Football: I am only 16 years old, and you want me to retire and make a comeback?

Chapter 575: Ballon d'Or rankings posted by netizens, a phone call from France Football.
The Premier League has released a highlight video of Tang Ye and Van Dijk in the 2019 Premier League.

La Liga officially released a 2019 La Liga highlight video featuring Messi.

It's already November 26th, and the battle between the Premier League group, represented by Van Dijk, and the La Liga group, represented by Messi, has officially begun.

Looking at the current odds list, it's still Tang Ye, Van Dijk, and then Messi in that order.

But the gap between Messi and Van Dijk is constantly narrowing.

The Ballon d'Or is ultimately a vote-based award. Even if you're not a football fan and just gamble, you still have to consider the international influence of Argentinians.

This is similar to Cristiano Ronaldo, who didn't have great results this year, but is still ranked 4th in the odds.

At this point, Chinese fans became very nervous.

Can the great GGBond withstand the impact of Messi's influence?

The editor-in-chief of Mundo Deportivo said: "Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Messi should win the Ballon d'Or. TY is not yet capable of competing with Messi for the award."

Marca predicts the Ballon d'Or winners to be: Tang Ye, Cristiano Ronaldo, Van Dijk, and Messi.

Click, click, click!

During the FIFA meeting, Sky Sports interviewed FIFA Vice President Clark, who was in attendance.

Besides being the FIFA Vice President, Clark also holds another position: the Chairman of the English Football Association.

"Mr. Greg, who do you think will win the 2019 Globe Award?"

"Well, that's a very difficult question."

Clark glanced at Infantino beside him, joked, then turned back to his own head: "I find it difficult to choose, but in my opinion, TY and Van Dijk's overall performance is better than Messi's. Of course, Messi has a greater international influence, I admit that."

After Clark finished speaking, Infantino next to him visibly raised an eyebrow, but it was unclear what the meaning of that eyebrow raise was.

Clark didn't actually mean to compare Tang Ye and Van Dijk with Messi, but in the reporter's view, Clark's answer meant that he believed Tang Ye and Van Dijk were better than Messi.

"What about TY and Van Dijk? Who do you think is more likely to succeed, TY or Van Dijk?"

"Um……"

Clark wasn't really keen on answering, but he finally said, "TY."

Click, click, click!

The reporter asked Clark why he gave that answer, and then turned the camera to Infantino next to him.

"Mr. Chairman..."

"Oh, I know what question you're going to ask."

"Ha ha!"

As soon as Infantino uttered his words, several FIFA officials attending the meeting let out classic bourgeois laughter.

"I can't answer that question directly, but... well, I went to China a few months ago for a conference, and I think Chinese football is developing rapidly."

Click, click, click!

……

Match Preview: Manchester United host Shakhtar Donetsk in the 5th round of the Champions League group stage. The Red Devils aim to secure first place in the group early.

"442" Long article: In-depth analysis of the 19-20 Premier League season.

It's "442" again, another classic long article. This is something that "442" reporters almost always do every year.

Whether you're a knowledgeable football fan or not, 442's articles are very valuable because they can help you make a prediction about the Premier League champion.

According to the newspaper's experts, Manchester City remains strong this season, but as for whether they can catch up with the two leading red teams... the experts are not optimistic.

It's not that experts don't expect Manchester City to rise in the later stages of the league, but the main reason is that Manchester United and Liverpool are in such a fierce position.

If they fall too far behind, even if Manchester City continues their winning streak, they won't have a chance to catch up to the top two.

Therefore, the expert gave Manchester City a suggestion in the long article: to focus directly on the Champions League and cup competitions, and just secure a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Then came the match between Manchester United and Liverpool, where experts from "442" disagreed.

There are two factions in the newspaper. The first faction believes that Manchester United will still win the Premier League title this season.

Their reasoning is simple: apart from the injured Luke Shaw, the rest of the Manchester United squad is in good form.

And most importantly, this is Tang Ye's third season in the Premier League.

Compared to last season, Tang Ye's individual ability has not improved dramatically, but his increased familiarity with the league has allowed him to perform better in matches.

