Chapter 1 "They Did It On Purpose"

"Protest what? They're just messing with me on purpose." While on the plane with Niang to Monaco, Chen Yingxiong said to Niang, who was sitting next to him.

"They just don't want to see me win this Ballon d'Or. If they really can't stop it, they'll just use some tricks to disgust us. I know the UEFA routine all too well!" Chen Yingxiong snorted from his nose.

"They think that my traveling back and forth will affect my condition, and maybe cause Liverpool to lose this Super Cup—they do know me a little bit, knowing that we are pursuing the Seven Crowns, so if they can make us lose the Super Cup, the Seven Crowns will be out of reach, and I will naturally become the laughing stock..." Chen Yingxiong analyzed it to Niang one by one.

"Look, the awards ceremony ends at 11:30 p.m. At this time, there are no flights to Prague. And the earliest flight to Prague the next day is at 10 a.m. So, I can only take off at 10 a.m. the next day, and it will be 2 or 3 p.m. when I arrive in Prague. The Super Cup kicks off at 7 p.m. If the plane is delayed or something... Do you think I have time to prepare? It can be said that as soon as I arrive in Prague, I have to go to the stadium."

Chen Yingxiong's analysis was correct, and Niang nodded as he listened. How could he not know UEFA's tricks? But they still had to protest. The protest wasn't to make UEFA change the situation immediately, but to express Liverpool's attitude. They couldn't just not protest because it was ineffective, otherwise people would think Liverpool was weak and easy to bully. So the protest was mainly to show UEFA their attitude: We know what you're up to, don't think we're easy to bully!

Sure enough, UEFA promised that future Super Cups and award ceremonies would be held in the same city.

In UEFA's view, this belated remedy could not change the current situation, so Liverpool would not benefit. They had calculated well... But what they didn't know was that Chen Yingxiong's ambition was to participate in the European Super Cup every season. Therefore, their adjustment would still benefit Liverpool in the future...

I wonder if UEFA will vomit blood when they realize that they have worked so hard and painstakingly only to make a wedding dress for Liverpool?

After analyzing, Chen Yingxiong said with a smile: "But I want to give those UEFA officials a surprise. I want them to know that in the face of my absolute strength, any conspiracy is useless!"

※※※

Chen Yingxiong's analysis was correct, UEFA's little trick was indeed aimed at him.

The Champions League final last season had already made Platini very unhappy.

If this kid comes to Monaco to accept the award, won't he embarrass me in person again?

So he came up with such a trick. And it looked particularly grand and righteous, making people unable to think in that direction, and unable to find fault with it.

His reason was that since the Super Cup had already been moved away from Monaco, it would be too unfeeling for Monaco, which had served UEFA for decades, if the award ceremony was also moved away at once.

In order to express gratitude to the city of Monaco, and also as a transition, the award ceremony would still be held in Monaco this year.

This reason was impeccable, and no one would think that it was only aimed at Chen Yingxiong.

Only someone like Chen Yingxiong, who understood his grievances with UEFA, could think of this.

People often say, "A petty person judges the heart of a gentleman," Chen Yingxiong was definitely not a gentleman, but Platini was by no means a gentleman either, so the two petty people just happened to think in the same direction.

It's just that Platini didn't expect Chen Yingxiong to be even more "petty" than him...

Chen Yingxiong not only didn't feel embarrassed, but also came.

He didn't show any struggle at all.

At the airport, Chen Yingxiong was surrounded by reporters.

What everyone was most concerned about was not that he might win the UEFA Ballon d'Or, but whether he could make it to the Super Cup the next day with such a back-and-forth trip, and how much energy and condition he would have left...

To this, Chen Yingxiong responded with a confident smile: "I once had a record of driving continuously for three days to get back to Liverpool for a game, so this is not a problem for me at all. In addition, Mr. Platini warmly invited me, how could I not come? This is a grand event in European football, and I will definitely not be absent!"

He knew that Platini definitely didn't want him to come, so he deliberately said this to annoy Platini.

Platini was indeed annoyed by him, but on the surface, this cunning UEFA president didn't show anything. At the award ceremony, he even smiled and praised Chen Yingxiong's performance last season as historic.

In short, on the surface, you couldn't find anything wrong at all.

Chen Yingxiong naturally wouldn't let people easily find his flaws on the surface, so when he went on stage with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, he shook hands with Platini with a smile on his face.

Moreover, in his heart, no matter what tricks Platini played, it would be in vain, and he would definitely be the final victor. So he had always looked at Platini from the perspective of a victor, it was a kind of condescension. He despised and looked down on Platini from the bottom of his heart.

Since he was already a victor, he naturally didn't bother to get angry with Platini.

Besides, what Platini most wanted to see was Chen Yingxiong being so angry that he jumped up and down, affecting his mood and condition.

He would never let him succeed.

※※※

The three of them were the top three who finally entered the shortlist, and the Ballon d'Or would be born among these three.

The UEFA Ballon d'Or is different from the FIFA Ballon d'Or. It adopts the method of voting on the spot to determine the winner. The FIFA Ballon d'Or has already selected the winner by voting before the award ceremony, so the results of FIFA are often leaked. When it comes to the award ceremony, only the FIFA president still pretends to say that the result is very suspenseful, but in fact, the whole world knows the result.

