Chapter 761 - 139: Wondergoal! Golden Ball Award Rankings! The Value of a Superstar! Wang Shuo: Golden Ball Award? I Don’t Care Anymore!

Since the very beginning, when the two organizations held their awards separately, this controversy had always existed. Now that the two had merged, the problem remained unresolved.

FIFA and France Football Magazine provided two different sets of criteria. However, as the German Bild stated, in previous years, there might have been disputes due to differing criteria, but this year was different. Whether by FIFA’s standards or France Football Magazine’s, and whether looking at individual or team performance, shouldn’t Wang Shuo win the award?

"Why did Blatter suddenly bring up the World Cup? Is FIFA trying to temporarily add other rigid conditions to the Golden Ball Award’s selection criteria? If so, shouldn’t they have notified everyone in advance, rather than mentioning it at the critical moment of the selection? If not, then what does Blatter mean? FIFA must give the public a reasonable explanation!"

With Bild personally weighing in, other major media outlets also stepped forward one after another, demanding that FIFA immediately provide a reasonable explanation.

***

In the minds of fans worldwide, Arsenal had always given the impression of playing beautiful, attacking football, yet being as soft as a docile sheep. Arsenal always performed well in the first half of the season, but they consistently ran out of steam later on.

When was the last time the Gunners topped the league table in December?

2007! Back then, Henry had just transferred to Barça. Stars like Adebayor, Van Persie, Fabregas, Hleb, Gilberto Silva, Gallas, and Kolo Touré were still around. The Gunners were still fierce back then.

Over the past four years, the Gunners had only managed to claim the top spot once—in 2009, capitalizing on a three-game winning streak at the start of the season—only to quickly lose it after a disastrous 1-2 away defeat to Manchester United in the fourth round. Other than that, Arsenal never even had the chance to touch the leader’s throne. Was this how a top-tier team should perform?

Therefore, after Manchester City drew with Liverpool and the Gunners fought their way to the top of the table, morale across the entire Arsenal camp soared. Since their 4-5 away loss to Manchester United in the third round of the league, the Gunners had achieved a ten-game winning streak. Although the journey was full of ups and downs, filled with stumbles and heart-stopping moments, Arsenal had truly won all the way.

Entering December, the 14th round of the Premier League arrived, and Arsenal traveled to face Wigan Athletic.

Nearly thirty minutes into the match, the Gunners had yet to break the deadlock. Roberto Martinez’s team employed a strategy of tight, unyielding defense, stubbornly blocking wave after wave of the Gunners’ attacks.

But right at that moment, Wang Shuo drew the defenders’ attention in the frontcourt, creating an opportunity for a teammate pushing up from behind. Arteta rushed up and unleashed a long-range shot that pierced Wigan Athletic’s net, opening the scoring for the team! 1-0!

Just one minute later, Wang Shuo delivered a brilliant pass from the inside right channel, and Walcott’s breakthrough earned them a corner kick. De Bruyne took the corner, and Vermaelen headed it home. 2-0!

After returning from injury, the Belgian center-back quickly reclaimed his starting position. His partnership with Subotic was currently the Gunners’ most stable center-back duo. Meanwhile, rumors had been circulating that Wenger intended to bring in a center-back during the winter break, with Udinese’s Benatia and Ajax’s Verthongen as his targets. This undoubtedly put pressure on the current center-backs, forcing them to step up their game.

Just three minutes later, in the 32nd minute, from yet another corner kick, Vermaelen headed the ball against the crossbar. The Belgian center-back was truly fierce when it came to aerial duels—an absolute goal-scoring defender! And in the 34th minute, Walcott drove the ball down the right flank, broke into the right side of the penalty area, and cut it back near the byline. Wang Shuo swept it into the net with a quick shot. 3-0!

After swapping sides for the second half, in the 51st minute, Wang Shuo received a pass from De Bruyne on the right side of the penalty area. With a sudden stop and a quick change of direction to cut inside, he shook off two defenders and curled a shot with his left foot. Wigan Athletic’s goalkeeper Al-Habsi dove to the side and heroically parried the ball away. However, at the crucial moment, Hazard pounced on the rebound and slotted the ball into the net. 4-0!

In the 64th minute, Wang Shuo dropped back to receive the ball and delivered a brilliant pass. Aaron Ramsey pushed forward, broke into the box, and unleashed a furious strike into the net. 5-0!

This scoreline held until the final whistle. The Gunners had utterly demolished Wigan Athletic on the road.

In the same round, Chelsea secured a 3-0 away victory against Newcastle. Manchester City thrashed Norwich 5-1 at home. Tottenham Hotspur defeated Bolton 3-0 at home. Manchester United eked out a 1-0 away win against Aston Villa. Only Liverpool suffered a setback, losing 0-1 away to Fulham.

Arsenal successfully defended their position at the top of the league table!

At the post-match press conference, Wenger spoke highly of the team’s performance.

"Five goals coming from five different players proves that our team is becoming more and more mature, and our operations are growing smoother," he said. Wenger was immensely satisfied with the morale and fighting spirit the team displayed, but what pleased him the most was their teamwork. "We saw a lot of fantastic team plays. All of us are working together in perfect sync, which is incredibly gratifying."

Wenger believed that Arsenal had successfully weathered the integration period following their early-season restructuring and was continuing to mature.