Chapter 749 - 137: Advancing Early! Aiming for the Golden Ball Award! Making the Premier League Submit! The Big Three’s Crazy Goal-Scoring Race!

When Messi played against Real Mallorca in La Liga, he not only scored a hat-trick but also contributed an assist. In the mid-week Champions League fixture, he scored another hat-trick. Two hat-tricks in two consecutive matches, within a short span of just four days. Anyone could see that Messi was going all out for the Golden Ball Award!

Ronaldo didn’t let Messi steal all the limelight, either. Although his recent goal-scoring momentum in La Liga hadn’t been very stable, he matched Messi in the Champions League with a hat-trick of his own, helping Real Madrid secure a four-match winning streak to advance from the group stage early. The La Liga Giants were truly a cut above the rest. Especially under the leadership of Ronaldo and Messi, both teams had achieved four consecutive victories in the group stage, advancing early as group leaders!

As a result, all the pressure fell squarely onto Wang Shuo’s shoulders.

Arsenal’s home match against Naples was scheduled a day later than the La Liga Giants’ matches. After the games in Spain concluded, major media outlets scrambled to build hype. World Sports Daily dedicated its entire front page to a photo of Messi celebrating his hat-trick, paired with the headline: "With two consecutive hat-tricks, who can stop Messi from claiming the Golden Ball Award once again?"

Serving as Real Madrid’s mouthpiece, the Asi Newspaper featured Ronaldo’s iconic goal celebration alongside a headline of its own: "Hat-trick! Ronaldo tips the Golden Ball Award in his favor!"

Other outlets, such as the Daily Sports, the Marca Newspaper, the National Newspapers, and ABC, were all hyping up Ronaldo and Messi, despite their differing stances. Coupled with the mid-week goal-scoring contest between the two superstars, this sparked even more public attention.

Interestingly, many media outlets also published reports about the upcoming match between Arsenal and Naples. However, they all included photos from past matches where Wang Shuo had failed to score and was left rueing his missed chances! As the La Liga Giants caused a worldwide sensation, the Spanish media received exceptional attention as well, and their reports were republished by media outlets across the globe.

When Wang Shuo saw the news from the Asi Newspaper and Daily Sports in London—especially the accompanying photos—he was utterly dumbfounded. How should he put it? In the photos, Wang Shuo looked incredibly helpless, as if he were on the verge of a breakdown under the immense pressure.

"These guys really know how to play the journalism game!" Wang Shuo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Since joining Arsenal this season, he had scored in every single match he played. But it was impossible for every attack to end in Shooting, let alone a goal. God only knew where these bastard media outlets dug up those photos. And no two photos were the same! Un-fucking-believable!

"Wang, ignore the noise. This is their usual trick," his close friend Subotic comforted, patting Wang Shuo’s shoulder inside the locker room at Colney.

"Yeah, Wang, all of us are completely behind you!" Hazard chimed in.

"That’s right. For today’s match, don’t drop back. Just stay up front and focus on scoring. We’ve got the Midfielder and backline covered!" Alexandre Song assured, patting his chest. Wang Shuo had helped him a lot, so it was a rare opportunity for him to return the favor, and Alexandre Song was truly putting in maximum effort. Not only did he lobby for the Cameroon national team’s votes on Wang Shuo’s behalf, but he also leveraged his connections across Africa to secure votes from other countries. He was being incredibly loyal!

Speaking of Cameroon’s votes, the current national team captain was Eto’o. Even though Eto’o had played alongside Messi at Barça for many years, during the 2010 FIFA Golden Ball Award voting, Eto’o didn’t vote for Messi. Instead, he cast his votes for Sneider, Harvey, and Iniesta. However, he later claimed publicly that he had voted for Messi. This was actually the cause of much controversy; what voters said in public wasn’t necessarily the truth. This time, Eto’o also promised Alexandre Song that Wang Shuo would definitely be on his ballot, though he didn’t specify the exact rank.

At a time like this, Wang Shuo’s popularity and his past care and support for his teammates finally came into play. From Mainz to Dortmund to Arsenal, and even within Germany and the Premier League, many of Wang Shuo’s friends expressed their willingness to help him canvass for votes.

Ramsey was the captain of the Wales national team, and he secured two votes from Wales for Wang Shuo, both in the first-place spot. Tottenham Midfielder Modric, who had previously had a great conversation with Wang Shuo, texted him a few days ago to let him know he had secured the vote from Croatia for him.

The Germany National Team went without saying. Lahm and Lővér were both quite familiar with Wang Shuo, and Germany didn’t have any competitive players of its own this time.

Wang Shuo hadn’t reached out to anyone proactively for fear of owing favors; instead, everyone brought the good news to him voluntarily. It might not look like much, but every little bit added up, and Wang Shuo basically accepted all the help that came his way.

Going for the Golden Ball Award was Wang Shuo’s top priority right now. With everyone around him campaigning on his behalf, Wang Shuo felt incredibly grateful, but he knew the most crucial factor was still his own performance. At this thought, Wang Shuo’s eyes turned as razor-sharp as a blade.

On the evening of November 2, at the London Emirates Stadium, Arsenal hosted Naples during the fourth round of the Champions League group stage. As soon as the head referee’s whistle blew, Wang Shuo swiftly kicked the ball back into his own half. Led by Cavani, Lavezzi, and Hamsik, Naples’s front attacking trident charged toward Arsenal’s half at top speed, while their entire defensive line pressed forward aggressively.