Chapter 356 Who is the winner?
It was already noon when Su Dong and Ronaldinho arrived in Zurich.
The award ceremony will be held at 8 pm at the Zurich Opera House. This year's theme is "The Combination of Football and Opera". There will be opera performances interspersed in various parts of the award ceremony.
The gala will be broadcast live to more than 130 countries and regions around the world. It can be said to be the most important and influential awards ceremony in world football, and can be called the Oscars of football.
After Su Dong arrived in Zurich, the FIFA reception staff took them directly to a hotel near the opera house. After they checked in, they were arranged for lunch and the two took a short rest in the hotel.
Su Dong originally wanted to take a nap, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he tried lying in bed. His mind was full of tonight's award ceremony.
People are really strange.
Before, he really hadn't thought too much about this issue, and he didn't particularly care whether he won the award or not. But the closer it got, the more he paid attention to it, especially after winning the Ballon d'Or, he became full of desire for the FIFA World Player of the Year.
What a picky, perfectionist Virgo man! Since he couldn't sleep anyway, Su Dong simply went to the hotel's swimming pool and had a nice swim.
I was soaking in the water and didn’t think about anything.
It was not until FIFA staff found him and reminded him that he was about to leave for the press conference before the award ceremony that Su Dong came out of the swimming pool. Under the admiring gazes of FIFA staff and hotel employees, he leisurely returned to his room to change clothes.
They were probably thinking, they were still training even before the award ceremony, what a hard worker!
But they didn't know that Su Dong just couldn't sleep.
While changing clothes, Su Dong received a call from his parents in China.
They all knew that Su Dong would attend the award ceremony in Zurich tonight, and they were all paying close attention to it. They heard that there would also be a simultaneous live broadcast in China, so they all waited in front of the TV for news.
"It doesn't matter, Xiaodong. Whether you win the Ballon d'Or or the World Footballer of the Year, you are the best!"
"Yes, son, no matter what, in our hearts, you will always be the best!"
Of course Su Dong smiled and said that he didn't take it very seriously.
But after hanging up the phone, he couldn't feel relaxed.
After coming out of the swimming pool, he began to worry about tonight's award ceremony.
Oh my God, can I just stay in the pool like this forever?
It would be best if the award ceremony could be held in the swimming pool, ok? …
In the years since joining Barcelona, Su Dong has developed the ability to deal with media cameras.
He had a lot on his mind, but on the surface he appeared to be smiling and harmless, and no one could read his inner anxiety at the moment from his face.
Not only him, but also Ronaldinho and Henry.
Both of them were all smiles, chatting and laughing in front of the media cameras, but were they really not nervous at all? Ronaldinho, like Su Dong, was in the top three for the first time. Henry had been second before, so didn't he want to push forward this time? Su Dong was the top favorite and had just won the Ballon d'Or. He was in the limelight and was naturally the focus of the media reporters.
Naturally, he also has to face the most difficulties.
For example, at the beginning, a media reporter asked him who among the three should win the award? Asking such a sharp question in front of the three candidates, especially asking the youngest Su Dong, the meaning is self-evident, so there was a burst of booing at the scene.
As for media reporters, they all like to watch the fun and are not afraid of big trouble.
It would be even better if the three major candidates rolled up their sleeves and started working directly on the stage. It is guaranteed to occupy the front page headlines for several days in a row.
Not to mention, Su Dong was wearing a dry T-shirt and the heating on the scene was turned up a bit high, so he actually rolled up his sleeves and used this action to think about how to answer this question.
"First of all, from a personal point of view, I am very honored to be here and to be able to stand here with such great professional football players as Ronaldinho and Henry. For me, this is a great victory."
When Su Dong said this, the media reporters in the audience were constantly taking notes, for fear of missing a word, an expression, or even the tone of voice.
"We all three have different ways of playing football. Ronaldinho is my best partner and the best player in world football. He is not a prolific scorer, so goals cannot measure his performance."
"And Henry, he is a great scorer. He has a lot to learn from him on the court. For example, I have studied Henry's ball protection skills very carefully. Really."
At this point, Su Dong turned his head and looked at Henry, "Thierry, I don't know if you have noticed that my ball protection is really similar to yours. I have really learned a lot from you. Here, I want to thank you in person."
Henry smiled and clapped, responding: "I think your ball protection is as good as mine, or even better than mine, especially with the help of your strong body. I can't do that. I really think you are great!"
"Thank you." Su Dong nodded.
