It's cheating, but Hazard

Chapter 304: Automatic pickup or a sign of theft? (Part )
In the tenth round of the Premier League, Ancelotti once again chose to rotate, and Charles sat on the bench and watched his teammates win easily.

In the Champions League group match against Spartak Moscow shortly afterwards, Chelsea won again.

In this way, Marseille and Chelsea, who won 7:0 in the last round, both advanced to the next round before the end of the Champions League group stage.

Now the situations of the other groups are almost clear.

There will still be some soft persimmons in the round of 1, but these soft persimmons basically qualify as the second in the group. In other words, only if the first in the group qualifies will they have the chance to encounter these soft persimmons, which reduces the difficulty of the Champions League.

Although the probability of an upset in the Champions League is relatively small, it does exist.

Any club has the potential to win the championship before the end of the game.

No one knows at which critical moment a small mistake may lead to the loss of the championship.

On November 11, the decisive battle of the Premier League kicked off again.

Liverpool was in very bad form not long ago and was once deep in the relegation zone.

After a week, Liverpool finally recovered.

Before the game was over, no one knew whether Liverpool's revival plan would fail against Chelsea, or whether this game would become Chelsea's Waterloo.

On the bus to Liverpool, Ancelotti was standing at the front and stewing himself in an iron pot.

"Does anyone remember who our opponent is today?"

Ancelotti asked, microphone in hand.

Cole quickly raised his hand, "Boss, I know, it was Liverpool who scored three goals in the second half in Istanbul!"

As soon as Cole finished speaking, the entire bus was instantly filled with joy.

"But in 2007, the Boss had exacted his revenge."

Charles said.

Ancelotti glanced at Charles, raised his eyebrows, smiled and waved his hand, "Well, the damage Liverpool has done to me is not just in Istanbul. Not many people probably remember that in the 1984 Champions League final, Liverpool beat Roma away."

"I was still in Roma at the time and didn't play because of an injury, but I saw my team get beaten at home by Liverpool and we lost the Champions League.

"All in all, my record against Liverpool wasn't that good, Liverpool beat me twice."

The entire bus fell silent, watching Ancelotti stew himself in an iron pot.

"When the second half started, I'm sure all the Liverpool players were worried about not being able to defend the goal, but that wasn't the result."

"After that game, I often wondered what went wrong."

"I was thinking, maybe the team let down their guard, but no player can be as tight as a string for the entire game. Even if it is a string, it will loosen after being stretched for a long time, but not all relaxation of vigilance can lead to this kind of game."

"Drogba, did you ever relax when facing Spartak Moscow?"

Ancelotti encouraged the question.

"I relaxed in the last five minutes because we were 4-1 up."

Drogba admitted generously.

Ancelotti nodded with satisfaction. "In the first 85 minutes, I know you definitely didn't relax. Miracles are miracles because they are rare. Not many teams can score three goals in a few minutes to tie the score or even overtake. But that doesn't mean there are no such situations."

"So what I really want to say is, when facing Liverpool, you must be alert and never underestimate them."

After seeing that the effect was almost the same, Ancelotti jumped out of the iron pot and returned to his seat.

The scenery outside the car window kept changing, and Malouda finally couldn't help but poke Charles.

"Will Guardiola encourage you like this before?"

Ciel looked up, "No, he would play songs and movies for us, what's wrong?"

Malouda scratched his head and whispered, "That's a pity. You know, the boss talked a lot about his past stories, which were quite interesting. I thought I could hear some embarrassing stories about Guardiola from you."

Charles finally laughed. “Think about it, Pep has been a coach for a few years, and he can’t say there is a case like the Miracle of Istanbul.”

"Then let me tell you something," Malouda came over excitedly, "Do you know that the boss lost weight this summer when you came to Chelsea? He lost a full 20 pounds!"

"He used to weigh 200 pounds, but now he only weighs 180 pounds. One day, Terry asked him, 'Boss, Boss, why do you want to lose weight?'"

"Why?" Charles asked curiously.

"Hey," Malouda said with a smile, "The boss said that because someone in Italy said 'pigs can't coach' before, he was very angry and decided to lose weight."

"Then Terry asked him why he didn't lose weight then, but waited until now?"

"The boss said that because your English is not good, he is afraid that you will only call me 'Anzhu' instead of 'coach' in Italian, so he has to lose weight!"

Charles couldn't help laughing.

Malouda went on to say, "After the transfer was confirmed, Abramovich went straight to the coach's office, but he didn't smell cigarettes or see any on his desk. He thought he was not there. Just as Abramovich was about to send a text message to the coach, he finally saw the coach who had just walked in from the lounge."

