From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 948: Five World Footballer Awards
When Bruno found out that he was being substituted, he limped to the sidelines. This action made many people worried: he must have been injured in the previous game!

An Aston Villa player ran up and asked Bruno not to delay, so Bruno simply stopped and explained to him seriously that his ankle was a bit painful and he couldn't walk fast, but he didn't mind if the player was willing to carry him down.

The other party would definitely not agree to such a request, so dragging him away would be almost the same...

Other Aston Villa players protested to the referee that Bruno's behavior was suspected of delaying the game, so the referee came to communicate with Bruno again.

Bruno just limped two steps, and when he saw the referee running up, he stopped again...

There was booing in the stands, and Aston Villa fans were convinced that he was deliberately delaying the game.

Bruno was not in a hurry. He remained calm despite all the boos. Even if he got a yellow card for delaying the game, it would have no effect on him. Anyway, he was still far from being suspended due to accumulated red cards.

The referee came up and Bruno explained to him that his foot hurt and he couldn't run.

Looking at the color of Bruno's jersey and the scratches on his arms and legs, you can tell that he is not lying. So the referee accepted his explanation and allowed him to walk off the field, while turning around and telling the dissatisfied Aston Villa players that Bruno is indeed unable to move.

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No matter how unhappy the Aston Villa players were, no matter how heartbreaking the boos from the Aston Villa fans in the stands were, Bruno limped slowly to the sidelines like a lonely but stubborn traveler.

The distance of less than 20 meters seemed as long as a century under his feet.

When you think about how he assisted his teammates with two goals despite his injured leg, helping the team to a two-goal lead, you can't help but feel awe.

But many people also frowned, worried about Bruno's next game.

Bellingham, who was waiting for Bruno to come down on the sidelines, high-fived Bruno and leaned over to his ear and asked, "How is the injury?"

Unexpectedly, Bruno smiled and whispered in his ear: "I was pretending."

Bellingham, who had already run out, staggered and almost fell. He turned back and saw Bruno striding towards the head coach Mourinho, who also had an anxious look on his face. With such steady steps, there was no trace of limping at all.
At this moment, Bellingham didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt that the boos above Villa Park suddenly increased a little...

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After Bruno finally came down, Mourinho was already impatient. While shaking Bruno's hand, he asked anxiously: "How is it? Foot?"

Bruno shook his head and said with a smile, "It's okay, coach."

"Whether it's really okay or not is not up to you, Bruno. Even what I say doesn't count. The doctor has to decide." Mourinho said with a straight face.

He called the team doctor and asked him to examine Bruno.

The game continued, but the TV broadcast suddenly showed Bruno, who had been substituted, sitting on a chair with his left leg stretched out and resting on a box, and his ankle was clearly wrapped in a bag of ice.

"Bruno's ankle is being iced and it looks like it's still injured..." said Gary Lineker.

He Wei was even more excited: "Now it seems that Bruno's two steps after leaving the field were probably just pretend, just to reassure the coach, but how can he be reassured? We have a statistic here that Bruno is the player who has been violated the most on the field by both teams, as many as thirteen times. With so many violations, it would be strange if his feet were not injured! Now the only thing we need to pray for is that he doesn't get hurt too badly. After all, a healthy Bruno is very important to Manchester United..."

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After Bruno left the field, Aston Villa mobilized all their strength and launched a fierce attack on Manchester United's goal. They still hoped to equalize the score in the remaining time.

It seems that victory is very slim now, but if possible, it would be nice to draw with Manchester United. One point is better than no point at all.

In the 87th minute, Aston Villa finally got a great chance. In a quick counterattack, Ramsey crossed the ball in front of the goal in the penalty area, and Coutinho, who came on as a substitute, easily pushed the ball into the goal and scored a goal for Aston Villa.

Including injury time, there are about five minutes left in the game, and with a one-goal deficit, Aston Villa suddenly saw hope.

In the following game time, Manchester United retreated across the board, facing the bombardment of Aston Villa. Even Greenwood, the striker, had to use fouls to stop the opponent in defense, resulting in a yellow card. However, the good news is that Manchester United still beat Aston Villa away, and has remained unbeaten in the Premier League so far this season, with 22 wins and 20 draws in 2 league games, and 62 points.

