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Lance still remembered his first time attending the Ballon d'Or awards ceremony.
At 16, he first wore a custom Armani suit, standing on the red carpet surrounded by reporters and flashing lights.
It was his first time interacting with stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, and Ribéry.
In that environment, Lance felt as dazzling as these world-class superstars, as if just attending the awards was a great honour.
When he stood at the Ballon d'Or awards venue again, Lance felt nothing.
Three days earlier, Atlético Madrid had just swept Celta Vigo 6-0.
Immediately after the match, Lance flew to the FIFA International Federation of Association Football headquarters in Zurich to attend the 2015 Ballon d'Or awards ceremony.
To be precise, it was the FIFA Ballon d'Or.
This award, without surprise, should be the last of its kind. When the 2016 Ballon d'Or selection comes around, France Football Magazine will restore the original Ballon d'Or rules, no longer constrained by the FIFA International Federation of Association Football.
There was nothing to say about the venue. Lance maintained a polite smile throughout, his cheekbones almost aching.
Meeting the other two in the top three for this year's Ballon d'Or, Lance initially expected a tense atmosphere.
In fact, in such public settings, basic politeness still existed.
"Lance, bro, you played well in the last match."
Cristiano Ronaldo, with his relatively outgoing personality, took the initiative to greet him.
Lance merely shook his hand.
Who's your bro?!
"Thanks."
Indeed, as the two exchanged a 'gangster-style' high-five, Cristiano Ronaldo subtly pulled him closer and whispered, "See you at the Bernabéu. I'll get my revenge... This time it's real, I'm not kidding."
Dude, are you like Gray Wolf from the cartoons? Or a primary school student?
Lance was too lazy to even complain, thinking how childish it was.
Whether publicly or privately, Cristiano Ronaldo had talked about revenge several times.
It was like an ancient joke Lance heard when he was a child—
On the first day of hunting, a hunter encountered a bear and was... well, you know.
Unwilling to give up, the hunter went back into the mountains to seek revenge on the bear and was... well, you know, again.
After several times, the bear couldn't take it anymore:
"Are you here to hunt, or are you here to sell yourself?"
So, hearing Cristiano Ronaldo say that, Lance almost couldn't keep a straight face.
"Yes, exactly."
"I'm serious!"
"Yes, yes."
"Damn it!!"
Even after Lance left, Cristiano Ronaldo grew angrier the more he thought about it.
He had intended to deliver a harsh threat, but it ended up like a child menacing an adult with a water gun, zero attack power.
Just wait!
Real Madrid, under Zidane, is not what it used to be!
We, Real Madrid, are invincible!
Compared to Cristiano Ronaldo's childishness, Messi was much more reserved.
The two didn't exchange a single word, only polite nods.
"Leo, it feels like this guy doesn't respect you at all. You're the world's number one, the player with the most Ballons d'Or, after all."
Neymar turned to glance at Lance's retreating figure, pouting.
In this Ballon d'Or ranking, Neymar was 4th, just behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
Even after losing to Lance once, Neymar was still unconvinced.
He always felt that in the last match between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, Lance was purely lucky.
Anyone who plays football knows the true value of Messi.
"It doesn't matter; performance speaks for itself."
Messi said indifferently.
A month before the awards, the speculation about today's Ballon d'Or battle was already rampant.
He was very likely to win, as expected.
But Messi was also well aware that there was a certain amount of 'water' in this award.
Barcelona hadn't even reached the final, so why should he win?
Lance's loss was due to his skin colour.
In today's Western value system, even black players have a higher chance of winning an award than Lance.
So, despite the organisers repeatedly hinting to prepare an acceptance speech, and his agent team preparing promotional work in advance for after the award, with the FIFA Ballon d'Or result practically predetermined, Messi still couldn't bring himself to be happy...
"The winner of this year's FIFA Ballon d'Or is—"
"Lionel—Messi—"
Clap, clap, clap.
The applause from the audience was fervent, and Cristiano Ronaldo's face was ashen.
Lance merely wore a faint smile, showing no discernible emotion.
The awards ceremony itself seemed calm on the surface, but the moment the presenter announced Messi's name, the internet instantly erupted in a storm!
"Why? Why not Lance?"
"Ballon d'Or Injustice, Episode 3"
"After Sneijder and Ribéry, there's Lance"
"Investigate FIFA thoroughly!"
"We need a European Ballon d'Or!"