"These two are my respected seniors and the ones I try to learn from. If I were to choose, I really hope that all three of us can win the award. We all deserve it!"
Su Dong's last words once again showed his neither humble nor arrogant temperament.
He praised his two competitors earlier, but the last sentence shows that he thinks he should also win the award and is qualified to win it, even when facing competition from Ronaldinho and Henry.
There was also warm applause at the scene for Su Dong's beautiful answer.
Even though Su Dong is usually polite to everyone and seems more humble than anyone else, when it comes to the critical moment, he will never let anyone underestimate him!
Afterwards, the media repeatedly asked a lot of questions, mainly about Su Dong and the teams he played for.
Regarding Barcelona, Su Dong said that the club treated him very well and his teammates were very supportive of him.
"I am very happy playing here, there is no reason for me to leave, right?"
Media reporters asked Ronaldinho and Henry for their opinions on Su Dong's prospects of winning the award. Both of them had their own ways of dealing with media reporters and basically avoided them perfectly.
Nowadays, not being harassed by media reporters is a necessary skill for almost every superstar.
…
After attending the press conference, the three returned to their hotels.
Su Dong's sponsor Hugo Boss also specially arranged for a stylist to come to Zurich and deliver a tailor-made suit for Su Dong. It is a black suit, which will be Su Dong's formal attire tonight.
When the time came, the three of them arrived at the Zurich Opera House in the welcoming car.
As night fell, a large number of media reporters and fans from all over the world had already gathered outside the opera house, including some Chinese students and media reporters from China.
When Su Dong got off the welcoming car, a voice calling his name in Chinese was heard at the scene. Su Dong stopped as soon as he stepped onto the red carpet and turned around to look for the source of the familiar voice.
Soon, he found his compatriots and waved to them with a smile, feeling very warm in his heart.
It is not easy to meet familiar compatriots in a foreign country.
Especially on an occasion like tonight.
"Come on! Su Dong, you will definitely win the prize!"
"Su Dong, I love you! You're the best!"
"Su Dong, I want to give birth to a baby for you!"
When he heard the last sentence, Su Dong's steps on the red carpet obviously stumbled and he almost fell down.
My goodness, how can I ask you to give birth to a baby? Are you asking me to degenerate? Isn't that asking too much?
"Sorry, I can't do it!" Su Dong replied with a smile.
They were all talking in Chinese, which only Chinese people could understand. They all burst into laughter at the same time, leaving the foreign fans and media reporters around them all confused.
What the hell?
…
After the three candidates entered the opera house, the red carpet event was basically over.
After everyone was seated, the award ceremony began soon.
The first awards presented were the Chairman's Award and the Fair Play Award, which had long been a foregone conclusion. The winners were the Underwater Football Association and the Brazilian Football Association respectively.
The reason is that on August 18 this year, the Brazilian national team went to Haiti for a charity match to call for peace.
Then two awards were announced for the first time this year. The Indoor Football Player of the Year was awarded to Brazil's Falcao, and the Esports Footballer of the Year was awarded to Brazil's Thiago.
It is worth mentioning that this obese footballer in the e-sports world said in his speech that his favorite player in the game is Su Dong.
"But I can't challenge the hellish difficulty of the national team, so I basically use Su Dong to play for the club."
Su Dong smiled bitterly and shook his head, feeling both honored and helpless.
The national team is his biggest regret.
The next award was presented to the World Footballer of the Year. German striker Prinz won the award for the second time in her career. Brazil's 18-year-old rookie Marta performed well in this year's Women's World Youth Championship and won the bronze medal.
The Team of the Year award was also given to Brazil.
Except for the World Footballer of the Year, Brazil won four of the six awards, which can be said to be a great harvest.
As the finale, Su Dong appeared side by side with Ronaldinho and Henry.
Former World Footballer of the Year Weah read out FIFA's evaluation of the performances of the three players over the past year, and each time he finished reading one, he won thunderous applause from the audience.
Everyone at the scene also felt the tense atmosphere.
This is the most suspenseful and also the most important individual award of the year. Whoever wins it will have his name written into the history of world football and become the tenth superstar in history to win the title of FIFA World Footballer of the Year.
This is definitely a supreme honor! The award presenters are FIFA President Sepp Blatter, German football legends Franz Beckenbauer and Weah, who will present the three trophies of the World Footballer of the Year, the Goal, Silver Ball and Bronze Ball respectively.
Following Weah's words, everyone turned their eyes to the big screen behind the podium.
The winners’ names will be revealed here soon.
One more chapter, I'll continue.
(End of this chapter)
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