This was evident in the Premier League matches in October and November, where the attacking midfielders from the other 19 Premier League teams were basically outmatched by GGBond.

Then there's the second faction, which is more conservative. In their view, Manchester United and Liverpool are evenly matched.

Therefore, their view is that if Manchester United wants to win the Champions League, then Liverpool will win the Premier League title this season. Conversely, if Manchester United focuses on the league, then Liverpool can only finish second this season.

In addition, experts also analyzed the race for the top four in this season's Premier League.

At the end of the article, the experts gave their Golden Globe predictions.

1. Messi.

2. Tang Ye.

3. Virgil van Dijk.

[This is a completely shady newspaper, I'm declaring that I've blocked it.]

This seems like a huge problem. This expert predicted Manchester United players would get injured, but not Liverpool players. Isn't that a blatant double standard?

[It feels like a spy sent in by Liverpool]

Tang Ye is better than Messi!

[Mainly because 20 years old is too young, I'm rooting for Messi.]

Messi's performance in major tournaments is poor. If you compare his Champions League stats with GGBond's, Messi has fewer Champions League goals than GGBond.

Twenty years old is too young, but this is not a problem at all in the eyes of Tang Ye's die-hard fans.

Young but powerful!

……

Carrington Base.

Manchester United players are currently preparing for their next match.

After securing first place in the group with a win against Shakhtar Donetsk in the fifth round, Manchester United can then be freed from the Champions League group stage.

Therefore, the next game is crucial for Manchester United!
"Rhodes"

Tang Ye suddenly noticed something and blinked. While warming up, he found Rodri and said, "If we beat the Miners and then forfeit Round 6, wouldn't Ralph get one more win?"

Tang Ye looked into Rodri's eyes: "If Lille wins in round 6, then they'll have Dortmund out of the running."

Tang Ye meant that if Manchester United fully prepares for the Shakhtar Donetsk match and then directly forfeits their sixth-round game against Lille, Dortmund's hopes of advancing will be extinguished.

That's how it is.

"But we're just not playing at full strength, it's not like we're surrendering outright."

Rodri knew Tang Ye wanted Dortmund to advance, so he sided with him, saying, "Even if we don't play at full strength, we should be able to beat Lille. I don't think they're that strong. It feels like apart from PSG, the other teams in Ligue 1 aren't very strong right now."

"Ha ha"

Tang Ye laughed: "You said Paris is strong because we lost to them last season?"

"Haha, I don't know, maybe so, but Paris is definitely very strong."

Rodri pushed Tang Ye's back with his hand, and the two of them started running faster.

Before training began, Ten Hag first explained the arrangements for tomorrow's match to the players.

Tang Ye was placed on the bench to rest, as was Dembele.

Because the interval between the two matches was too short, Ten Hag opted for a more cautious starting lineup.

It feels like Manchester United's second team can also be a scrambler?
It doesn’t matter really.

If we fall behind, we can just bring on the starting players.

Ten Hag doesn't believe that the little Shakhtar Donetsk can beat Manchester United!

You have triggered a temporary quest.

Mission Objective: Win the 2040 European Golden Ball Award

[Mission Reward: Unknown]

Here we go again. A month before the Golden Globe rankings were announced, Tang Ye received his temporary assignment.

Why are there no time limits specified for temporary tasks?

This is because the time limit is already written in the target, which is the European Golden Ball in 2040; other years are not acceptable!

After training, Tang Ye picked out his favorite food in the cafeteria and sat down with a worried look on his face.

"Tom?"

Dembele tapped Tang Ye on the back and sat down next to him: "What's going on?"

"Um... I don't know how to say it."

Tang Ye put the fork aside, not in a hurry to eat because he wasn't very hungry.

As the players arrived at the cafeteria one after another, the seats around Tang Ye were quickly filled.

Tom wasn't very happy.

"Rodri said. Rashford touched Tang Ye's hair: "Your yellow hair has all fallen off, aren't you going to dye it back?"

I feel that black looks better now.

"Haha, you've changed your mind so quickly!"

