Chapter 145 European Footballer of the Year

After the group stage draw ceremony, it was time for the awards ceremony to present the European Club Footballer of the Year award for the previous season.

This award had been established the previous year with the intention of reviving the old European Ballon d'Or and competing with the FIFA Ballon d'Or. This was a measure taken by UEFA President Platini after the European Ballon d'Or was absorbed by FIFA.

The European Club Footballer of the Year award was voted on in the first round by journalists from fifty-three European countries to select the top three players, who would then be shortlisted for the final round of voting. The winner would then be chosen by live, instant voting at the awards ceremony.

The award was open to players of all nationalities, as long as they played for clubs affiliated with UEFA member countries, and the players' performances in domestic, international, club, and national team matches would all be taken into account.

When the first European Club Footballer of the Year award was held last year, Zhou Yi was the only Chinese player to be included in the shortlist. He eventually finished twenty-seventh in the voting, far from the top three.

This time, however, he was no longer the only Chinese player to be included. Sun Pan, the goalkeeper of Atletico Madrid, was also on the list thanks to his outstanding performances in La Liga and the Europa League.

But this time, it still had nothing to do with them.

Zhou Yi didn't even have to go to the venue, because he wasn't in the final three-man shortlist. Although his performance at Dortmund was excellent, it still lacked a little persuasiveness compared to the three who made it to the final list.

The three finalists were Iniesta and Messi of Barcelona, and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.

These three are the best three players in football today, and there is no doubt or dispute about that.

Zhou Yi still has a long way to go if he wants to become one of the best three players in the world. Of course, he is still young...

Although Chelsea were the Champions League winners last season, no Chelsea players made it to the three-man shortlist in this award. This was not an award for Champions League players, but for the best players in all competitions throughout the season.

Although Barcelona were eliminated by Dortmund and Real Madrid were eliminated by Bayern Munich, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were so dazzling that it was normal for them to be shortlisted.

Iniesta was also favored by journalists because of his irreplaceable importance to Barcelona.

Before the final results were announced, the three candidates were invited onto the stage one after another, and the host conducted brief interviews with Iniesta, Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

When the host asked the Portuguese player a question, the audience burst into laughter. She asked, "Cristiano, what do you think of Real Madrid's group stage draw in the Champions League this season?"

This question is usually asked by reporters to the players after the draw and awards ceremony, but the host directly played the role of a reporter and asked the question in front of everyone.

Obviously, everyone was interested in this Group of Death, one of the most terrifying in history.

Amidst the laughter, the Portuguese player shook his head with a helpless smile on his face. Then, facing the microphone, he shrugged and said, "This group is indeed difficult, and every opponent is very strong. But as the La Liga champions last season, we have the confidence and ability to face any strong opponent."

This answer sounded quite standard at first, but in fact, after careful consideration, it still revealed the Portuguese player's ambition and confidence. Because he used the word "challenge". Who is usually challenged? Of course, only the strongest and highest-ranked will face challenges. In other words, in his opinion, Real Madrid is the strongest in this group.

Today, this beautiful host seemed to be deliberately mischievous. After asking Cristiano Ronaldo, she turned the microphone to Messi next to the Portuguese player, but her question to Messi had nothing to do with Barcelona, ​​but with Real Madrid. She asked, "So, Leo, as a Barcelona player, how do you see Real Madrid being drawn into the Group of Death?"

Beautiful women always have privileges. If a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a large belly asked this question, Messi would probably have refused to answer it with silence. But when the beautiful female host asked this question with a sly smile on her face, Messi was too embarrassed to refuse.

After the laughter ended, he replied with a smile, "Anything can happen in the Group of Death. I think that in competitions at this level, strength and luck are equally important."

This answer was obviously somewhat irrelevant, and it was actually a sign that he didn't want to answer the question directly.

The beautiful host also knew when to stop and did not continue to press him.

She bypassed the two of them and ended the interview.

Finally, it was the live vote to announce the winning player.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who were standing on the stage and looked like the protagonists, failed to win the award. The person who finally won the award was the low-key Iniesta next to them.

This result also seemed to indicate that the European Club Footballer of the Year award was more professional than the FIFA Ballon d'Or.

When Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo monopolized the FIFA Ballon d'Or and its predecessor, the World Footballer of the Year award, many people felt sorry for Xavi, Iniesta, Sneijder, and others. Experts believed that the importance of these players was no less than that of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but the latter two were more famous worldwide and had an advantage in the voting.

For example, the 2010 FIFA World Player of the Year was eventually awarded to Messi, but the result was controversial.

The 2010 FIFA Best Player award was the first after the merger of the World Footballer of the Year and the European Ballon d'Or. The votes were divided into three parts: national team coaches, national team captains, and media reporters each had one-third of the voting rights. This led to the more professional media votes being in the minority, so Messi, who was more famous, won the FIFA Ballon d'Or, which was the World Footballer of the Year, that year after the merger.

In 2010, Messi had no achievements with his club Barcelona or the Argentinian national team. In the eyes of many professionals, he was basically a non-entity in the selection of the annual best player. On the other hand, Xavi, the core midfielder of both the Spanish national team and Barcelona, and Sneijder, the core midfielder of both the Dutch national team and Inter Milan, were more qualified to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or.

Xavi led the Spanish national team to their historic victory in the South Africa World Cup. Sneijder not only led the Dutch national team to the World Cup final for the third time in history, but also led Inter Milan to complete the treble of the Serie A league title, the Italian Cup, and the Champions League.

As a result, Messi, who did not have a very convincing performance, won the Ballon d'Or with his greater fame.

This result led to protests from many people, and it also prompted Platini's idea of ​​relaunching the European Ballon d'Or. Since the name "Ballon d'Or" already belonged to FIFA, UEFA renamed it "European Club Footballer of the Year" and the trophy could no longer be the classic golden football shape, but became a jersey shape with raised arms.

The first edition was in 2011, and Messi was finally elected with a high number of thirty-nine votes. Barcelona won the Champions League in the 2010-2011 season, and Messi was the top scorer. This performance was much more convincing than the previous year. There was also an interlude in this election. That is, Cristiano Ronaldo, a Real Madrid star who was always full of confidence but too high-profile and unpopular, only received a pitiful three votes in the final live vote. When this number of votes was exposed, it immediately attracted ridicule from many people who disliked him. In China, the Portuguese star even got a nickname, called "Three-Vote Luo"... which was miserable enough.

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After the awards ceremony, the media quickly released the final top ten rankings for the European Club Footballer of the Year award online.

What many Chinese fans and Chinese reporters didn't expect was that they saw a familiar name in the top ten - Zhou Yi.

Yes, compared to being ranked twenty-seventh a year ago, Zhou Yi's progress this year has been rapid, almost like a rocket, and he can be called the fastest-improving player in European football. He finally ranked tenth.

Before him were Falcao in ninth, Cech in eighth, Drogba in seventh, Casillas in sixth, Xavi in ​​fifth, Pirlo in fourth, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo tied for second, and Iniesta, who was finally elected as the best player.

This list of ten people was selected by the most authoritative media reporters in Europe. In other words, these ten people are recognized by the authorities as the ten strongest players in world football today.

And Zhou Yi is one of the ten strongest people!

This was really unexpected for Chinese fans and reporters. They knew that Zhou Yi was very powerful, but some people were always worried that this was because everyone was Chinese, so Zhou Yi's evaluation would be somewhat emotional, but now it seems... the Europeans' evaluation of Zhou Yi is even higher than many Chinese people imagined!