Time marched into December, and the entire year of 2012 gradually approached its end.
For the world of Football, this year was one of great waves and magnificent events, a year of emerging heroes! The Argentine divine striker Messi, with his super long-lasting and godlike state, played at the highest level of his career.
In the first 11 months, he hammered in 89 goals, becoming the first player in history with the hope of challenging the annual 100-goal record, and also very likely to complete an unprecedented fourth consecutive Ballon d'Or!
Also playing in La Liga, the Portuguese divine striker Ronaldo was not outdone by such a strong opponent, scoring 70+ goals in the first 11 months, maintaining his strong competitiveness.
Even more noteworthy is that these two, known as the unparalleled pride of their generation, encountered a new and powerful opponent this year! Maël, the 19-year-old from Aix, stepped onto the historical stage of Football, becoming a competitor that the two had to take seriously! In the first 11 months, he also scored a staggering 79 goals (31 goals in the second half of 11-12 season + 24 goals for the national team throughout the year + 24 goals so far in 12-13), and his goal contributions exceeded 100! It could even be said that if Messi hadn't exploded this year, reaching a new career high, Maël might have directly and undoubtedly won the Golden Ball, given his and Ronaldo's performance in previous years.
He shortened his development time to the minimum after his sudden emergence, directly taking the highest award! "Maël Messi!"
Recently, reports about the two have been constantly flooding the brains of fans on various platforms, even affecting those outside the Football circle, making them known to the vast majority of people around the world.
Countless photos and videos have appeared on social media, and sometimes if you inadvertently click into a video, you will most likely hear the following two voices.
"MessiOhhh!!"
"Ma-ehlMa-ehlWonderful goal!! Absolutely!"
Virus-like publicity and foreshadowing began, like cell division, countless messages invaded people's sight, making everyone involuntarily pay attention to the Golden Ball battle between these two.
Perhaps without data experts and Football experts doing any further analysis and commentary, fans themselves have formed an impression in their minds - this year's Ballon d'Or is a two-man battle between Messi and Maël, and Ronaldo is unlikely to join in.
Either Messi, the Argentine star who has the hope of challenging 100 goals in a year, has scored three consecutive goals in the past 3 years, and has super influence and prestige!
Or Maël, the 19-year-old striker who swept all the awards in the competitions he participated in, and is expected to challenge 90+ goals in a year, the French supercar!
This is the influence of public opinion. Of course, the reason is that the two have performed well enough and dazzlingly enough in the past year, which can make this kind of communication stand.
If it were another year with a 20-goal player, even if the publicity was hot, people would not think that he is a Ballon d'Or favorite.
On December 1st, France Football released a blockbuster message - "The 23-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or is out! Barcelona and Real Madrid have the most! La Liga still maintains its position at the top!"
Clicking in to see, in this list, Barcelona and Real Madrid both have five players selected for the big list.
Barcelona: Messi, Pique, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets
Real Madrid: Ronaldo, Casillas, Xavi Alonso, Ramos, Marcelo In addition, La Liga also has the Colombian divine striker Falcao from Atlético Madrid on the list. His state this year is also very good, and he was among the best in the UEFA list in the middle of the year.
11 people! This is La Liga at this time. Even if only Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid are fighting for hegemony, they can still occupy half of the nominations for each major award!
After La Liga, it is the Premier League. A total of 4 Premier League clubs have players selected.
The first is Arsenal, which is no suspense. They won three championships this year, and there is also the miracle of winning the league with 100 points undefeated. It is only natural that the influence of the players has risen.
Not to mention Arsenal's new season lineup, most of the Arsenal players in the old lineup last season are now firmly in the first-class position in the hearts of fans.
Among them, the Arsenal players who followed Maël to win the championship in the French Team benefited the most, which can also be seen in the final list.
Some people who would have never had the chance to be on this list in their lives were selected for the first time and have the opportunity to participate in the final ceremony early next year! Arsenal: Maël, Van Persie, Koscielny, Sagna After Arsenal, there are Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, the three Premier League powerhouses, each with one player selected for this list.
Chelsea: Benzema
Manchester City: Agüero Manchester United: Rooney
7 people! This is the list of 23 people selected for the Premier League, and they represent the highest competitive level of the Premier League.