Rashford went to get his food, while Tang Ye leaned back in his chair, seemingly without much appetite.

"You're too eager to win the Golden Globe."

Dembele sighed: "Actually, you think you play better than Messi... I don't feel there's anything to worry about, and thinking about it now is pointless."

"It's hard to say," said Rodri, the Manchester United midfielder, retorting to Dembele: "Nothing can be said right now. You can't just wait with the mindset that you're sure you'll win the award."

Rhodes was only a few years older than Tang Ye, but he was much more mature than the master.

Such an important award, if Tang Ye had been holding onto the mindset that he would win it, and then waited with that mindset for three or four months...

It would be good if he won, but if he didn't win in the end, Tang Ye's mentality would probably explode.

So Rodri's idea is to not think about the Ballon d'Or for now, and if we actually win it, we'll consider it an extra celebration.

It's easy to say, but quite difficult to do.

"Okay, actually I don't care that much. But I have to care."

Tang Ye's words were somewhat contradictory: "Actually, when we won the Premier League title, I thought I might win the Ballon d'Or. But nobody mentioned it then, so I was indifferent; it didn't matter whether I won it or not."

"Everyone's saying I can win the Ballon d'Or, but what if I don't? That would be so embarrassing, damn it."

Tang Ye does pursue some trophies, but he hasn't reached the near-obsessive level of Cristiano Ronaldo.

But the current situation is that fans and even people around them are putting pressure on themselves, saying how important the Ballon d'Or is and how likely they are to win it.

The Ballon d'Or itself doesn't have that much significance, but because so many people admire it, it has become the most important individual award for players.

If you want to earn the praise of being a football king from the fans, then a Ballon d'Or trophy is indispensable.

"Well"

Rhodes raised an eyebrow, while Ashley Young beside him looked surprised.

"I think that makes a lot of sense. But you can't control what the fans think."

"It's okay, never mind."

Shaking his head, Tang Ye picked up his fork: "I can't think about this right now, I can't think about this."

"..."

Dembele and Ziyech each put their hands on Tang Ye's shoulders, hoping to offer him some comfort.

GGBond is under a lot of pressure right now, almost as much as they were during the Asian Cup final.

……

The Sun's front-page headline: An English fan group submits a complaint to FIFA.

"The previous Copa America was held in 2016. According to regulations, there should be a four-year interval between each A-level national team tournament. However, the South American teams hosted the Copa America again in 2019."

"Fan groups believe this is unreasonable, so Messi's Copa America goals and assists should be removed from the Ballon d'Or voting," reported The Sun.

Fans online go to great lengths to help their favorite players win the Ballon d'Or.

Although the timing of the Copa America was problematic, Messi's goals and assists in the tournament are undeniable facts, and the tournament's organization was recognized by FIFA. Therefore, excluding those statistics is simply unrealistic.

Tang Ye shouldn't be the only one to enjoy the benefits of playing for the national team since he didn't play in the 2019 European Championship!

With one day to go before Manchester United's match against Shakhtar Donetsk, tens of thousands of fans are battling it out in the comments section on Twitter.

At that moment, a user named "Smith7231kk" posted a photo on his account, which immediately attracted the attention of almost all football fans and football newspapers.

This is a printed sheet of paper with black text written in English and French.

[FIFA Ballon d'Or 2019]

1. Cristiano Ronaldo, 421 points.

2. Tang Ye, 416 points.

3. Messi, 399 points.

4. Van Dijk, 281 points.

5. Mane, 123 points.

Contrary to most fans' predictions, in this photo, Cristiano Ronaldo ranks first, ahead of Tang Ye and Messi.

It doesn't quite reflect the actual situation this year, but the paper in the photo is just too realistic.

The Times front page headline – Golden Globe rankings leaked ahead of schedule? A netizen posted a "leaked photo" of the 2019 Golden Globe rankings on Twitter.

The front page headline of Mundo Deportivo: 2019 Ballon d'Or rankings leaked in advance, Ronaldo to win?
Popular discussion on Dongqiudi (a Chinese sports betting platform): Foreign netizens released a leaked Ballon d'Or ranking, with Cristiano Ronaldo at number 1 with 421 points and Tang Ye second with 416 points. (75251 comments)

Is it real or fake?

