Chapter 196: Chapter 196
196: 0130 Ballon d’Or Snatches the Golden Prison Award (Seeking Subscriptions)_4 196: 0130 Ballon d’Or Snatches the Golden Prison Award (Seeking Subscriptions)_4 “Okay, Mr.
After Huang Kaiwen spoke to Florentino, he nodded to Di Stefano.
Real Madrid’s recent performance might have been terrible, but their president was still one of the busiest people that evening.
“You’re not really thinking of going to Real Madrid, are you?”
Missy asked Huang Kaiwen with suspicion in her eyes.
“How could I?” Huang Kaiwen shook his head.
“That’s a relief, the awards ceremony is about to start, let’s find a place to sit.”
The Ballon d’Or award ceremony began.
“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Ballon d’Or.
In addition to this year’s nominees, 23 previous winners of the award have gathered here.
Let’s give them a warm round of applause.”
The host spoke out loud.
Huang Kaiwen had already seen people like Platini, but he hadn’t had the chance to greet them.
He also saw Beckenbauer talking to Kaka.
“What did Beckenbauer just say to you?” Huang Kaiwen asked, covering his mouth and leaning to the side.
“He asked if I wanted to go and play for Bayern.”
Kaka didn’t hide anything and spoke directly.
Huang Kaiwen curled his lip; Bayern wouldn’t spend that much money to buy Kaka with the current exchange rate of the yuan.
Suddenly, flames shot up on the stage, and the lights dimmed.
The next second, a strong drumbeat sounded.
“Last night I dreamt of San Pedro, Just like I’d never gone, I knew the song…”
Alizee, the French pop diva, appeared at the center of the stage.
“La Isla Bonita” (“The Beautiful Island”) was a song by Madonna, which caused quite a stir after Alizee’s cover.
At the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
The football stars clapped to the beat of the drum.
Players like Ronaldinho even swayed to the music.
Enthusiastic and unrestrained Latin drum music, with strong Samba rhythms, and along with Alizee’s high and powerful voice, displayed a magnificent tropical island scenery for everyone.
Missy whispered into Huang Kaiwen’s ear.
Huang Kaiwen nodded without elaborating.
Alizee didn’t fit his aesthetic, but one should never judge a singer by their photos.
It’s only on stage that a singer’s true charm is exhibited.
He was entirely appreciating Alizee’s performance on stage.
After the song ended.
Some in the audience even called for an encore.
But the big screen had already started showing the brilliant performances of European football stars from the past year.
Every nominee was included.
There was also Ronaldinho captivating the Bernabeu at the beginning of the month.
Of course, he, Huang Kaiwen, was the king of the highlights.
Even sitting down below, when he saw his solo run against Juventus, his dribbling past eight Inter Milan players, and his four penalty saves against Liverpool, Huang Kaiwen himself felt deeply astonished.
Not to mention those in the football community there.
Though the award recipient hadn’t been announced yet.
Many felt that Huang Kaiwen was today’s big winner.
Ronaldinho was great.
But compared to Huang Kaiwen, he simply wasn’t in the same league.
When Huang Kaiwen dribbled, every movement was seamlessly connected with technical skill, his feet moved faster, and he faced more defending players.
It looked much more entertaining.
Kaka, sitting next to Huang Kaiwen, was already stunned.
On the pitch, it had been impressive, but through the director’s camera angles, one could truly appreciate the kind of defense Huang Kaiwen was breaking through.
It could be said that he was breaking through an entire team on his own.
As the video ended, the screen shifted to a black-and-white photo of George Best.
The host walked onto the stage with a somber tone, “Just a few days ago, a Ballon d’Or winner left us forever.
George Best was a great player who joined Manchester United during their difficult times, conquering Europe with Charlton, Denis Law, and those Busby’s Babes…
It was God who called him to heaven to play football, and I believe George is also watching today’s award ceremony.”
“Next, we’ll announce the top three finalists for the Ballon d’Or.”
The screen showed a brief clip.
They were Ronaldinho, Lampard, and Huang Kaiwen.
Beckenbauer took the envelope and walked onto the stage.
Huang Kaiwen’s face was stiff with a smile.
Even though he knew he had won the award, Huang Kaiwen couldn’t help feeling nervous until he heard his name announced.
Beckenbauer opened the envelope, glanced inside, and said, “The winner of the 2005 Ballon d’Or is…”
“Congratulations, Kevin!” Kaka was the first to get up and say.
Huang Kaiwen stood up wanting to hug Kaka.
The young miss was faster, standing up and embracing Huang Kaiwen, giving him a hard kiss.
Applause rang out from the audience.
Huang Kaiwen hugged Kaka back and got up to walk onto the stage.
“Huang Kaiwen, Beckenbauer has announced Huang Kaiwen’s name!”
Huang Jianxiang shouted excitedly inside the live broadcast room of Channel 5.
“This is the first time in the 50-year history of the Ballon d’Or that an Asian has won the award; Huang Kaiwen has made history!!!”
“Huang Kaiwen’s performance over the past year has truly earned him the Ballon d’Or!”
The forums were also exploding.
“Damn, I said Huang Kaiwen would win the award.”
“You see this guy Huang Kaiwen, dressed up in a suit acting all proper.”
“To be honest, Huang Kaiwen is pretty handsome.
He could make a living in the entertainment industry even if he didn’t play football.”
“What’s the point of the entertainment industry?
When there’s an Oscar for Best Director or Actor, then you can come and cling to Huang Kaiwen, okay?”
“I have a feeling Huang Kaiwen is going to show off.”
“Indeed, the speech he gave when he won the literary award before was pretty pretentious.”
The aisle to the stage was narrow, but Huang Kaiwen felt like he was walking on a broad, sunlit path step by step.
He walked onto the stage.
Huang Kaiwen leaned over to shake hands with Beckenbauer.
“You’ve made me believe there really is a god on the football field,” Beckenbauer said, patting Huang Kaiwen’s arm.
Huang Kaiwen stood next to Beckenbauer, looking at the screen.
It was still a montage of his football highlights.
Different from what had been shown before.
It was the footage of his four goals in the UEFA Super Cup.
After the video finished playing.
Sheva took the Ballon d’Or from the editor-in-chief of “France Football”, Elno, and walked all the way to the center of the stage to hand it to Huang Kaiwen.
Huang Kaiwen approached the podium.
He placed the golden football trophy on the table.
He had already prepared his speech in his mind.
Adjusting the microphone height, Huang Kaiwen began his speech, “I am standing here today and would like to thank everyone in the team, our coach, the medical staff, my teammates, and the fans who have always supported us, of course, and my girlfriend.”
Without these people who love me and whom I love, I would never have had the chance to stand here.
You gave me the courage to face all the difficulties.
Love has a stronger power than hate.
You taught me how to love and be loved.
I once heard a saying: If you hold a firm belief and maintain a high spirit, the world will unveil its cold mask and smile brilliantly at you.
This phrase has well interpreted everything that happened to me.
Thank you, that’s all I have to say.”
Applause rang out again.
Huang Kaiwen also received a prompt.
[Ding, successfully snatched Ronaldinho’s only Ballon d’Or…]