Chapter 342 - 335: World Champion

When Yang Yang walked out of the players’ tunnel, he found Ibrahimovic, Maxwell, and the others all staring at him with knowing, suggestive smirks. It made him feel like a thief with a guilty conscience.

"Heh heh, buddy. You seal the deal?" Ibrahimovic asked, looking like a seasoned veteran in these matters.

"Seal what deal...?" Yang Yang stammered evasively.

"Stop playing dumb," Maxwell said, slapping him on the shoulder. "I saw it coming a mile away. Spit it out, did you confess?"

Yang Yang was taken aback. ’Are these guys always this blunt? Who asks questions like that?’

"Do you even need to ask? Just look at that smug look on his face. He definitely confessed."

"Maybe they even kissed."

Yang Yang’s lips twitched with guilt. His mind drifted back, fondly recalling the soft, tingling sensation of their kiss, but he deliberately put on a stern face. He snorted, "I have no idea what you’re all talking about. You’re a bunch of weirdos."

Seeing his reaction, the guys didn’t get offended at all. Instead, they just burst out laughing.

"Keep faking it. The more you try to hide it, the more obvious it is."

"Exactly! You should be thanking us. We’re the ones who brought her down here for you. We created this perfect, emotional moment so you could strike while the iron was hot and make your move. Otherwise, a slowpoke like you would’ve watched his girl run off with someone else."

The group erupted in a chorus of teasing.

Yang Yang might be an unstoppable force on the pitch, but off it, his mind was almost exclusively occupied by football and nothing else.

To have a national-level beauty like Su Ye right there and not know how to pursue her... for any man, that was practically a crime. So, as his buddies, Ibrahimovic and Maxwell couldn’t help but step in and worry on his behalf.

The whole group knew what was up, so they didn’t beat around the bush. They went straight for a mix of threats and bribes.

Although Yang Yang wouldn’t admit to anything even under torture, he did agree to treat them to dinner, claiming it was just to celebrate the National Youth Team winning the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

"Hey, Yang, my wife really wants to meet her too. She’s staying in the Netherlands for a few days, right? How about this: you foot the bill, I’ll organize everything, and we’ll have a party at my place. Let’s say tomorrow night. You invite her over?" Maxwell suggested, employing a roundabout tactic to get his way.

’So you won’t admit it?’

’Fine, I’ll just corner you into admitting it.’

Yang Yang thought about it. He knew this bunch wouldn’t give up until they got what they wanted.

He remembered how they’d relentlessly teased Ibrahimovic when he got a girlfriend. The more awkward he acted, the more they ramped it up. After a moment’s thought, he decided to just agree.

"I’ll ask her, but I can’t guarantee she’ll say yes."

"Fine. As long as you’re buying, we’re good," Maxwell said, cutting to the chase.

In the distance, his teammates from the National Youth Team were calling him over. It was time for the awards ceremony.

As they watched Yang Yang walk away, everyone gave Maxwell a thumbs-up.

’That guy really has a trick for every situation.’

"To be honest, I’m pretty jealous of him," Ibrahimovic said, his face a mask of envy and resentment. "The guy’s a total blockhead. How did a girl that beautiful fall for him? What on earth does she see in him?"

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Is he better looking than me? Does he play better than me? Why do all the pretty girls fall for him and not..." Before Ibrahimovic could finish his rant, he saw Maxwell pull out his phone as if to record him, and he instantly swallowed his words.

"You’ve got balls!" the Swedish Striker spat out.

The group roared with laughter.

The guy was completely whipped!

"Man, now even Yang Yang is off the market," Vermaelen said with a click of his tongue, then turned his gaze to Sneijder.

Sneijder froze. He then saw all his teammates staring at him mischievously. With a soft sigh, he said, "Actually, I’ve been meaning to tell you guys... I already have a girlfriend."

"Huh?"

Everyone around them was stunned, their eyes wide as they stared at him.

’He has a girlfriend?’

’Since when?’

’How did none of us know?’

"And we’re planning to get married this year."

Jaws dropped all around. Bentner, who had teased him about it several times before, was especially shocked.

’My god, this guy buried his secret deep.’

He was already planning to get married, and not a single person on the team had a clue.

If the situation hadn’t forced it out of him today, he probably would have waited until the wedding invitations were sent out to make it public.

Unbelievable!

"This is completely unacceptable!"

Maxwell was genuinely pissed.

"You’re not getting our forgiveness unless you treat us to a meal!"

As the awards ceremony began on the field, Su Ye returned to her seat in the stands.

"Xiaoyezi, where did you go?" her father, Su Wenhong, asked with concern.

"Nowhere. I just went for a little walk over there," Su Ye said evasively.

Her mother, Ye Ziqing, shot her a suspicious look but didn’t press the matter.

"What happened to your clothes?" Su Wenhong asked.

Su Ye’s face flushed red. ’Isn’t this from when I was hugging Yang Yang?’

"It’s nothing. I just splashed some water on myself while washing my hands."

"Oh." Su Wenhong didn’t think much of it.

