we have so many people."
As for the other controversial figure, Cristiano Ronaldo was also in a bad mood. He had been striving for the highest honor, not just to be inexplicably included in the top three candidates.
Now that the Ballon d'Or was postponed and had caused so much controversy, it was all because of that damn Blatter wanting to balance things out? It was simply ridiculous!
So the Portuguese star didn't give FIFA President Blatter any face during interviews. "Personally, I find the postponement of the voting unacceptable, and I'm not even one of the so-called beneficiaries. From the beginning of my career until now, all I've pursued is to be the best."
At one point, Blatter became the subject of criticism from all sides. And the behind-the-scenes details of the postponement of the vote, it might take many years to be fully interpreted.
On December 7th, the Spanish King's Cup ignited the flames of war. In the fourth round, Real Madrid faced Hércules CF from the Segunda División B.
Hércules was located in the Valencian Community, and with a fully rotated lineup playing away, Zidane was able to take the forefront in directing the match.
With goals from Jesé and Nacho, they ultimately defeated their opponents 2-0.
Three days later, in the final round of the Champions League group stage, Real Madrid faced Copenhagen away. With the team already securing passage to the next round, the match ended in a 1-1 draw after a calm 90 minutes.
In another important clash, Galatasaray defeated Juventus, securing qualification for the Champions League round of 16 with a second-place finish.
As the Serie A champions, the Bianconeri could only settle for a place in the Europa League, a result that sparked criticism from the Italian media. La Gazzetta dello Sport regarded it as the darkest moment for Serie A.
Serie A had been surpassed by the Bundesliga since the previous season and officially became Europe's fourth-ranked league, with the number of Champions League spots reduced from four to three.
Now, both Juventus and Napoli were eliminated, leaving AC Milan to struggle alone. It could be imagined how difficult it would be for them to reclaim their former glory as the top league in the next season.
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