[This photo looks really real, wow! The overall tone is rather pale, it definitely looks like it was taken secretly?]

【? ? ? ? ? ? 】

I'd accept that Messi is number one, but saying Ronaldo is number one is a bit strange, considering Ronaldo hasn't been performing very well this season...

[Damn, my GGBond is second again?]

Not only have fans in China believed it, but many fans abroad have also believed it.

It's a bit strange that Ronaldo is number one, but this photo looks so real that some players actually believe it.

"Holy shit? Ronaldo? (My God, Cristiano Ronaldo!)"

On the way back, Rhodes stared at his phone: "Is this real or fake? Something doesn't feel right."

Cristiano Ronaldo is ranked higher than Tang Ye and Van Dijk, but the Portuguese player's performance is not on the same level as the other two players, at least in 2019.

Now they're saying Ronaldo is number one.

what the hell?

"Hiss...it feels real to me."

Tang Ye's eyes widened: "The clarity is so poor, it's obviously been filmed secretly... someone inside must have leaked the footage."

His tone was calm, but Tang Ye was actually very disappointed.

Because if this photo is indeed real, then he will miss out on the Golden Globe Award again.

Last year he was several tens of points behind Ronaldo, and this year he's only single digits behind.

This is too outrageous.

Tang Ye now feels as if the God of Europe is targeting him, which is why he hasn't won the Ballon d'Or for two consecutive years.

"No, no, no, don't rush, Tom."

Rodri gestured for Tang Ye to calm down and began carefully scrolling through the comments section.

But the fans in the comments section had already been brainwashed by this photo, and the more Rodri looked at it, the more he believed that the photo was real.

Drip!

"Hey, Rod, let's go!"

The cars behind honked, and Tang Ye quickly signaled Rodri to move forward.

Hmph—whoosh!
The car slowly drove forward, but at this point, Rodri's mind was no longer on driving.

Is this real or fake?

"Hey, Rod!"

Tang Ye yelled at Rodri to concentrate on driving, while he fastened his seatbelt, which he hadn't been wearing before.

Tang Ye doesn't have the habit of wearing a seatbelt, but the current situation forces him to do so.

"Oh, mine, mine!"

Rodri put down his phone and thought as he drove, "Actually, I feel like it's probably fake. Messi being number one is still possible, but Ronaldo being number one is unrealistic. Last season, Juventus only made it to the round of 16, I think that's how it was."

"It's no use thinking about it now, Rhodes."

The car was stable, and Tang Ye relaxed, unbuckled his seatbelt, and put his hands behind his back on the seat headrest.

"call……"

Letting out a long breath, Tang Ye was probably the one who was suffering the most right now.

He can already imagine the fans' disappointment when they find out he didn't win the Ballon d'Or!
"Depend on……"

He looked somewhat uncomfortable.

"I really don't know why. I'm sure I'll get more than 400 points this season, so why do they insist on giving me 400? I just feel like this voting system is no good. How can the results be accurate with so many people voting? Ugh..."

Ok?
Rodri paused for a moment, turned his head, and noticed that Tang Ye's eyes were already a little red.

Rhodes thought Tang Ye had calmed down after speaking so casually, but now it seems that his previous view was completely wrong.

GG Master got a critical hit!

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay. Don't worry, Foam. The results will be out in a week anyway. Trust me, I feel like this is probably fake."

"He only seems genuine; he didn't say anything..."

Before Rodri could finish speaking, Tang Ye's phone suddenly rang.

"Ok?"

His expression was still somewhat unpleasant, and Tang Ye reached into his pocket and took out his phone.

The phone number is unfamiliar, but I can see the international dialing code.

+33
"From France?"

Tang Ye frowned, because he knew from his previous conversation with Dembele that +33 was a French phone number.

Do you know anyone else in France?

Rodri asked, and Tang Ye answered the phone.

Hello? (in English)

Hello, hello TangYe

"This is France Football. Are you available now?"

……

(End of this chapter)