On the other hand, Ye Ziqing watched her daughter’s expression. Seeing the deep affection in her daughter’s eyes as she gazed at the field, she instantly guessed what had happened and laughed to herself.

’This silly girl, trying to be so secretive and hide things from us... honestly...’

However, Ye Ziqing had no intention of calling her out on it. She had known her daughter’s feelings for a long time. She would just let her be.

As a teacher, she knew very well how the hearts of young boys and girls worked these days; it was a force that couldn’t be stopped.

As was customary, the individual awards were presented before the main FIFA U-20 World Cup trophy ceremony.

First up was the most predictable award of the tournament: the FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Boot Award for the top scorer.

Even before the final match, Yang Yang had already scored seven goals. By scoring a hat-trick in the final, he raised his personal tally to ten goals, making him the undisputed winner of this year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Boot Award.

When FIFA President Blatter announced Yang Yang’s name, the stadium erupted in thunderous applause.

All the fans in the stadium—whether they were from China, the Netherlands, or Argentina—cheered wildly for Yang Yang.

The Eredivisie Golden Boot winner, who had just broken Ronaldo’s legendary record, had now become World Football’s hottest rising star. Everyone was eagerly anticipating his next move.

Would he renew his contract with Ajax? Or would he leave for another European giant?

This had already become a hot topic in this summer’s transfer market. After securing the FIFA U-20 World Cup title, his stock in the European transfer market was bound to soar even higher.

Yang Yang walked over and accepted the Golden Boot trophy from FIFA President Blatter, holding it high for all to see.

Blatter took the opportunity to have a few words with Yang Yang, encouraging him to keep up the great work and expressing his hope that Yang Yang would attend this year’s FIFA World Footballer of the Year awards ceremony.

"From what I hear, you’ve already made the thirty-man shortlist for the World Footballer of the Year award," Blatter said with a smile.

Yang Yang was stunned for a moment, an expression of disbelief spreading across his face.

’The shortlist for World Footballer of the Year?’

Blatter was clearly pleased by Yang Yang’s reaction, as it spoke to the prestige of the award.

"The official list won’t be announced for a few more days, but I’ve already received confirmation. You’re on it."

"Thank you, Mr. Blatter," Yang Yang said as they shook hands.

He felt he needed a moment to process this news. It was something he had never even considered.

According to FIFA’s procedure, a thirty-man shortlist would be announced first, followed by a ten-man list, and finally, the top three finalists would be revealed in December, right before the awards ceremony.

For Yang Yang, just making it onto the thirty-man shortlist was an incredible achievement, especially since he was only eighteen.

When he returned to his teammates, Yang Yang didn’t mention what Blatter had told him. After all, it was just a casual remark, and there was no need to say anything more. Everyone would find out when the official list was published anyway.

After calming down and thinking it over, he realized it actually made sense.

After all, he had won the UEFA Cup and the Eredivisie title last season, on top of breaking Ronaldo’s record. Making the thirty-man shortlist wasn’t so strange in that light.

The only question was how far he could go.

’Could I make the top ten?’

After the top scorer was announced, the next award to be presented was for the tournament’s best player: the FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Ball Award.

The selection process for this so-called Golden Ball Award was quite complex. The winner was determined by votes from all the media journalists covering the FIFA U-20 World Cup. This meant that the player most favored by the media was likely to win, regardless of whether their team won the championship.

The most classic example was the previous FIFA U-20 World Cup held in the United Arab Emirates.

The champion was Brazil, followed by Spain, Colombia, and Argentina. The Golden Boot Award went, undisputedly, to the American player Eddie Johnson for his four goals. The Golden Ball Award, however, was controversially given to Matar of the United Arab Emirates.

It was a highly controversial decision, but once the winner was announced, it was final.

Fortunately, however, there was no repeat of that controversy this time around.

With an overwhelming and indisputable majority of over six hundred votes, Yang Yang beat out Messi and Mikel to be named the winner of the Golden Ball Award. Messi received the Silver Ball Award, and Mikel took home the Bronze Ball Award.

This announcement once again sent a wave of thunderous cheers through the stadium.

Everyone rose to their feet to applaud Yang Yang, and the fans in the stands chanted his name.

"You should be very proud of this, son," Blatter said with a smile as he presented the Golden Ball Award to Yang Yang.

"In the fifteen tournaments that make up the history of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, only two other players have ever swept the championship, the Golden Ball Award, and the Golden Boot Award in a single tournament: the Brazilian player Giovanni Silva in ’83, and the Argentine forward Saviola in ’01."

"Thank you!" Yang Yang said, before once again raising the Golden Ball trophy high.

The crowd erupted in cheers yet again.

After Yang Yang had collected his two individual trophies, it was time for the team awards.

The runners-up, Argentina, went up to the stage first to receive their medals, followed by the champions, the Chinese Team.

When Feng Xiaoting and Yang Yang raised the FIFA U-20 World Cup trophy high together, confetti rained down as every fan in the stadium roared in celebration. The loudspeakers at Koegenwaard Stadium began to play the victors’ national anthem.

The melody of the March of the Volunteers drifted through the stadium, and countless fans and players alike began to hum and sing along.