"Abu asked him, where is your favorite cigarette?"

"The boss said he has quit."

"Abu was a little unconvinced and asked, 'Really? When?'"

"'An hour ago,' the boss had just finished speaking when Abu laughed and handed him a cigarette."

"You know what, it was funny. The two of them started smoking, and halfway through, Abramovich remembered what they were doing, and quickly said to his boss, 'Carlo, I have good news to tell you, I have signed with Charles!'"

"The boss jumped up from the sofa and grabbed Abu's neck from behind. Abu, who was unprepared, almost swallowed the cigarette!"

Charles was stunned and laughed out loud. Malouda also smiled. "It's not over yet. Abu finally shook off the boss and the boss's cigarette fell to the ground. After Abu told the story again, the boss still couldn't believe it, so he took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with a lighter."

"Then he put the burning end in his mouth!"

Charles couldn't help wanting to look at Ancelotti's lips, but Malouda grabbed Charles' arm and asked, "Do you know what the Sun said that day?"

"How is it written?"

"Abukarlo kissed passionately and secretly sought medical treatment for a broken lip."

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Ciel quickly covered his mouth with his hands, luckily not attracting anyone else's attention.

Malouda grinned and said, "Abramovich was so angry that he wanted to buy The Sun. Fortunately, it was clarified in the end."

The bus soon arrived at Anfield.

All the players went to the visiting team's locker room and started changing their clothes.

"Charles, why are you looking at me?"

Ancelotti asked puzzledly.

Malouda quickly pulled Charles' arm and said, "No, no, the boss is thinking about something."

"Ah, that's right. I was wondering if this year's Golden Boy Award winner will be Hazard, Neymar, Ramires, Wilshere or Balotelli, Coutinho, De Gea, Pjanic, Kroos or Gotze." Charles quickly explained.

Just today, Turin Sports Daily announced the 20 candidates for the Golden Boy Award. Charles was among them, but because he has won it once, it can be considered an honorary selection and he will not be the winner of this year's Golden Boy Award.

"Okay," Ancelotti raised his eyebrows, "Then who do you think it will be, who is more likely?"

"Ah, I think both are very likely. If Muller is not over the age limit, he may be the most likely one."

Ciel said seriously.

There is more than one Chelsea player on this list, so it doesn't quite fit in anyway.

Cole adjusted his shin guards. "I think Hazard and Balotelli are the two most likely candidates."

Terry turned around and said, "Why? I think Ramires and Neymar are also good."

"Don't you think Hazard and Charles have similar styles? I think this year's Ballon d'Or will almost certainly go to Charles. In addition, Charles also won the last Golden Boy Award, so this year's Golden Boy Award is likely to be affected by this and given to a player with a similar style to Charles."

Cole explained.

On the 26th of last month, FIFA and France Football jointly announced the 23-man shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d'Or through their official websites. Four people from Spain were selected, four people from Germany were selected, the champion France also had four people selected, and the third-place Netherlands had three people selected.

This year's Ballon d'Or is special because it is the first time the Ballon d'Or and FIFA Footballer of the Year awards have been merged.

Since this year is the World Cup year, the players' performance in the World Cup is the main reference for this year's Golden Ball Award selection.

The second reference is the Champions League.

The performance of players from Barcelona and Bayern, who were the champions and runners-up of the Champions League last season, is also worth referring to.

So according to the clubs the players belonged to last season, this is why, apart from Spain and France, Germany has more players than the Netherlands, which finished third in the World Cup.

"Xavi and Iniesta are also very good, so the Ballon d'Or is not so certain. After all, the Ballon d'Or is still a ball."

Ciel said with a smile.

But Ancelotti, who was originally chatting and laughing, suddenly became serious.

"If I don't give you the Ballon d'Or this year, I will hang myself," Ancelotti said seriously. "Are you a World Cup champion or a Champions League champion? There are Champions League champions who don't have a World Cup champion, and there are World Cup champions who don't have a Champions League champion. Let alone Henry, he was not selected for the squad, so it's not possible. This year's Ballon d'Or will definitely go to Charles."

"For the second place, I will choose Xavi or Iniesta as you said, but Charles, you have to remember that the first place this year must be yours."

"No one should say that you have too little experience and haven't played in the top league for a long time."

As if he felt that what he just said was too serious, Ancelotti's tone suddenly softened, and he even joked, "Charles, you don't want to see me hang myself, do you?"

Not only Ancelotti, basically all the media and professionals in the football world are optimistic that Charles will win the award.

