I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 680: Chapter 92: Already a Legend (Part 2)

...

After the award ceremony ended, journalists began interviewing different people about their views on Chen Zhong winning the award.

Having won the ”FIFA Coach of the Year” honor, Real Madrid’s head coach Mourinho, when speaking about the ”FIFA Golden Ball Award,” laughed and said, ”Chen is just like a player from another world, giving the Golden Ball to him is always a good choice.”

”Of course, I also feel sorry for Sneijder, Casillas, Iniesta, Messi, especially Xavi.”

”I have known Xavi since he was very young, and he would have been a worthy winner.”

”But now that the Golden Ball is in Chen Zhong’s hands, we should say that the award has found a good home.”

Mourinho defeated Spain National Team’s coach Bosque, winning the Coach of the Year selection.

When talking about him winning this award, Mourinho said, ”For both of us, this has been a perfect year.”

”As the club’s coach, I won three championship trophies; as the head coach of the Spain National Team, Bosque won the World Cup championship.”

This selection really reflects some issues.

In a World Cup year, the World Cup-winning coach did not get the Best Coach award, and the World Cup-winning player did not win the Golden Ball.

Some people even describe Chen Zhong as the Mourinho among players.

This is not to say that Chen Zhong and Mourinho are similar in personality; it merely expresses the circumstances of their winning.

Mourinho answered the last question from the reporters, laughing as he spoke, ”When winning the award, I thought of my wife, my children, all those I love and all who have helped me.”

”Of course, the most important are my players.”

”I love the players of Inter, and certainly, I also love the players of Real Madrid.”

...

Guardiola was also interviewed, asked about his thoughts on Chen Zhong winning the Golden Ball.

Facing the camera, Guardiola said earnestly, ”This is a result of Chen’s own hard work, it is his efforts and skills on the field that ultimately led him to win this award.”

”I know there are many voices from outside, but Chen is a remarkable midfielder, his vision is very broad, his passing skills are excellent, he is very calm in handling the ball, and has a very good long shot; in my mind, he is the perfect midfield template.”

”Last season, his performance was noticeable. Although in a World Cup year, him winning this award surprised me, I think he deserves it.”

Then, he was asked to compare Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, and Chen Zhong.

Without hesitation, Guardiola stated, ”They are all at the same level; they are the best players in the world.”

...

Here, both Mourinho and Guardiola gave fair evaluations of Chen Zhong’s win.

However, outside, there were still some dissenting voices.

Chen Zhong becoming the first winner of the FIFA Golden Ball Award was something unexpected yet reasonable.

Although Chen Zhong did not participate in the World Cup and did not help Real Madrid reach the Champions League finals or win the Champions League, no one can deny this Chinese genius’s superb and comprehensive capabilities.

Moreover, compared to other competitors, Chen Zhong’s performance has always been stable.

Nevertheless, his winning the Golden Ball still caused quite a controversy, as according to previous customs, the Golden Ball winner would surely come from the World Cup champion team.

Yet Chen Zhong’s existence has unreasonably broken this iron rule.

Barcelona’s mentor Cruyff, before this Golden Ball award, published a column, but did not discuss Iniesta or Xavi, instead spoke about Messi: ”Even if Messi doesn’t win the Golden Ball this year, everyone knows he has the full ability to win three or four Golden Balls.”

”Considering his age, resume, and ability, he can surpass previous three-time winners Platini, Van Basten, and myself.”

”Given the level Messi is showcasing now, no one can surpass him in a non-World Cup year.”

In some people’s eyes, whether Cristiano Ronaldo, or Kaka, or Chen Zhong, none of them are more captivating than Messi; the qualities Messi exhibits make them see him as the genius among geniuses.

Not only does Cruyff worship Messi’s extraordinary prowess, Arsenal’s star player Fabregas also tweeted that even though Messi missed the Golden Ball this time, ”the next eight Golden Balls might all belong to Messi.”

If Fabregas had spoken these words before the season started, it would have seemed exaggerated, but if said at this season, halfway through, it actually makes sense.

In light of Messi’s dazzling form this season, no one seems likely to shake the little flea’s position in the next selection.

In Argentina, Messi might occasionally feel frustrated, but in Barcelona, Messi is a god-like presence.

Apart from Barcelona supporters, Messi’s admirers elsewhere, voices from Italy also appeared differently.

Condor, a reporter for the authoritative Italian sports newspaper ”Milan Sports Newspaper,” was one of the jury members participating in voting for the Golden Ball, but was incredibly disappointed by the final outcome.

”When I heard Sneijder ultimately didn’t make the top three, I felt really, really bad because I voted for him. Sneijder, along with Inter, won it all, and yet he’s out of the Golden Ball; this makes me very angry!”

To Condor, perhaps the more anger-inducing fact is that he voted for Sneijder who plays for Inter, while the winner was Chen Zhong who used to play for Milan!

Condor revealed that the anger over Sneijder’s exclusion from the Golden Ball top three was far from his alone.

”Our entire ’Milan Sports Newspaper’ staff were furious.”

From Condor’s perspective, Sneijder had almost perfect performances at both the club and World Cup level. If his accomplishments at the World Cup far surpassed Chen Zhong’s, considering Chen Zhong didn’t even participate in the World Cup, and his club’s Triple Crown and World Cup runner-up achievements were superior to Chen Zhong’s, this is the reason for Condor’s anger over Sneijder missing out on the Golden Ball.

With honors completely eclipsing Chen Zhong’s, why was the Golden Ball awarded to Chen Zhong after all?

In Condor’s view, in this edition of the Golden Ball, only Sneijder is truly deserving, although this season’s performance due to Inter Milan’s slump was not good; Condor still maintains this opinion.

Moreover, Condor feels he was slapped in the face, as he affirmed Sneijder for one main reason: because he knew the jury from ”French Football” would also participate in this selection.

When ”French Football” selects the Golden Ball, journalists from major media outlets are the voting jury, and this year these juries were included in the new Golden Ball jury.

Before this election, Condor stated, ”In fact, from the moment the Golden Ball merged with the World Footballer of the Year award, we all understand that FIFA will dominate the selection. As the organizer of the World Cup, of course, they greatly value World Cup achievements.”

Condor made this evaluation before the final award ceremony, at that time he did not know Chen Zhong eventually successfully defended the title, given Chen Zhong didn’t participate in the World Cup, faced with mainstream voices recognizing Chen Zhong’s victory, Condor went against the stream.

Thinking everyone was drunk, only he was awake.

Eventually, he alone became the biggest ”fool.”

...

However, amidst all the external disturbances, Chen Zhong did not pay too much attention; after winning the Golden Ball, he had many things to handle, one aspect is the new contract offered by the club, the other aspect is his system has been updated.

A brand new system...