"Lance is the number one! Messi is a vote thief!"
Enraged netizens flooded the official FIFA International Federation of Association Football Twitter in less than 10 minutes.
Hackers even attacked the FIFA website, leaving the large word [CHEAT] on the homepage: FIFA Ballon d'Or Scam! Cheating!
The accumulated emotions from the two injustices in 2010 (Sneijder) and 2013 (Ribéry) completely exploded.
Overnight, the Ballon d'Or became the most discussed hot topic on foreign social media.
"Missed the Ballon d'Or by just 1 point! 18-year-old Oriental prodigy narrowly loses to Messi, FIFA selection sparks widespread controversy."
"France Football Magazine may part ways with FIFA, is the FIFA Ballon d'Or becoming a thing of the past?"
"Major loopholes in FIFA Ballon d'Or selection, experts claim the merged award mechanism is unreasonable."
...
At the recently concluded 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or awards gala, Barcelona player Messi narrowly won the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or by a single point, becoming the player with the most awards, with 5 Ballon d'Or trophies.
Lance unfortunately missed out, sparking widespread controversy amongst netizens after the awards.
According to the FIFA Ballon d'Or selection rules, this award combined the original World Player of the Year selection and weighted media votes to determine the final total score.
In the first-preference votes from national team coaches and captains, Messi had a significant advantage with 49 votes, Lance ranked 2nd with 25 votes, and Cristiano Ronaldo only received 2 votes.
In the second-preference selection from media and professionals, Lance had a huge advantage of 25 votes, leading Messi by 15 votes.
According to relevant sources, based on the weighted total score of all data, Messi secured the award with 275 points.
Lance, with 274 points, unfortunately lost by just 1 point.
With excellent results in the Champions League and international competitions for two consecutive years, and being ranked for the Ballon d'Or but missing out for two consecutive years, the voices of doubt from fans and netizens regarding the FIFA Ballon d'Or grew louder, with the Lance incident becoming the fuse.
It is reported that a spokesperson for France Football Magazine stated that it has refused to renew its cooperation with FIFA and is simultaneously planning to expose FIFA International Federation of Association Football corruption scandals, with current FIFA President Blatter and UEFA President Platini potentially implicated...
...
Lance hadn't expected that after a trip to Zurich, when he returned to Madrid to prepare for upcoming matches, France Football Magazine's speed in initiating the attack was truly astonishing!
They flashed in, used their ultimate, and hard-controlled Platini and Blatter!
"Look at this, Lance!"
Griezmann excitedly held his phone in front of Lance, who was still eating breakfast and almost choked.
...
According to Agence France-Presse, France Football Magazine submitted incriminating evidence to relevant authorities last night, accusing FIFA President Blatter and UEFA President Platini of years of corruption, and involvement in manipulating matches, controlling award selections, and multiple other charges.
In the early hours of this morning, Swiss police took control of Blatter, Platini, and several other implicated officials, both of whom have been suspended.
Former UEFA Secretary General Infantino has temporarily taken over as FIFA President. The FIFA election will be held in February...
"Holy cow, that fast!"
"Yeah, the world has suffered under FIFA for too long!"
Griezmann spoke a long string of French, which Lance automatically translated and compressed.
"What a pity, what a pity."
Saúl shook his head and sighed nearby.
"It's a pity France Football Magazine acted too slowly. If they had fallen out earlier, Lance might have won."
"Yeah, he could have been the youngest Ballon d'Or winner in history."
"Sigh..."
Lance hadn't even sighed yet, but his Atlético Madrid teammates were already dejected.
It got to the point where Lance had to comfort his teammates.
"Alright, alright, let's try our best this year. Brothers, help me push hard and bring back the 2016 Ballon d'Or!"
"No problem!!"
"Brother, I support you!"
Atlético Madrid teammates were even more enthusiastic about this than Lance.
Logically, for an individual honour like the Ballon d'Or, everyone would want to compete for it.
However, only Lance had a chance in the entire team; everyone else was too far from the Ballon d'Or.
Helping Lance win the award brought honour to everyone around him.
When they transferred out, they'd have something to boast about:
"Back in the day, I played with the great Ballon d'Or winner Lance; we were all mates!"
"Exactly!"
Simeone also struck whilst the iron was hot to strengthen team cohesion.
"Let's push hard, set a small goal first, and reclaim that damn top spot!"
"Vamos!!!"