Wenger took time out of his busy schedule to write down his views on this year's Ballon d'Or in his column for Eurosport.

"C Ronaldo is a decisive player. He seems to have never had a low point since he moved to Real Madrid. His performance this season is also amazing. In every game he seems to be able to send the ball into the goal. He is like a precise future machine built specifically for scoring goals."

"Messi is also very good. In the past two seasons, in addition to the national team, he has achieved all the honors that can be achieved in the club, including the five championships and six championships. It seems that everything is within his reach. He is undoubtedly a genius."

"They can be the best in world football every year, but in my heart, the best in the world is still Charles."

"It's not just because he was the core player of the World Cup champion, or the absolute main force of the Champions League champion, breaking the number of goals scored in a single season in the Champions League and creating new history, but also because of his ability."

"He has incredible physical flexibility and coordination, and no weak foot. Coupled with his wild imagination and creativity, as well as his lightning speed, he can often make many incredible moves, score breathtaking goals and make amazing passes."

“Some people may say that this is Ciel’s talent, but they don’t see the hard work Ciel put in for this.”

“He’s a hard-working kid.”

"In 1997, Ronaldo, who was only 21 years old, became the youngest Ballon d'Or winner. So why can't Charles be the new Ballon d'Or winner in 2011? Is it just because he is only 20 years old?"

“Remember, age and seniority are never the criteria for beam talent, honor is!”

The captain of the Italian national team expressed the same view in an interview.

"Xavi and Iniesta are also very good, but if I had to choose, I would still choose Charles. I think if all Italians had the right to vote, then Charles would undoubtedly be the first."

"I can't imagine any reason why he wasn't awarded the Ballon d'Or this time. It can't be because he didn't become the top scorer in La Liga? Come on, he is the top scorer in the Champions League and the World Cup. Aren't these better than being the top scorer in La Liga?"

As the common head coach of Iniesta, Charles and Xavi, Guardiola has naturally become the person that all media want to interview.

Guardiola did not favor Iniesta and Xavi just because they were Barcelona's youth players.

"This year's Ballon d'Or must go to Charles. If it doesn't go to me, I will blow up France Football and FIFA."

"Ciel is in his best form right now, having already scored eight goals and provided five assists in five league games."

"I don't know what others think. I think everyone should think that Di Stefano is unparalleled. Cruyff, Maradona and Pele are all the best of the century. Of course, there is Beckenbauer. Although they have retired, they are still influencing us."

"Now the throne of the best in football is about to have a new owner, and Charles is the only one who can decide when to leave it."

"He may not necessarily care about the Ballon d'Or, but as his former coach, I care very much. I cannot see his achievements and honors being easily erased."

"If the final Ballon d'Or winner is not Charles, and this is also the first FIFA Ballon d'Or, then there is no need to hold the Ballon d'Or again. I don't care whether the winner turned on the shoplifting omen or forgot to turn off the automatic pickup. This matter will be nailed to the pillar of shame forever."

After these three people clearly supported Charles, UEFA President Platini also publicly supported Charles.

"My idea of ​​the Ballon d'Or? There are some great players, but they have different styles. Messi is very strong, Ronaldo is very strong, Xavi is the same. They are different types of players, but they are all excellent."

"Two years ago I chose Cristiano Ronaldo, last year I chose Messi, this year I will choose Charles because he won the World Cup."

"My choice has never been because Charles and I are both French. If that were the case, I would not have chosen anyone else for the last Ballon d'Or."

"Of course, my words cannot decide anything, because I have no vote in the Ballon d'Or selection. The final decision lies with France Football and the captains and coaches of the national teams."

"I think Ciel is a strong contender and should be Ciel's vote candidate. He is a humble and good kid. I don't think he would vote for himself."

Charles smiled and rubbed his palms, "Well, in order to prevent the boss from hanging himself, I must score a few more goals today to ensure a place in the Golden Globe Award."

The 2010 Golden Globe Awards were adjusted based on the original list.

Attached is the revised list:

France (4): Charles, Benzema, Ribery, Lloris

Spain (4): Casillas, Iniesta, Puyol, Xavi

Germany (4): Klose, Lahm, Thomas Muller, Schweinsteiger

Brazil (2): Alves, Maicon

Netherlands (3): Robben, Sneijder, Van Bommel

Portugal (1): Cristiano Ronaldo

Ghana (1): Ji'an
Cameroon (1): Samuel Eto'o

Ivory Coast (1): Didier Drogba

Uruguay (1): Fran
Argentina (1): Messi
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(End of this chapter)