Lu Yang at this moment quietly asked: "An individual effort to win the European Cup is merely on the long list for the Golden Ball Award?"
Zidane said: "What else? Do you want to directly enter the ten-person shortlist or even the final five-person shortlist? Unless you simultaneously win the World Cup, Champions League, and league titles in one year, it is impossible for a newcomer to break into the top twenty of the Golden Ball Award the first time."
"That’s the rule!"
Lu Yang replied: "Who made the rule?"
Zidane: "This world! For a long time! Establishing the norm! Naturally!"
Lu Yang: "Since you say so, why should I risk being called a glory-hunter by everyone to claim the huge credit for Italy reaching the European Cup finals this year? Anyway, it’s impossible to advance further."
"Moreover, what belongs to me, no matter what, will never be taken away, right?"
Zidane: "Perhaps in Italian football it won’t be taken away, but in the selection of the Golden Ball Award, if Italy’s success in the European Cup this year is recognized as a team achievement rather than an individual heroic success, you definitely won’t get the necessary bonus in the selection."
"You might very likely not enter the thirty-person long list!"
Zidane has won the Golden Ball Award, and his ranking has consistently been in the top ten, even top five in recent years. Furthermore, he has a huge influence in French football, giving him ample authority to speak on the matter.
What he said is mostly true.
This issue seems incomprehensible, but it’s actually not difficult to understand.
For example, in a team filled with Messi, C Luo, Lewandowski, Eevee, and De Bruyne, these stars also performed well, but if a nineteen-year-old new player in the team performed exceptionally well, with stats surpassing the entire team.
So in the next Golden Ball Award selection, what do people think the result will be?
The young player will definitely be praised across Europe, but he won’t immediately become a superstar. He will just be in demand by knowledgeable clubs, but his ranking will be lower than those stars in the team whose stats aren’t as good as his.
Meanwhile, previously mentioned players like Mei Luo, Lewandowski, Eevee, and De Bruyne will all move up significantly in the Golden Ball Award rankings.
Once the cake-sharing behavior appears, no matter who the true main player is, the biggest piece of cake will always go to the established top-tier superstars.
This isn’t related to the superstars’ operations but also because fans are willing to see superstars continue to shine; they need time to welcome the rise of new stars.
No fight for you, no battle for you.
Zidane understands this very well, which is why he doesn’t want Lu Yang to share the credit.
But he also knows that Lu Yang has never been someone who would hoard credit.
If he contributed eight parts of effort, he won’t claim ten.
Of course, he won’t allow others to say he only gave five.
But in the current public opinion environment, there is no option between eight or five.
Either you claim ten, or you share equally with other superstars.
This group of media is stirring the pot; in Italy Team, whoever stands out will have to sacrifice.
Unless someone among them is willing to stand out and sacrifice, there is still a chance to arm wrestle with France Team.
Otherwise, they are defeated even before the match starts.
Lu Yang asked: "So what do you think I should do?"
Zidane said: "If I were you...I wouldn’t yield on things that shouldn’t be yielded, otherwise...once you yield, future yields might become the norm!"
This has nothing to do with the European Cup, it is Zidane’s personal wisdom and experience.
He has always acted this way.
Even within the star-laden Real Madrid, Zidane was never the dimmest star.
Except during the peak of Lima, Zidane could step back slightly, no one else could stand in front of him.
And now with Lima’s unstable status, he stands on equal footing with Zidane.
This year’s Golden Ball Award, if France wins the championship, Robben and Zidane will become the most likely contenders.
Zidane’s ranking might be ahead of Real Madrid’s leading alien Lima!
This is Zidane’s football philosophy.
Where things should not be yielded, he never yields.
As a human, one must maintain a baseline.
"The earlier you enter the long list of the Golden Ball Award, the more likely you will receive your truly deserved evaluation for your future achievements," Zidane said. "With Italy’s qualifications to the European Cup finals, this is your best short-term opportunity to enter the list."
"If you don’t enter this year, to be blunt, even if the year after next you single-handedly won the World Cup or Champions League, you still won’t directly enter the ten-person or five-person shortlist!"
"Everyone must go through this process."
"The selection of the Golden Ball Award is indeed a selection, but there are several thresholds. The outermost threshold is entering the list. You need comparable achievements. You can only surpass the list requirements, not fall short."
"But high is high, too high is high, too early is too high, which in turn is not a good thing."
Lu Yang understood Zidane’s thoughts.
This is akin to the English CET-4 and CET-6 exams.
Even with a perfect score in CET-4, you still need to retake CET-6, you won’t directly receive a CET-6 certificate.
A CET-4 score of just 425 can qualify you for CET-6.
Can you say the two scores and levels are the same?
Conversely, if a perfect CET-4 candidate had a poor performance in CET-6 and didn’t pass,
But a CET-4 candidate with a 425 score excelled and passed CET-6.
Perhaps the former has a more outstanding peak, but the certificate held by the former is ultimately less than the latter’s.