Chapter 421 Ronaldinho's Conspiracy
In fact, Pele's cup of poisonous milk does not always hit the nail on the head.
Especially for something like this that was almost a foregone conclusion, he guessed it very accurately.
As expected, the Rookie of the Year award was given to Rooney, which made Cristiano Ronaldo, who was sitting next to Su Dong, feel depressed, because he did not think that his performance was worse than Rooney, but whether in Manchester United or in the Premier League, Rooney's popularity now somewhat overshadowed him.
But this is the Cristiano Ronaldo that Su Dong is familiar with.
Back then, he dared to challenge Quaresma and claimed that he was the best man in the sports tower. Wasn't it because he was angry? The current situation is not necessarily a bad thing for him.
Su Dong thought he knew Ronnie very well.
Without this energy, he would fight desperately, but with this energy, he would fight even harder!
And perhaps few people would believe it, but after the Champions League reversal against AC Milan last season, in the best team selected by FIFPro, the champion Barcelona had fewer players selected than AC Milan. This has to be said to be a very strange thing.
Of course, the reason why it was a big reversal and was hailed as the Istanbul Miracle is that Barcelona's performance before the game was not as good as AC Milan's, and most of AC Milan's shortlisted players this time were defenders and goalkeepers, which is understandable.
It is worth mentioning that Zidane did not attend the award ceremony, but received the award via video.
Real Madrid's recent form was not good. 2006 was also the World Cup year, so the schedule was greatly compressed. There was a La Liga match in the middle of the week, and Real Madrid could not afford to lose again, so Zidane did not come to London.
The final grand prize is the Player of the Year, and there is actually not much suspense about it.
Among the many stars present, few are qualified to compete for this award.
Shevchenko lost miserably in last year's Ballon d'Or race, lost in the FIFA World Player of the Year race, and lost in the Champions League final. It is difficult for him to pose a threat to the Soviet Union.
His teammate Ronaldinho is the most threatening, but within Barcelona, Sudong is basically the team's top star.
The advantage of the number one star is that no matter what honor the team wins, as long as he performs well, he is basically the one who benefits the most, not to mention that Su Dong scored five goals in an occasion like the Champions League final.
When Su Dong walked up to the podium and received the biggest and most important trophy of the night, the audience burst into warm applause.
Although it is the first session, the International Professional Football Association is still very influential in the world football. Naturally, there are many guests present, which makes this award more authoritative.
Many people even speculate that perhaps in the future the Ballon d'Or selected by the media, the World Footballer of the Year selected by the national team, and the FIFPro Player of the Year selected by professional players will form a three-way competition in world football.
But who knows what will happen in the future?
…
After receiving the award, he accepted an interview as a formality and then attended the party held by the organizer.
It was at this time that Su Dong truly witnessed the strength of the Brazilian football kingdom.
Although Ronaldinho only won the team award, there were many Brazilians present, including Pele, and many Brazilian legends supported him, which naturally made them the focus of the party.
On the contrary, Su Dong didn't know many people around him, so he could only sit with Ronnie.
"You still have to be careful." Ronnie reminded.
Su Dong was a little surprised, "What are you careful about?"
“2006 is the year of the World Cup.”
"Then what?"
"You are stupid. Think about it. Brazil is full of talented people. Ronaldo is still powerful. Ronaldinho, Kaka, Baptista, and now there is another Robinho. There is also Adriano from Italy. Just think about it. With such a lineup and such talent, Brazil is definitely the favorite. It is entirely possible for them to defend the World Cup."
Su Dong immediately understood what Ronnie meant.
In the field of national team competitions, he is naturally weak, and not just ordinary weak, but the kind of weak that makes him have no sense of existence.
Nedved, Shevchenko, Giggs...
These superstars have been hailed as lame because their national teams are weak. But no matter how weak they are, they are all from the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Scotland. The so-called weak is relative to the world's top teams.
But Su Dong is really weak in the national team, the weakest in the world.
"If Brazil really won the World Cup with him as the core, you would have no chance in 2006," Ronnie reminded.
Su Dong understood what Ronnie meant and was aware of his good intentions.
When that time really comes, perhaps Su Dong, Barcelona's top star, will have to be replaced.
This is not some conspiracy, but an open conspiracy, an open conspiracy!
Su Dong had no choice but to perform better.
"Don't worry, we've survived worse situations. There's nothing to be afraid of!" Su Dong patted Ronnie's shoulder and said with a smile.
Ronnie seemed to remember what happened in Lisbon, and a nostalgic look appeared on his face.
That period was indeed hard, and life was very poor and hard, but life was very fulfilling and worry-free.
It seems that he has everything now: money, fame, fortune, and even women, but he doesn't seem to be happy.
