Ground football: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him

The Liverpool midfielder red wine incident has been thoroughly explained by Deng Kai.

But the impact of the incident did not dissipate; instead, it expanded further.

This time, the English media were completely convinced and wrote extensively about Deng Kai's character.

At the same time, they were very forgiving of their young player Gerrard's mistakes.

Gerrard's slip was a huge mistake, but perhaps it was just an inevitable trial on his and Liverpool's path to the top!

Despite a minor flaw, Gerrard's overall performance in this match ranked among the top three in Liverpool! He shouldn't have been ruined by just one mistake!

Was Gerrard the culprit behind the wine celebration? No! Duncan recounts what happened at halftime, proving Liverpool were equally great today!

A seemingly pointless run during halftime might have been the reason Gerrard slipped in the final moments of the game – a redemption from Duncan!

Deng Kai clears the ball for a Liverpool player; his noble character is just like our initial impression of the Chinese!

Babel's heartfelt confession: From wanting to kill Deng Kai to forever respecting him!

With such character and emotional intelligence, it's no wonder Deng Kai was able to conquer Sporting Lisbon and become their absolute leader both on and off the field! He even won over the entire Liverpool team with a single post-match interview!

Deng Kai embodies leadership qualities through his actions! He is undoubtedly the best player of the game!

Houllier suffers a heart attack at halftime; Duncan, Gerrard, and Matthäus step in to help and work together to save him!

Houllier thanked Duncan and Matthäus for the wine after the match, stating that the responsibility for the loss lay with him, not Gerrard!

"Machsa: I misunderstood Liverpool. I only knew that the Liverpool midfielder ordered red wine to motivate the players, but I didn't know the story behind it was like this."

Triglav: Duncan told me the truth, but I decided not to tell my players. If my actions have hurt Liverpool, I am willing to apologize to Liverpool!

noble!

After this incident, everyone became noble.

Liverpool's players and fans are therefore more accepting of a defeat.

People always need to find reasons and excuses for failure.

They either need to find a criminal or some other force majeure event.

In short, emotions need something to distract them.

It's really tough to stay together, but once you're separated, even the toughest challenges can be overcome.

Trigra thoughtfully took on the only potential trouble that might cause others to nitpick, protecting me, Kai.

In a mere twenty minutes, Liverpool's reputation went from collapse to rebuild, from being looked down upon to being respected, from being the backdrop of a loss to becoming part of a miracle, leaving everyone speechless.

Many crisis management experts have learned a lot from post-match interviews.

They didn't know whether Deng Kai did it unintentionally or intentionally.

But after this incident, Deng Kai became the first player to not only steal the championship from his opponent but also earn their respect.

The current atmosphere hasn't degenerated to the point it will be later. At this stage, buying a player who has eliminated you is a disgrace to the team, especially during major competitions and crucial stages.

AC Milan's acquisition of Shevchenko has indeed been extremely profitable, and it has set a precedent, prompting Inter Milan and Barcelona to eye Sporting Lisbon's Viana and Quaresma.

However, these are rare cases; most players in this category are boycotted by the opposing side.

As a result, Deng Kai's actions did not lead to a backlash from Liverpool fans; instead, he became a beloved figure among them.

If Duncan were to transfer to the Premier League someday, only Manchester United would have considered it before, but now Liverpool would definitely be a contender.

In this light, Deng Kai's decision to cut off the possibility of joining Barcelona in the last match wasn't such a bad deal after all; without Barcelona, ​​there's just another Liverpool to consider.

But then again, why is Deng Kai so friendly towards Liverpool, even taking the initiative to help clarify things?

Are you that hostile towards Barcelona?

What did my pure and innocent Barcelona do wrong?

……

Ten minutes later, the award stage was set up and the award ceremony officially began.

Compared to the Portuguese Cup, the UEFA Cup awards ceremony is much more elaborate.

The scale of the stage, the caliber of the leaders and guests present, and the number of media outlets on site are all on a completely different level.

Both teams' players returned to the sidelines.

They're all quite familiar with this kind of scene; they've both experienced similar award ceremonies this season. They don't find the process too long because it's a moment of glory that many other players never experience in their entire lives.

First, the Liverpool players lined up to receive medals from Gerhard Maier-Wolfeld, who had just taken office as president of the German Football Association a month earlier, before quickly leaving the field.

Following closely behind are individual honors and awards.

To expand the influence of the competition, UEFA has also broadened the scope of honors, with a focus on awarding trophies.

No matter what the award is, we'll give you a trophy.

What kind of honor is it if there is no trophy?

First up is the Best Newcomer Award, with nominees including Duncan, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gerrard, Klose, Quaresma, Viana, Drogba, and others.

Unfortunately, players such as Seedorf and Pirlo from Inter Milan, and Xavi from Barcelona, ​​were not included in the shortlist due to their insufficient performance.

The award is primarily open to players who are participating in the UEFA Cup for the first time and are over 21 years old, or players who are under 21 years old and have never received the award before.

Players like Simão, who do not meet these two criteria, are ineligible for the nomination despite their excellent performance.

Ultimately, this award resulted in a tie.

The award winners are Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard.

The two went on stage together to receive the award.

But here's the awkward problem: there's only one trophy.

UEFA was not adequately prepared for this, so Ronaldo could only pose for a photo with Gerrard holding the trophy together.

Cristiano Ronaldo's win was expected.

He scored fourteen goals in this tournament, making him Sporting Lisbon's most consistent attacking threat. He displayed a maturity and consistency beyond his years during the matches.

Two assists may seem a bit lacking, but for a player of this age to achieve this level, what more could you ask for?

Gerrard's award was influenced by public opinion.

In terms of playing time, number of matches, and impact on the game, Gerrard is not as good as Ronaldo.

However, his advantage lies in his background as a Premier League powerhouse, the high level of media attention he generated in this match, his contribution of a goal and an assist in the final while also making a crucial mistake, and the red wine incident... The UEFA awards committee simply couldn't bear to give up this huge source of attention.

And to be fair, Gerrard's performance was indeed outstanding.

Four goals and five assists is enough to win an award, after all, apart from a very few exceptional midfielders, normal midfielders can't compare with forwards in terms of statistics.

I like playing football on the ground: Ronaldo thought I was going to assist him.