Chapter 1041 - 252: World Footballer of the Year
"Hey, Lola, you haven’t been home for a while."
After Lu Yang left, Mr. Winter dialed his daughter’s phone number.
Sounds of keyboard tapping kept coming through the phone: "I’ve been mostly at the company, very busy. It’s almost the winter break, and many statistics need to be updated in advance, really no time."
Upon hearing his daughter’s words, Winter couldn’t help but sigh.
His daughter has grown up.
She knows how to work hard.
"Remember to visit your mother when you have the time," Winter said, "By the way, send me the data reports on Arsenal’s team and players and that one of Collette from Real Madrid."
Lola’s side instantly went silent: "Sorry, company secret, not allowed to share."
Mr. Winter almost spat out a mouthful of blood: "I’m your dad!"
Lola: "The company is my home, everyone relies on confidentiality! Even if I were your dad, it wouldn’t work!"
Winter: "You brat! It was your boss Lu Yang who told you to give them to me!"
Lola: "Um... let me confirm, hold on... Dad, I’ll send it to you right away."
Winter angrily slammed the phone.
This bastard Lu Yang, what spell did he use to enchant his daughter like this?
Now she doesn’t even recognize her father.
What will happen in the future?
...
In December, San Remo still had five matches to go.
Four league matches and one Italian Cup.
In the Italian Cup, Sotu sent out an entire second-string lineup, intending to lose the match.
But unexpectedly, the king of the bench, Calafiori, was really good at bullying weaker teams, scoring twice and leading San Remo’s second-string lineup to a 3-1 win.
Since then, San Remo couldn’t shake off the Italian Cup.
Might as well go with it.
As for the league, due to various reasons, the performance was neither good nor bad.
On one hand, the team was undergoing a re-consolidation.
Lu Yang’s recent eruption made it so that other players in the team had gone cold to a considerable extent.
Mainly, some players developed a "Lu Yang dependency syndrome."
Holding the ball, they would seek out Lu Yang, or even when they had a shooting opportunity, they’d pass the ball to Lu Yang instead of taking the shot.
This mindset made the team lack variation and easier to target.
Plus, with the winter break approaching, the players, having gone through half a season of intense matches, were starting to feel physical exhaustion.
The winter break is actually a very scientific concept.
Most teams can basically play the first half of the season in full form.
After a period of rest during the winter break, they can play most of the second half of the season before facing a fitness crisis.
If not handled properly, not only will morale drop, form will decline, and a wave of injuries will arrive.
For a team with heavy match duties like San Remo, the winter break is even more important.
Because half a month before the winter break, they started having a fitness crisis.
Without rest during the winter break, if they kept playing, they might collapse at the onset of the second half of the season.
This is due to having fewer players while having a large number of matches.
Thus, different teams need different fitness plans.
In these four matches, San Remo won two, drew one, and lost one.
Lu Yang scored twice and assisted once.
Talista scored once and assisted once, Bai Zhami, Kaint, Delarre, and others also scored.
From this, it can be seen that other players’ form is recovering.
December 31st.
The last day of this year.
The World Footballer of the Year award ceremony and the football cross-year gala grandly kick off.
FIFA invited over ten stars from the Europe and America entertainment industry in London, United Kingdom, bringing a visual and auditory feast to fans worldwide.
They had also invited Lu Yang, but Lu Yang refused.
Because today Lu Yang is one of the guest attendees; he doesn’t want to tire himself out.
FIFA understood this.
Do not put pressure on Brother Lu, otherwise Brother Lu will give you more pressure.
The Golden Ball Award has already proven this with heavy costs.
Unlike the thirty people for the Golden Ball Award, FIFA invited fifty players to attend.
Because the World Footballer of the Year’s candidate list is fifty people.
Among them, Talista ranks forty-ninth, just scraping in.
Whereas Morici, even more extreme, was selected at the fiftieth position.
Alongside Morici, this year’s Golden Boy Averro, although far from being selected, was also invited and appeared at the event.
Compared to the Golden Ball Award, the World Footballer of the Year is much more flexible.
They are balancing fairness, competitive level, and popularity.
If based on Golden Ball Award criteria, Morici wouldn’t even make it to the top fifty, let alone the hundred.
But if you consider Morici’s honors this year, not making the top fifty would indeed be unreasonable.
Being the on-field core of San Remo, even if there’s no Assist King honor in the Europa League and European Cup, his contribution to the two championships is definitely second only to Lu Yang.
And in terms of most players’ rankings, the World Footballer of the Year this year completely changed the past "following" style of the Golden Ball Award, with their player rankings differing significantly from the Golden Ball Award.
Take the most controversial Lu Yang, who ranked thirtieth at the Golden Ball Award; even now, looking at it, Lu Yang’s profile is blank.
Yet in the World Footballer of the Year, Lu Yang is ranked twenty-second!
Not only are Lu Yang’s fans very satisfied with this ranking, but even most neutral fans think FIFA understands football better.
Being ranked twenty-second in his first appearance on the list, even Lu Yang expressed his gratitude.
In this situation, getting a higher position with the World Footballer of the Year is much easier for him than with the Golden Ball Award.