Chapter 1,236 Asian Footballer

Gao Xiaodong was disappointed on the court, but he had good gains off the court.

After playing against Newcastle United, Gao Xiaodong was invited by the AFC to attend the AFC's annual awards ceremony.

For the sake of face and to increase the influence of the Asian Footballer of the Year, the AFC once had a rule of "no award if not present". Therefore, stars like Park Ji-sung have never won the Asian Footballer of the Year.

In the eyes of many people, Gao Xiaodong is very likely to defend the FIFA Ballon d'Or this year, so he will definitely not take the Asian Footballer in his eyes, and naturally he will not participate in the Asian Footballer award.

Many people are even ready to watch the AFC's jokes, because it would be funny if the World Footballer was not the Asian Footballer.

However, what no one expected was that on the day of the AFC year-end ceremony, Gao Xiaodong would come.

This made AFC Acting Chairman Zhang Jilong very excited.

Although Zhang Jilong has considerable influence in the Chinese Football Association, he did not dare to guarantee that he could recruit Gao Xiaodong. He personally called Gao Xiaodong beforehand and explained the AFC's intentions. He hoped that Gao Xiaodong could help the AFC. The Football Association has a face.

Gao Xiaodong said that if it did not conflict with competition or training, he would definitely come to support it.

In fact, wasting a day to attend the grand ceremony can give Zhang Jilong face and win the favor of Asian fans. How could a person like Gao Xiaodong not agree?

Gao Xiaodong naturally won the Asian Footballer of the Year unexpectedly.

At the award ceremony, Gao Xiaodong expressed his gratitude to the AFC and Asian fans, hoping that Asian football can develop faster and become a football powerhouse as soon as possible.

The AFC was flattered by the arrival of Gao Xiaodong. After all, many foreign players who were eligible to win the Asian Footballer of the Year were unwilling to come back to receive the award during the league. As the best star in Asia's history, Gao Xiaodong is the biggest favorite for the World Footballer. , came back to attend the Asian Footballer Award Ceremony, which is a great honor.

The Acting Chairman of the AFC thanked Gao Xiaodong at the award ceremony for winning honor and respect for Asian football and Chinese football, and hoped that Gao Xiaodong could continue to support the development of Asian football.

The AFC Secretary-General Veerappan said that Gao Xiaodong is a symbol of Asian football, and the AFC will consider giving Gao Xiaodong a lifelong honor, that is, the Asian Football King.

Although Veerappan, the secretary-general of the AFC, was just a compliment, Gao Xiaodong's title of Asian Football King quickly spread among fans.

…

Gao Xiaodong returned to England, and the League Cup also kicked off.

Manchester United does not attach importance to the League Cup, but only regards this cup as a place to train new players and substitutes.

Manchester United's performance in the Premier League is poor. Substitutes and newcomers are eager to perform well and be favored by head coach Ferguson to get the opportunity to play in the Premier League.

However, haste makes waste. The harder they try, the worse the newcomers and substitutes perform in the League Cup. In the end, in the League Cup semi-finals with the British Championship Crystal Palace, Manchester United was upset and was tied by Crystal Palace in the away game. Knocked out in penalty shootout.

Although Ferguson, the Manchester United management and even the fans did not take the League Cup to heart, it was really embarrassing to be eliminated by a team in the British Championship.

After the game, Ferguson severely criticized the 11 starting players, believing that their performance today was not worthy of Manchester United's jersey, and it was unacceptable to be defeated by a British Championship team.

Pogba is the main defensive midfielder in the League Cup. He has always hoped to get the attention of Ferguson through his performance in the League Cup and get the opportunity to play in the league.

Now that the League Cup has been eliminated by the British Championship's Crystal Palace, Pogba is very disappointed. He is worried that he will be relegated to the sidelines by Ferguson.

However, Gao Xiaodong comforted Pogba not to worry about this. The League Cup is not important, and Ferguson is not someone who denies a player just because of one or two games, especially a talented young man. He will definitely use it when it is needed.

