Chapter 240 – Ballon d’Or Podium (3)

240

It’s so embarrassing to sit with your girlfriend next to you— what the hell.

How many people come out with their girlfriend ‘s’ at an official event?
A couple means two people, a man and a woman, but since one man came out with two women on either side, the camera had to focus.

As I was giggling with my girlfriends at the camera that was focused on me, the awards ceremony began.

Soon, the names of three people appear one after another on a large electronic signboard.

Jorge Garcia (23, Spain, Real Madrid)
Gabriel Mendy (25, France, PSG)
Minjun Hong (22, South Korea, Newcastle)

It’s amazing to see the Taegeukgi floating side by side with the Spanish and French flags.

“Harin. Didn’t you include an option for the Ballon d’Or when you signed with Newcastle?”
“If you are included in the 30-man list, you get 2 million euros, if you finish on the Ballon d’Or podium, you get 5 million euros, and if you reach the Ballon d’Or winner, you get a 10 million euro bonus.”
“A cumulative 17 million euros for the Ballon d’Or?”
“A cumulative sum of 10 million euros.”

Even 10 million euros is no small amount of money.
It’s about 14 billion won in Hanwha, isn’t it more than my annual salary?

“Suddenly, my salary feels low.”
“Not much. Compared to your skills.”

Newcastle signed a contract and was guaranteed a weekly wage of £150,000, which is about 220 to 30 million won in Hanwha, which is about 12 billion won in terms of annual salary.

Even an annual salary of 100 million is considered a high-income earner, but an annual salary of 10 billion is a huge salary, but it is not enough to be a Ballon d’Or podium player.

If you look at your immediate rivals, Jorge Garcia and Gabriel Mendy, the difference is stark.
It has not been made public, but according to what is known unofficially and implicitly, Jorge Garcia’s annual salary at Real Madrid is about 23 billion, which is close to twice my salary, and Gabriel Mendy goes one step further and earns over 50 billion.

Is it a true story of 50 billion won?
The horse is 50 billion won, so that’s almost 1 billion won a week. Indeed, the famous PSG-like weekly wage system.

When Messi was recruited in the past, it was said that the weekly wage alone exceeded 1.5 billion, but after all, oil people cannot afford to pay money.

‘Uh? Newcastle also oil money… That’s not right.’

Unfortunately, Dubai does not have oil.
It is said that Abu Dhabi, the leader of the same UAE, is full of oil, but even in such a small country, there is such a gap between federations.

As I was thinking useless thoughts, the highlight scenes of each player flashed by on the large screen in front of the theater.

And the legend among legends coming out for the announcement, GOAT in the soccer world.
It was Lionel Messi, whose legs looked shorter because of his thicker body.

“Whisooyu~”
“Lionel! Lionel!!”
“Leo! Leo! Leo! Leo!”
“Wow~ That’s Messi!”

Everyone stands up from the audience and gives enthusiastic applause to the appearance of a legend that is unknown to soccer players.
As everyone cheered and called names as they were accustomed to, Messi standing in front of the microphone smiled awkwardly and waved his hand.

“Not-“

Put down the mic.

“Hello everybody. This is Lionel Messi.”

Once again, enthusiastic shouts and applause passed, followed by Messi’s announcement.

‘Ballon d’Or… It must be difficult this time.’

No matter how much I am, I am a little nervous before the ranking announcement.
In fact, I had no expectations for the Ballon d’Or until I came here after the announcement of the Ballon d’Or podium.

Yes, no matter how great my performance was last season, the only winning career was the Europa League after all.

The Europa League is not at the level where you kneel.
Obviously winning the Europa League is a great career, but this is the ‘Ballon d’Or’ awards ceremony. Isn’t it the Ballon d’Or award ceremony, which is the highest honor a soccer player can receive?

As an award given to the best of the best, compared to the careers of my competitors, winning the Europa League is bound to shine.

To be honest, it’s amazing that I even got to the Ballon d’Or podium by winning the Europa League.
That’s why I thought that I had to do very well at the Ballon d’Or this time to come second, but… I can’t wait to come here.

As Messi pulls down the microphone for the presentation, the hands of Harin and Daye, who were sitting on either side, tense up. The moment I, too, hold onto my girlfriends’ hands and wait,

“Third place. Hong Min-jun from Newcastle.”
“… Ah.”

In the end it happens like this
I was able to draw a smile as usual while feeling the camera focusing with the sound of applause.

The second place announced next was PSG’s Gabriel Mendy.

“Gabriel Mendy played 52 games for the club last season and recorded a total of 42 goals and 12 assists, leading the league’s top scorer, leading the league championship and Champions League runner-up, and also with the national team at the World Cup with 6 goals and 1 assist, France’s I made the runner up. Based on these achievements, he moved into second place with a total of 661 points.”