And the remaining last 5 nominees come from 5 different leagues, each being the sole representative of their respective league and club.
Serie A - Juventus: Pirlo
Bundesliga - Bayern Munich: Neuer Ligue 1 - Paris Saint-Germain: Zlatan Ibrahimović Brazilian League - Santos: Neymar Chinese Super League - Shanghai Shenhua: Drogba
One representative from a super league, four from top-tier leagues, the 'strength and weakness' are easily discernible.
The announcement of this list immediately caused a huge reaction in fan circles, with the most discussed topics being the contemporary peerless trio Messi, Ronaldo, and Maël, as well as Drogba, the first Asian league player to be included in the FIFA Ballon d'Or list.
Controversy and discussion reignited, fans arguing and bickering, unable to reach a consensus, but all voicing their opinions for their beliefs, hoping to gain recognition from others and find their group.
"Huff, huff...!"
That afternoon, Maël was in the team's gym doing some restorative training with the fitness coach, preparing for the 15th round of the Premier League against Swansea the following day.
He didn't pay too much attention to the outside discussions, just glanced through the list with his teammates when it came out, seeing who was on it.
Honestly, with his performance this year, it would be normal for him to be included in the 23-man shortlist. Being included in the final 3-man shortlist would be something to be happy about, and then he would see who the most popular choices were.
"What did I say last year? I said I would definitely be selected, right?"
On the other side, Van Persie said with a refreshed spirit after seeing the list, "Although I definitely won't win, going to the awards ceremony also represents that I am ranked at the top of the list of Football players."
"Strive for another breath this year, and strive to go continuously, for 3 years in a row."
"You've been selected for the 23-man shortlist this year, and next year and the year after you'll be aiming for the top 3? Doesn't the Dutch striker have this much confidence in himself?" Maël looked at his friend and teased with a smile.
"I wouldn't dare to think about that."
Van Persie was still very self-aware, shrugging his shoulders and saying, "You, Messi, and Ronaldo, who can I compete with? I've already accepted it, being in the top 10 is not bad.
"I really can't imagine how I can get into the top three, that would require the Netherlands to win the World Cup or the European Cup, or... Arsenal to win five championships including the Champions League, right? "Moreover, I myself have to perform excellently, scoring at least 50 goals."
"Didn't you score 40+ this year?" Maël stretched his leg muscles and encouraged, "If you go further in the Champions League in the future, and even have FIFA Club World Cup matches, then scoring 50 goals isn't impossible."
"Haha..." Van Persie laughed twice without speaking, as if he felt it was a bit exaggerated to say these things before reaching the Champions League semi-finals, winning the Champions League title, and entering the FIFA Club World Cup.
Maël didn't feel anything, he had always been like this, he would express his goals very generously.
And beside the two of them, the newly-elected Ballon d'Or nominees Koscielny and Sagna were smiling foolishly, turning their heads left and right to watch the two chat.
Their moods were naturally extremely cheerful, their joy overflowing, so much so that they couldn't help but get closer to Van Persie and Maël when they were doing their exercises, as if the four of them were a new group.
"Maël."
Sagna approached Maël, his hand naturally resting on Maël's shoulder, and said happily, "It seems that my two impromptu songs were not created in vain, helping me enter the shortlist is your greatest reward to me."
"Yes." Koscielny also chimed in, "I really want to thank you, without you, I don't know if I would be able to win 4 top-level competition titles by the end of my career.
"I really didn't expect to win 4 championships in a year this year, and also enter that hall of fame."
Maël looked at the two and shook his head with a smile, "That's because you performed well yourselves, we all did what we were supposed to do, let's not talk about that, let's continue to work hard next year and strive for consecutive wins.
"When will we be like Real Madrid and Barcelona, going with five or six people a year, or even more than them?
"I believe that is possible, if we continue to develop in this direction, no one can predict our future."
Van Persie and the other two didn't speak, but their faces showed some longing, as if they were also imagining the moment when this club had such influence.
The others around them also had high expectations for this.
Thiago Silva, Giroud, Bale, Cazorla, Ramsey, Gilbert, and others all looked into the distance, imagining the scene of that day.
"How much success would that be?" After a long while, Gilbert seemed unable to restrain himself and asked.