Pogba couldn't believe what Gao Xiaodong said. Now Manchester United has a lot of defensive midfielders. In addition to Gao Xiaodong, there are also Fletcher, Carrick and Anderson. Ferguson sometimes asked Phil Jones and Giggs to play. As a defensive midfielder, he had no chance when he performed well in the League Cup. Now that Manchester United has been eliminated by Crystal Palace, how can Ferguson give him another chance.

Obviously Pogba does not understand Ferguson. Ferguson is very clear about his potential. Not letting him play in the Premier League is actually the right protection. He is under 18 years old and can grow up slowly. The Premier League is too fierce, and the League Cup is undoubtedly for young people. The best environment to grow.

Now that Manchester United has been eliminated from the League Cup, there is no stage for young people with potential to practice. In the league match against Aston Villa, in the second half, Ferguson unexpectedly put Pogba and Welbeck on the field.

At this time, the team was still tied 0:0, and only Ferguson dared to replace two young people.

But Ferguson can win almost every time. Pogba and Gao Xiaodong are a good partner in the midfield. Pogba can steal, pass, and shoot. The most important thing is that Pogba makes up for Gao Xiaodong. Due to the lack of height, it is difficult for the opponent's high-altitude ball to go over the head of Pogba, who is 1.9 meters tall.

Welbeck, who often plays in the Premier League, performed better than Pogba in the 78th minute. He cooperated with Gao Xiaodong and Rooney, and finally received Gao Xiaodong's cross pass and scored the only goal of the game.

After the game, Ferguson praised Welbeck and Pogba, believing that they, together with young people such as Cleverley, are the backbone of Manchester United's future.

Gao Xiaodong is very happy that Pogba can make his debut in the Premier League. Pogba is from his company and has great potential. The only thing missing is an opportunity. If there are enough opportunities, Pogba can soar into the sky.

After the game, Gao Xiaodong also spoke for Pogba in an interview. He said that Pogba has improved very quickly, can attack and defend, and can share some of the offensive pressure for himself.

It seems that Gao Xiaodong said it lightly, not as much as he praised Welbeck, but in fact Gao Xiaodong's words carry a lot of weight.

Since Scholes retired, Manchester United has been lacking a player who is good at attacking and passing in the midfield, so much so that sometimes Ferguson even asked Giggs to make a cameo in the defensive midfielder position in order to increase attack power.

Fletcher is a defensive midfielder. Carrick is in poor condition after being injured. Anderson is a bit disabled and his performance is getting worse now. Apart from Gao Xiaodong, there is no other midfielder who can provide offensive help.

Media analysts said that if Pogba can continue to perform stably in the midfielder position, he may be able to get more chances to play in the Premier League this season.

The outstanding performance of Pogba and Welbeck is a happy thing. In addition, Gao Xiaodong also has good news in terms of the Golden Globe Award.

FIFA and "France Football" magazine held a FIFA Ballon d'Or Awards press conference in Paris and announced the final top three candidates for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or: Gao Xiaodong, Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo. The top three candidates for Coach of the Year are: Ferguson, Guardiola and Mourinho.

Candidates for the "Puskas Award" were announced at the same time. Messi beat the goalkeeper and scored in the volley against Arsenal in the Champions League last season, Neymar's long-distance run scored, and Gao Xiaodong's scorpion tail-swinging goal was shortlisted.

The final top three candidates for Miss World Football have also been selected, with Brazilian star Marta, Japanese star Hoshiki Sawa and American star Wambach shortlisted. The top three candidates for the best coach of the women's football team are American women's football coach Pia, Japanese women's football coach Sasaki, and French women's football coach Bini.

Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or in 2008, Messi won the Ballon d'Or in 2009, and Gao Xiaodong won the Ballon d'Or last year. This season, the three superstars once again competed for the Ballon d'Or on the same stage. On January 9, 2012, FIFA's year-end conference will announce who is the final winner among Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gao Xiaodong.