However, Manchester City has been in very good form recently. With continuous winning streak, the gap with Manchester United remains at 9 points.

Chelsea, who were defeated by Manchester City in this round, has widened the gap with Manchester United to 19 points.

As for Liverpool, with one game less, they have only got 42 points, and the gap with Manchester United has widened to 20 points!
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After the game, Bruno was stopped by reporters in the mixed zone and answered several sensitive questions.

When asked whether he was faking an injury when he left the field, Bruno did not speak, but raised his left foot, which was still wrapped in an ice pack and could only wear slippers, high to the reporters.

When a reporter asked him what he thought about the booing from Aston Villa fans, he said: "Why did they boo me? You should ask them, not me who is also confused!"

He spread his hands.

In the post-match press conference, Mourinho criticized the Aston Villa players for their rough treatment of Bruno during the game. He also implicitly criticized the referee for not giving Bruno more protection.

Mourinho also talked about Bruno's injury: "... I don't know if he will miss the next game. This decision needs to be made by the medical team, not me. If the medical team says he can't play, then I won't let him play. If the medical team says he's fine, I'll let him play. It's very simple."

When it was Gerrard's turn, he expressed regret for the team's home loss to Manchester United, but he did not mention Bruno's injury or his players' rough behavior.

In fact, there is nothing much to mention. Admitting that your players' movements were too big is like slapping yourself in the face.

A reporter asked Gerrard whether Aston Villa's impatience in this game was due to misjudgment of the situation and the opponent.

Gerrard flatly denied this: "We respect our opponents very much. Manchester United is a strong team and we cannot underestimate them."

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Bruno eventually missed the 24th round of the Premier League three days later, but this was not because of Bruno's injury, but because he went to the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland to attend the 2021 FIFA Awards Ceremony.

According to the original plan, the 2021 FIFA Awards Ceremony was held online, but due to the recent epidemic situation in Europe, FIFA finally decided to hold the awards ceremony offline in order to boost morale.

As the number one favorite for the World Footballer of the Year, Bruno naturally received an invitation from FIFA to attend the event.

Among various awards, the one that everyone cares about most is who will be the World Footballer of the Year, representing the best individual player in the world.

Unlike the 30-name final list for the Ballon d'Or, there are only three finalists for the FIFA World Player of the Year, a very small field.

According to the final three-man roster announced in advance by FIFA, they are Bruno, Yosi and Lewandowski.

Although Ronaldo won the European Cup as captain of the Portuguese national team, his performance in the club became a shackle restricting him from entering the top three. In the end, he only ranked fifth. Manchester United center Harry Kane ranked ahead of him, and Liverpool striker Salah followed closely behind him.

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Among the top three, Lewandowski is undoubtedly the one with the least hope. In the 2020-21 season, Lewandowski dominated the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and won the Bundesliga for nine consecutive years. Lewandowski scored 41 goals, breaking Gerd Muller's 49-year-old Bundesliga single-season goal record. However, the performance of the Champions League and the national team has become Lewandowski's shortcomings. One Bundesliga championship and one German Super Cup championship, not to mention Bruno, who led Manchester United to win seven championships and helped Portugal defend the European Cup, is not as good as Yosi, who won the Spanish King's Cup and the America's Cup.

In comparison, Bruno has obvious advantages over Lewandowski and Yosi in terms of both personal and team data.

Ahead of FIFA's 2021 annual awards ceremony, the host of Spain's Channel said: "I knew Bruno would win, so I was calm."

Sky Sports also wrote that Bruno should win the award: "Lewandowski's outstanding season at Bayern Munich is no better than Bruno's performance at Manchester United. We should give due respect to Yosi for leading Argentina to the America's Cup, but in a 12-month battle, 4 weeks of strong performance is just a breeze. In this year, Bruno swept across the stadiums like a hurricane, won 8 championship trophies, and wrote many historical records. Therefore, he will inevitably win the World Footballer of the Year. Anyone else elected will be a serious misjudgment."

In the end, Bruno defeated Yosi and Lewandowski and won the World Footballer of the Year for four consecutive years. He also became the second player after Cristiano Ronaldo to win the World Footballer of the Year five times.

(End of this chapter)