"That's right, don't be afraid. Whoever makes me unhappy, I will make him even more unhappy!" Ronnie said with a wicked grin.
Su Dong also started laughing.
That's right!
…………
…………
On the evening of September 21st, at Camp Nou.
In the fourth round of La Liga, Barcelona will face Valencia at home.
As usual, Barcelona held a brief celebration ceremony before the game.
Su Dong and Ronaldinho each held the trophy they received in London and slowly walked out of the player tunnel as players from both teams lined up to greet them.
Although these two trophies are not as authoritative as the awards issued by FIFA, UEFA, or French Football Magazine, they are still very important as they are selected by professional players from all over the world.
Nearly 100,000 Barcelona fans were cheering for them.
Su Dong is from Valencia and has many friends in this team. Players such as David Silva, Vicente, Aimar, and Albelda all have a good relationship with Su Dong and have sent him congratulations.
Everyone knows that if Su Dong continued to stay in Valencia, he would never win so many honors and would not be able to achieve his current status in world football. This is the gap between Valencia and Barcelona, and it is also the reason why many players are eager to join the top teams after their outstanding performance in the Bat Army.
Therefore, they are very friendly to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
But when it comes to the real game, the situation is completely different.
As professional players, no matter how good friends you are, when you are on the court, you become rivals to the death.
…
After Ranieri's failure last season, Valencia welcomed Flores. The local coach brought the team's tactics back to the original 4-2-3-1 formation, but because Baraja was suspended for this game, Brazilian left-back Aurelio replaced Baraja.
After the game started, both teams played at a very fast pace.
Valencia still adopted the high-pressure defense, took the initiative and attacked Barcelona, and even Vicente shot from a small angle on the left side of the penalty area, creating the first shot of the game.
But unfortunately, it hit the side net.
Barcelona reacted quickly and tried to control the tempo, but to little avail.
In the 18th minute, after receiving a pass from Xavi, Su Dong made a sudden long shot from outside the penalty area, about 25 meters away from the goal, but the shot hit the crossbar directly and failed to break Valencia's goal.
The game was basically under Barcelona's control afterwards.
In the 27th minute, Ronaldinho's long shot from outside the penalty area hit the leg of the defending Albelda, bounced high and fell into the middle of Valencia's penalty area.
Su Dong reacted quickly, jumped high, and headed the ball before Ayala and Marchena.
Cañizares failed to save the ball and it went into the net.
One to zero!
…
Although they were leading with a goal, everyone could see that Barcelona still had some problems in the entire midfield and frontcourt.
The ball possession advantage is not as good as last season. Ronaldinho, Deco and Xavi are not as active as last season.
This is actually a normal phenomenon. After all, Barcelona played very well last season, especially in the midfield and frontcourt.
If the defense hadn't been so weak, they wouldn't have played so awkwardly and hard in the Champions League knockout stage.
This season, the defense in the midfield and backcourt has become much more stable, but after a season of outstanding form, the players' performance has declined, which requires more time to slowly adjust.
No one can maintain a high level of performance throughout a long season and a long career.
It was not until the end of the first half that Su Dong saw that the midfield was suppressed and could not get the ball, so he took the initiative to retreat to receive the ball. After getting the ball, he turned around, rushed forward with the ball, and made a straight pass to the right side behind the defense line. Giuly quickly inserted from behind, dribbled into the penalty area, and calmly shot the ball into the goal.
2-0! But no one expected that the situation would take a turn for the better in the second half.
Valencia took the lead after the opening and launched another wave of attacks.
First, Villa and Vicente performed a clever two-pass cooperation on the left. Edmilson pushed the opponent from behind in the penalty area and was punished by the referee with a penalty kick and a yellow card. Villa scored in one fell swoop and made the score 1-2.
Just two minutes later, Deco passed the ball back to the penalty area. Valdés received the ball and kicked it directly into Villa's leg. The ball bounced back into the goal, 2-2! The entire Camp Nou stadium was stunned! They just said that the defense was stable, but the goalkeeper started to slack off?
Fortunately, in the 81st minute, Ronaldinho made a pass from the left, Sudong headed the ball back before Cañizares in the penalty area, and Deco inserted a shot and scored another goal for Barcelona.
3 to 2! In the end, Barcelona narrowly defeated Valencia at home.
The three points were obtained, but the process of the game was extremely depressing.
Barcelona is obviously stronger than Valencia, but why is it so difficult to play? Especially the team's defense, is there really no solution?
The joining of Marcos Senna and Van Bommel has indeed strengthened the midfield interception and protection of the defense, but why are the central defenders and goalkeeper still so poor?
(End of this chapter)
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