And the winner is—

“With 49 goals and 21 assists in 55 games, he finished second in the Copa del Rey, won La Liga and Champions League, and took part in the World Cup, leading Spain to third place with five goals. Congratulations on your best performance last season— winning La Liga and Champions League top scorer. Jorge Garcia is the Ballon d’Or winner with 709 points.”

It was Jorge Garcia.
Damn that stupid bastard.

* * *

“Third—”

Along with Messi’s announcement, Koreans who were watching the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony burst into sighs all at once.
No, not only Koreans but also fans all over the world who wished for Hong Min-joon’s award were all disappointed.

“What… I can’t help it. Hong Min-joon is the guy I am, but the competitors are so outstanding.”
“It’s unfortunate, but Koreans and Asians rank highest. Besides, Minjun Hong is still 22 years old. If things go on like this, the problem is how many Ballon d’Ors you get.”

Still, most soccer fans accepted the result meekly.
Even when the media goes wild and predicts the possibility of winning the Ballon d’Or, it is difficult to win the award in reality… Because it was a common atmosphere.

However, there are people everywhere who have radical and wrong fanaticism.
Some fans will soon go viral online, rumors that it is racism, that it is an incorrect standard, and that the reporters who vote are biased because most of them are Europeans.

While malicious people are participating here for the sake of interest, heating up public opinion such as Ballon d’Or re-voting movement—

“It’s a strange feeling to be awarded the Ballon d’Or by a Barcelona legend as a Real Madrid player.”

Jorge Garcia’s acceptance speech, which started as a joke, began to flow calmly.

“It is my second Ballon d’Or and my second consecutive Ballon d’Or, so I am personally very happy. Because he was recognized as the best footballer for two years. My parents and my wife, Camilla, who are watching this honor—”

For a while, gratitude to the precious people continues,

“Last year when I first won the Ballon d’Or, I said that too… Now, I finally feel that my competitor is right around the corner. I always insisted on it. In this generation, the only player who can be compared to me is Hong Min-joon. Red. I got it this time too, so it’s already 2:0. Don’t keep me waiting.”

At Jorge Garcia’s bombshell remarks, cheers rang out from the crowd.

“Camera! What are you doing with the camera!! 5th and 8th quick catch Hong and Mendy!!”

In an instant, the camera turned to Hong Min-joon and Gabriel Mendy at the PD’s cry, sensing that it was an opportunity.

Even though he finished second, Gabriel Mendy’s black face distorted after being passed, and Hong Min-jun, who was suddenly summoned, just shook his head and laughed.

“Great… Good good. Now put mehndi away. Only Hong and Jorge come out… “

Then, Gabriel Mendy’s ugly face disappeared and the screen was filled with only two people, Jorge Garcia and Hong Min-jun.

“Okay! This is it! Rivalry! That’s sports!!”

It was the beginning of the rivalry.

* * *

The Ballon d’Or Awards aren’t just about awarding the Ballon d’Or.

There is also the Trope Copa, an award given to soccer players under the age of 21 who showed the best performance of the year, and the Trope Yasin, an award given to the goalkeeper who showed the best performance of the year. There is also an award called ‘Striker of the Year’.

Gabriel Mendy proved his excellence by winning the ‘Striker of the Year’ at the 2nd place of the Ballon d’Or, just like the inaugural winner, Levandowska.

However, all the spotlight was focused on the rivalry between Jorge Garcia, who was the first player to win two consecutive Ballon d’Or awards after Messi and Ronaldo, and Hong Min-joon, who he directly pointed out as his rival.

Although the two players seemed to have no contact, the media kept highlighting the two, and the contact continued to pop up. The two had a surprisingly long relationship, starting with the Sydney Olympics, so it was easy to weave a story together.

While the rivalry between the two was highlighted and noisy, the Best FIFA Football Awards were held a week after the Ballon d’Or Awards ceremony.

This awards ceremony, held annually by FIFA, started with the 1991 FIFA Player of the Year Award, merged with the Ballon d’Or in 2010, and was held for six years as the FIFA Ballon d’Or, and then separated in 2016 to become ‘The Best FIFA Football Award’.

The FIFA Football Awards, which are supervised by the top football organization called FIFA and boast tremendous authority as they were once integrated with the Ballon d’Or for as many as 6 years. Its authority was so high that it was an award that could be compared.

Unlike the Ballon d’Or, which is conducted by voting by football journalists, the FIFA Player of the Year Award is decided by a 25% vote by national team coaches, national team captains, reporters from each country, and fans around the world.

This year’s winner, held in Zurich, Switzerland, was Minjun Hong.

And,

“I am very happy to receive such an honorable award. … “

As the awards ceremony continued,

“Finally. I’m happy to be able to prove that my performance last year is just as good as my rivals.”

The word “Rival” That came out during the official acceptance speech hit the world once again.