"How much?" Maël thought for a moment, recalling Van Persie's mention of the five-crowns, and half-jokingly, half-seriously said, "Maybe it's the year of the seven-crowns, the year we win everything."
...
On December 2nd, the 15th round of the Premier League kicked off at Arsenal's home stadium, the Emirates Stadium, with the Swansea team visiting to challenge the league leaders.
Swansea's performance in the Premier League this season has been decent, managing to gain a foothold here. They are currently ranked eighth, far from the relegation zone, and even showing a competitive edge for the European War zone.
However, for a team whose total value barely exceeds 100 million, less than Maël's alone, defeating Arsenal is very difficult.
They not only need to play their best game but also hope that Arsenal has some problems of their own or that other unexpected events occur.
"Bip!"
The match kicked off at 3:30 p.m. that day. The sun shone on the Emirates Stadium's lawn, but it no longer had any warmth. Winter had arrived, and people were wearing thick jackets and hoodies, with gloves on.
Maël also wore gloves that day, not for warmth, but mainly to pay homage to 'Ma Dongmei' in the hope that he could achieve a good state like Mahrez.
He didn't expect to play like Messi, but he hoped that as his strength grew, he would play better than he did this summer.
"Sagna! He was just selected for the Ballon d'Or shortlist! This period should be the happiest and most glorious time of his life! Let's take a look at this Cross! Van Persie is challenging for the Header in the middle!!
"Re-shot! Giroud poked the ball in! A relay from two center forwards! Goal! One to zero! Arsenal hasn't shown any signs of going easy today!
"That's natural, everyone knows they are fighting for that 58-game unbeaten record! This match is the 53rd!"
"."
"Maël! A Header goal!! Another Cross from Sagna! Hooh, is Sagna trying to prove why he can be selected for the Ballon d'Or shortlist today?
"Haha... Two to zero! Some panic and powerlessness have already appeared on the faces of the Swansea players!
"They seem to feel that every Arsenal player is in excellent condition, making it difficult to fight them!"
"."
"Here it comes again! Bale's One-on-One!! Goal! Three to zero! Arsenal killed the game right at the start of the second half!
"An assist from Maël! We've noticed that since Bale arrived, Maël's through-ball ability has gradually emerged!
"I think this is related to Bale's Speed ability. Last season, although Maël was still able to frequently pass such surgical passes, Van Persie's Speed ability and impact were obviously insufficient.
"Since Bale came this season, the team has forward impact and Speed, and Maël's through-balls behind the defense naturally appear extremely lethal!"
"."
"A Volley shot! Fourth... Ah, a divine save! Tremmel rejected Maël's shot! Beautiful! But the ball didn't go far! Maël has the ball again!
"Is he going to shoot? A horizontal push! It's Bale again! He shoots into an empty net! Haha, the two of them have both completed a Brace of goals and assists!
"The fourth one!!"
"."
"Here it comes!! Maël's Long Shot Heavy Cannon!! It's been a game or two since we've seen him hit a ball like that! I kind of missed it!"
"This feeling is rare. Logically, long shots are low-probability events. How can I treat it as a habit?"
"But this is Maël, this is the feeling our fans get when watching Maël play! 2 goals and 2 assists! He once again single-handedly created 4 goals in a single game! Is he a divine striker? A super attacker? No! Sometimes, I feel like he's from another planet!!"
"."
"Boom!!"
On the field, Maël slid on his knees, jumped up, and then stomped heavily on the ground, putting his hands under his armpits, making Mbappé's classic celebration move.
"2 goals and 2 assists! 26 goals and 12 assists in 15 rounds, ranking first in both charts, 38 goals created, Maël, are you really going to turn the world upside down?" - London Evening Standard
"Chelsea suffers another defeat! Another loss of points! The gap between them and Arsenal is getting bigger and bigger! Did they lose their souls after being defeated by Arsenal? Benitez's situation is getting more and more difficult!" - The Guardian
"First: Arsenal, 41 points; Second: Chelsea, 35 points; Third: Manchester City, 34 points; Fourth: Manchester United, 33 points." - Premier League Round 15 standings
-----------
This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
To read the full translation, as well as more than 444+ fanfic and original translations or request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/
You can also join the RandomTranslator community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------