In comparison, UEFA is still a bit suspenseful. After all, it is selected by journalists voting on the spot.

However, this suspense is also relative. If someone has too obvious an advantage among these three, and even ordinary fans are optimistic about him, then there is no suspense in the result, and this person will definitely win the award.

For example, this UEFA award ceremony.

Although UEFA tried their best to show the meaning of suspense throughout the whole process, they racked their brains, but it was all in vain.

Unless they dare to risk the world's disapproval and tamper with the final statistics.

But they didn't dare, the result of doing so would be to discredit the entire UEFA. Let UEFA lose its authority.

Platini didn't bother to do such a thing that would smash his own signboard because of his personal grievances with Chen Yingxiong.

Anyway, he can't keep his state going all the time. This time he won the award, who knows how long he will have to wait to win this award again...

While Platini was comforting himself in his heart, the journalists on the scene were voting.

The host of China National Television, which broadcasted this grand award ceremony, joked: "What's the point of voting? It must be Hero! In the entire Europe last season... no, in the entire world, is there anyone who performed better than him? One hundred and five goals in a single season! Based on this alone, he can get this Ballon d'Or!"

The other two players on the stage also seemed to know this, and their faces were not very good looking.

They came up to be the green leaves for Chen Yingxiong, using two great players to set off Chen Yingxiong's greatness...

They didn't want to come in the first place, but they didn't dare to openly offend UEFA.

Now standing on the stage, every minute felt like a year, making them suffer.

They only hoped that the result would come out sooner, so as to avoid embarrassing them for too long.

※※※

After the on-site journalists voted and scored, the final result came out. In order to reflect the fairness, openness, and justice of UEFA's Ballon d'Or, and to distinguish it from the FIFA Ballon d'Or, which was constantly rumored to be manipulated behind the scenes, UEFA made some adjustments to the final final method of the Ballon d'Or a few years after its establishment—the result of the voting was no longer to notify the award presenter of the result after voting, and then let the award presenter go up and announce the result, but to directly display it on the large screen behind the three players. So everyone could see the result very directly.

This was this year's new change. It's just that Platini suddenly regretted it—if he had known, he would have postponed the change for another year!

Now displayed on the big screen were the huge four letters: "hero".

Niang was the first to stand up from his seat, clapping his hands vigorously. Cheering for Chen Yingxiong.

Then more people stood up and applauded, and there were also excited whistles in the hall.

Although Chen Yingxiong had countless enemies, his achievements on the field were also undeniable, and many people also worshiped the strong. Chen Yingxiong was naturally such a strong person, and his performance on the field was enough to make those who were hostile to him have to stand up and applaud him.

Because this was respect for a strong person. Especially this strong person had done something that many people could not do in their entire lives.

The on-site host shouted: "Congratulations to Hero! He has won the 2014-2015 UEFA Ballon d'Or!"

Chen Yingxiong directly raised his arms high, and unceremoniously accepted the applause, cheers, and congratulations.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on both sides tacitly stepped aside at the same time, unwilling to join in the fun. Messi symbolically applauded, while Ronaldo simply stood aside with a pout and a stinky face, not even looking at Chen Yingxiong. The relationship between the three was clear at a glance.

※※※

Finally, Platini walked up with a hypocritical and stiff smile on his face, holding the European Ballon d'Or trophy in his hands—although the award ceremony had been reformed, the shape of the trophy had not changed, it was still a jersey-shaped trophy, which looked like a headless player was cheering with his arms raised.

Chen Yingxiong looked at him and smiled at him too.

To outsiders, there was nothing wrong with this smile, it was an excited smile from the bottom of the heart of a player who knew he was about to win an award.

But only Platini knew what this smile was about.

This was Chen Yingxiong's provocation and ridicule towards him!

—Aren't you always against me? Don't you always look down on me? I am standing here now, waiting for you to present the award. And I also want you to say a few words of congratulations against your will. If you have the ability, give this trophy to someone else!

Platini really wanted to turn around and stuff the trophy into Messi's hands...

But he finally restrained himself.

He walked up to Chen Yingxiong, then handed the Ballon d'Or to Chen Yingxiong, and perfunctorily said, "Congratulations, Hero. You deserve it!"

Then he stepped aside.

This scene made many people who supported Chen Yingxiong curl their lips—if it was Messi who won the award, I'm afraid Platini would have pulled Messi and said a lot of things, praising and touting him, completely like an image of "fatherly love is like a mountain".

But he was so perfunctory to Chen Yingxiong—it seems that the relationship between the two of them is really bad...

Chen Yingxiong didn't care whether Platini's attitude was perfunctory at all.

He took the trophy, without even looking at the UEFA president who had stepped aside, he glanced at the trophy in his hand, which was still so ugly that it made people feel heartbroken, and then coughed and cleared his throat.

"Thanks to UEFA for giving me a day to rush back to participate in the Super Cup, otherwise I would have to rush out the door with the trophy now."

There was a burst of laughter from the audience.

Platini's face instantly turned ugly.