Luo Ming's Vote Sparks Heated Domestic Debate, How Far is Tang Long from Breaking the Duopoly?
After the awards ceremony, the scores of the 30 participants were also revealed.
Cristiano Ronaldo 745 points, Lionel Messi 256 points, Tang Long 248 points, Suarez 98 points, Agüero 51 points.
Cristiano Ronaldo winning the award was almost universally expected, and his odds of winning were also the highest.
Even before the Ballon d'Or ceremony, major media outlets had already learned through rumors that Cristiano Ronaldo would win this year's Ballon d'Or.
Therefore, Ronaldo's award was not surprising.
What really caught everyone's attention wasn't Lionel Messi, who was ranked second, but Tang Long!
Tang Long received 248 votes, which was extremely close to Lionel Messi's 256 votes, differing by only 8 votes, making them neck and neck.
Judging solely from last season's performance, Tang Long's profile is not as dazzling as Lionel Messi's.
However, since the Ballon d'Or is based on annual performance, and Tang Long's goal tally in the top Top Five Leagues so far this season has garnered him a lot of votes from August to December.
Titan Sports is the only media outlet in China with voting rights. Editor-in-Chief Luo Ming ranked the media outlets in the poll as follows:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. Tang Long
Although Luo Ming's votes have been controversial in recent years, the final vote results are almost identical to Luo Ming's ranking.
Often, the top three match perfectly.
This also indirectly proves Luo Ming's authority in the field of football as the editor-in-chief of Titan Sports.
Luo Ming posted an announcement on his social media, explaining his reasons for casting his first vote for Cristiano Ronaldo:
"Cristiano Ronaldo's performance in 2016 was outstanding, and he deserves my first vote."
"At the national team level, Cristiano Ronaldo led Portugal to their first UEFA European Championship title. Against Hungary, his hat-trick helped the team secure a dramatic draw from a desperate situation. Even after being injured in the final, he continued to encourage his teammates from the sidelines, serving as the team's spiritual pillar in their victory."
"At the club level, during Real Madrid's UEFA Champions League title defense, Cristiano Ronaldo scored many crucial goals in the knockout stages, such as his brace against Roma in the first leg of the Round of 16. He ultimately won the UEFA Champions League Golden Boot with 16 goals. His influence in key matches, his powerful goal-scoring ability, and his importance to the team make him my first choice for the 2016 Ballon d'Or."
Luo Ming commented on Lionel Messi as follows:
"Lionel Messi's performance in 2016 also made him my second-best choice."
"Barcelona's dominance in the domestic league remains undiminished, with Lionel Messi playing a crucial role as the team's attacking core. In La Liga, his performance last season was equally impressive, making him the biggest contributor to Barca's La Liga title win."
"Lionel Messi's superb skills, control of the game's tempo, and core role in the team throughout the year have been outstanding. Although Argentina lost the Copa América final, considering all factors, I would give Lionel Messi my second vote."
Tang Long, who received the third and most attention-grabbing vote, wrote a heartfelt message expressing his high hopes for Tang Long's Titan Sports!
"My hands were trembling when I wrote Tang Long's name in third place on the ballot that France Football sent me!"
"This is the first time since I became eligible to vote that I have written a China name on a ballot."
"I struggled for a long time between Lionel Messi and Tang Long because they were both the best players in their teams last season and won the league title, but in the end I put Lionel Messi ahead of Tang Long."
"But I believe that with Tang Long's switch from midfield to striker this season, his goal tally has skyrocketed, surpassing Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to become the number one scorer in the real-time top Top Five Leagues!"
"If Manchester City can win the UEFA Champions League this season and defend their league title, it's conceivable that they will very likely break Lionel Messi and Ronaldo's dominance next year!"
Although the subsequent votes were accurate, his final selection of the top three also coincided with the votes of journalists and national team captains around the world.
However, the criticism within China remains overwhelming!
Many people are saying that Luo Ming is fawning over Lionel Messi, so why not put Tang Long in second place?
