Chapter 196
At the end of December, rumors began to circulate about who would win the FIFA Ballon d'Or, with the most likely candidates being Cristiano and Leo Messi.
The former defended the Champions League title, won the Champions League Golden Boot, created an unprecedented quadruple at Manchester United, won three consecutive Premier League titles, and came to Real Madrid with a glorious title;
The latter, although he did not achieve good results in the Champions League, won two La Liga titles, with the same number of goals as Van Nistelrooy, sharing the title of top scorer that season.
"Cristiano and Messi, this year's Ballon d'Or may still come down to a choice between the two!" The media excitedly broadcasted the news that night, "Who will it be?"
"You have to ask Ferguson, will he bet his career as a manager on Ronaldo winning the Ballon d'Or again this year?" another person joked.
At the same time, there were indeed bold reporters who pointed the microphone at Ferguson: "Sir Ferguson, Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi, which one would you choose?"
The Scotsman, wearing a well-dressed and expensive suit, glanced at the camera, then at the reporter who was asking him the question, and took the microphone: "My answer is the same as last year."
"Although Cristiano has left Manchester United, the achievements he left for us will not be erased. Even when he was in the team, we won the four championships together, which created Manchester United's historical record. I can't think of any reason not to choose Cristiano."
"As for Leo Messi? Well, I'm not familiar with him. We didn't have many opportunities to play against him. Of course, his performance is pretty good." Ferguson smiled and handed the microphone back with a fake smile.
This time the media's reaction was even more enthusiastic -
Even though Cristiano has left Manchester United, it is obvious that the king of Old Trafford is still extremely partial to Cristiano.
Just as Ferguson said, Cristiano's performance was brilliant, and the most prestigious Champions League was defended by the same team for the first time after the reform, and Cristiano was also the first player to score as the winner in the championship final for two consecutive years.
This Golden Ball, organized by France Football magazine and voted for by journalists, ultimately fell into Cristiano's hands again without any objection.
"Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo! Winning the Ballon d'Or for two consecutive years!!"
The host's voice echoed in the tall auditorium. Cristiano stood up with his fists clenched tightly. He excitedly kissed Kaka's face subconsciously, and then reacted immediately.
He blinked and met Kaka's smiling eyes, he smiled, then quickly turned to the other side - Kaka was sitting on his left and Pepe was sitting on his right - he kissed Pepe hard again, making his good friend laugh.
Pepe happily patted Cristiano's waist and urged him, "Come on, Cristiano! Your saliva is all over my face!"
Cristiano laughed, he jumped onto the award stage in two steps at a time, then took the trophy from the host's hand and held it high above his head.
"I want to say, I thank everyone, everyone who helped me improve, my coach, my teammates, my team... everyone, I'm very happy that I can get this award again, thank you to the media." Cristiano stood in the center of the stage, he kissed the trophy, smiled brightly and raised it high again.
"Of course, I also have to thank myself, my persistence and my hard work." He added mischievously, "Thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo, without hard work, talent will be worthless."
///
Real Madrid advanced all the way, defeating Inter Milan in the quarter-finals and advancing to the semi-finals.
The results in the league are a little disappointing.
Although Real Madrid has scored a considerable number of goals over the past half of the season, in addition to the duo of Cristiano and Raul who have scored a lot of goals, even their defenders can score goals.
But at the same time, their defenders have missed many balls that have been scored into their own goals, and the club is currently ranked second in the league standings.
Florentino is not satisfied with the current results, but everything is not finalized yet. At least this season has made great progress compared to last season and the previous few seasons.
——So far, they are still competitive in various competitions and have not been kicked out of the competition.
Although the season is not over yet, FIFA's annual selection has just been released. The players are all dressed up in suits to attend. FIFA's best selection and FIFA's Golden Ball are always held together. This may be the time when players make the most use of their suits.
Mendes deliberately selected two beautiful and eye-catching Ferraris to pick up Cristiano and Kaka - as their agent, he had to strike a balance, which was enough to give him a headache, he couldn't let anyone feel ignored or underestimated - however, when he notified the two of the transportation to the award ceremony, Cristiano and Kaka told him tacitly that they didn't need to go separately, one Ferrari would be enough.
“Well, but it’s a coupe, I mean, it only has two seats,” Mendes reminded.
Lu Rong
"Isn't that perfect?" Cristiano replied, "Me, Kaka."
Mendes: “…” Can I just walk over there?
"You can trust Kaka as your driver," Cristiano added immediately, "He has never even received a ticket."
Mendes smirked: "You let Kaka be the driver? Did you ask him for permission?"