"Luo Ming, Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to be ranked first, we all agree on that, but since they both won the league title, why did you vote for Lionel Messi second instead of Tang Long!"
"In what way can Lionel Messi compare to Tang Long? You know, Tang Long personally eliminated Barcelona this season. Lionel Messi sent Barca to play in the UEFA Europa League!"
"Journalists from other countries all rank their own country's players as number one, but you, Editor-in-Chief Luo, have ranked Tang Long as number three!"
"I don't care about these well-reasoned analyses. If I were the editor-in-chief of Titan Sports, Tang Long would definitely be number one!"
"To be honest, Tang Long actually had a chance to get second place, but unfortunately Agüero took away a lot of votes."
However, Tang Long ignored these disputes and simply laughed them off.
He even went on domestic social media and gave Luo Ming's announcement a thumbs up.
Seeing Tang Long's "like," many fans praised him for being magnanimous and not holding a grudge against Tang Long Luo Ming.
However, Tang Long and Luo Ming reached a consensus on one point: they wanted to break Lionel Messi and Ronaldo's long-standing monopoly on the Ballon d'Or. Winning the UEFA Champions League next year, or even leading Manchester City to a treble, would be crucial.
At the same time, he must continue his hot streak in scoring goals and win the European Golden Shoe.
Back on the field.
After their 5-1 victory in the derby against Manchester United in the 15th round of the Premier League, Manchester City traveled to Hull City for their away game.
The Hull City team logo features a tiger, hence the nickname "Tiger City".
However, this "tiger" has recently become a sick cat, falling into a slump and frequently losing to mid-to-lower table teams like Watford and Stoke City. The team is now deep in the relegation zone, and staying in the league is their only hope this season.
So, their manager's strategy for playing at home against Manchester City was quite clear – since they couldn't win anyway, they might as well tank!
With Hull City facing Fulham, their most important relegation rival, in their next match, Hull City made significant rotations for this home game against Manchester City, with more than half of their key players on the bench.
This is also a strategy similar to Tian Ji's horse racing strategy: since you can't win anyway, you might as well focus your energy on matches where you can score points.
Manchester City also played with great control, and Tang Long didn't even need to use his new skill. The Tiger Spreads its Wings, a combination of the Tiger Spreads Its Wings Tiger Shot and the Winged Shot, scored two goals and provided an assist, helping the team to a comfortable 3-0 away victory over Hull City.
The first goal was a typical ground passing game that Guardiola instilled in Manchester City. Through the tiki-taka tactic, Thiago suddenly changed the pace and gently flicked the ball down the wing with the outside of his foot just outside the penalty area!
Robertson has been in excellent form lately. After receiving instructions from Chivu, he learned from Kolarov's habit of crossing the ball without stopping it. He made a cross, and before Hull City's defenders could react, Tang Long darted into the penalty area, took a step forward, and before the goalkeeper could come out, he pushed the ball into the goalkeeper's groin!
Tang Long then returned the favor.
A classic Low-trajectory Curve Shot; in the counterattack, Robertson, who was charging the fastest, was even faster than Agüero!
He sprinted so fast his face was contorted, finally catching up with Tang Long's pass and scoring a one-on-one goal!
Although the goalkeeper deflected it, the ball still struck the near corner due to its high speed.
Sterling, watching from the bench, looked completely bewildered. "Why do I feel like Robertson's one-on-one chance was even better than mine?"
In the final moments, Agüero feinted a shot in the penalty area but was tripped, earning Manchester City a penalty.
A consensus has been reached within the Manchester City squad this season.
Whether it's a penalty kick or a free kick, give them all to Tang Long to maximize his goal tally and help him win the European Golden Shoe.
Since joining Top Five Leagues, Tang Long has taken few penalty kicks, but he has never missed one.
This time, he deceived the goalkeeper with his eyes and easily slotted the ball into the bottom right corner.
After the match, looking at the players chatting and laughing in the locker room, head coach Guardiola tapped the tactics board.
"This match was just a warm-up; the next game against Liverpool will be your time to shine!"