"I'd love to, Jorge." Cristiano immediately heard the Brazilian's gentle laughter on the other end of the phone. "In fact, this is what I suggested. It's very convenient and there's no need to borrow an extra car."
"Yes, I have a lot of cars in my garage, Ferrari, Lamborghini? Jorge, save some money and don't rent a driver," said Cristiano.
Mendes took a deep breath. He was so redundant.
"It's up to you, but don't be late and don't cause any trouble," he reminded.
The bright orange Lamborghini was eye-catching among the luxury cars in the entire entrance area. As soon as the car stopped, several cameras were immediately adjusted to focus on it. And when Cristiano and Kaka got out of the car together, the number of cameras suddenly tripled!
"Cristiano!!"
“Kaka!!”
The two wore similar suits. Cristiano and Kaka smiled at each other and strode onto the red carpet.
They soon found their friends on the long red carpet area, with Ramos and Marcelo waving at them.
"I said you two just don't know how to write low-key, right?" Ramos glanced at the bright orange Lamborghini that the waiter drove away to park, and said with some envy, "Tsk, what a beautiful baby."
"Of course, it's a pity that it's so beautiful but there's no chance to show it off." Cristiano grinned, tugged at Ramos' collar and raised his eyebrows, "Sergio, didn't you look in the mirror before you went out? You didn't even turn up your collar."
Ramos looked down and curled his lips: "Please, it's just a little bit, no one will notice it."
"Pay attention to your image. This is an award ceremony." Cristiano narrowed his eyes and patted the Spaniard with long blond hair. "Otherwise you will regret it later."
This is a personal lesson.
Ramos laughed, he stretched out his arms and hugged Cristiano, and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I'll remember it...Oh my God, what perfume did you spray? It smells good."
"Karim gave it to me." Cristiano grinned, "Really? I think this taste suits me too. He is really good at choosing gifts."
Marcelo, who was standing nearby, nodded and joked: "This is the racial advantage of the French. They just play these games."
Ramos asked in confusion: "Gift? Why did he give you this?"
“Oh—” Marcelo blinked. “You asked this question, which means you completely forgot about it, right? It was Cristiano’s birthday a few days ago. You didn’t even say happy birthday to him, did you?”
Ramos stood there slightly stiffly - no one reminded him! No one!
Cristiano stroked his chin and recalled: "Well, I don't remember that."
"Too many people told me that day, it doesn't matter if one less person is missing." Seeing Ramos standing there awkwardly, he patted Ramos on the shoulder and shrugged, "No one stipulates that you must wish your colleagues a happy birthday, Sergio, don't have that expression, it's not like you."
"Cris, it's time for us to go in, shall we?" Kaka shouted, extending his hand to Cristiano.
Chris stared at Kaka's outstretched hand, raised his eyebrows with a smile, and looked at Kaka - did he want him to put his hand in a gentleman's palm like a lady in front of everyone?
He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and casually patted Kaka's palm: "Let's go."
Kaka laughed softly. He admitted that he did it on purpose, but he really didn't like Cristiano staring at Ramos anymore.
Ramos, who still has long hair for the time being and still has a bit of a young boyish vibe, is the Spaniard who can easily capture Cristiano's heart.
Ramos touched his face and looked at Cristiano's back as he walked away. He poked Marcelo beside him in confusion: "What does he mean? Why is my expression not like myself?"
Marcelo turned around and looked at him, then said, "Hmm," "Looks like he has a good conscience?"
The young knife-wielding defender looked a little apologetic.
Ramos choked: "...Be serious, Marcelo."
"Seriously, didn't you go online that day? His birthday has been the top trending topic on Twitter since midnight, especially Manchester United fans, who were crazy about taking Cristiano home under that entry. How could you not know his birthday?" Marcelo said in disbelief.
Ramos paused, then touched his nose and asked, "Which day was it?"
"February 5th, my friend, don't look at your phone, we didn't train or play that day," Marcelo said.
"It's a rare day off, so of course I'm in bed," Ramos said matter-of-factly, then winked at Marcelo mischievously, "Who has time to look at their phone when they're with one or more ladies?"
Marcelo gave a knowing smile, then quickly rolled his eyes: "See, this is the expression you should have. Cristiano was right, that was not like you at all."
Ramos: "...Well, that guy really knows me."
He immediately turned around and put on a happy look, like a proud and brilliant golden retriever.
Marcelo sneered and said that it was because Cristiano was observant and had the intuition of a wild beast.
——They all agreed that Cristiano knew them deeply, and considering that they had been teammates for less than a season, this could only be attributed to the Portuguese's attentiveness and sensitivity.
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