The third one was even better.
-----
The 2004 AFC Annual Awards Ceremony was held at the Golden Palace Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Qin Xiong sat in the front row and interlocked his fingers with Sylvia throughout.
Sitting around him were football players who were also from China who might receive the award.
Referee Lu Jun, China Women's Youth Team coach Wang Haiming, China Men's National Youth Team coach Harvey, and some officials of the China Football Association.
Freddy sat in the seat behind Qin Xiong, which was not very eye-catching. In fact, the media did not pay much attention to the players' agents. After all, the role of an agent had long become a target of scorn.
The live broadcast of the ceremony often locked on Qin Xiong.
In the opening speech by AFC President Harman, the annual provincial capital of Asian football officially opened.
Harman summed up the development of Asian football in the past year, followed by the annual work summary of the AFC's committees and executive committee.
Due to the large territory of Asia, there were more divisions in authority and management. East Asia, West Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central and South Asia all had their own football camps and organizational management systems. Because of this, the first part of the annual feast became a boring self-showing meeting. The committee members of each region praised the development achievements of football in their respective regions.
After their annual summary speeches, the ceremony entered the annual awards ceremony.
Qin Xiong sat below the stage with a gentle expression.
To be honest, he did not have the thought that "it doesn't matter if I win the award or not" in his mind.
The reason why he asked for leave from the club to come here was to win the highest individual honor award in Asian football. Otherwise, he would not be interested in wasting time here.
To Qin Xiong's surprise, he had to go on stage to receive the award before the final individual award was awarded.
He won the honor of the best returnee player of the year.
The AFC also encouraged good players to go to European football to improve, which helped to improve the level of Asian football. After all, Asian players still had to make contributions in the national team competitions.
It was conceivable that if one day, most of the players in the AFC Asian Cup were to play for famous European clubs, then the attractiveness, attention, and commercial value of the AFC Asian Cup would naturally increase significantly. Not to mention, the national team composed of high-level Asian players could also fight for glory for Asian football in the World Cup.
After Qin Xiong took the stage, he received the individual honor award for the best overseas returnee player from an AFC executive committee representative whom he did not know. During the acceptance speech, he did not speak in English, but in his native Chinese.
"I'm very happy to receive such an honor. It's a kind of affirmation and encouragement for me. I have to thank everyone who helped me in my football career. Coaches, teammates, friends, and everyone around me. I don't see this as an end point, but a starting point. I'm looking forward to standing here again next year and receiving some awards. That means that I'll perform better in the future, but I have to put in more effort. I understand, and I'm ready.
The audience applauded, but there were also many people who were surprised.
Qin Xiong's speech did not sound like a Chinese.
In everyone's impression, Chinese people's speech on such occasions should be humble, low-key, and reserved.
Who would make a declaration like Qin Xiong: I'll be here to receive an award next year!
Was he boasting shamelessly?
Some of the AFC officials, reporters, Chinese Football Association representatives, players, coaches, and countless viewers in front of the TV understood, and some did not.
And those who knew the AFC's individual award selection mechanism understood that even if he did not continue to improve, as long as he maintained his performance in 2004, then he would certainly come back and stand on the stage to receive the award again!
Looking at the five major leagues, Asian players who could play for the powerhouses were rare, and Asian players who could attract more attention in the Champions League were even rarer.
Even for players like Park Ji-sung and Lee Rongpyo who represented PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, was PSV Eindhoven's influence comparable to Arsenal?
No!
The performance in the Champions League was the first stage of the AFC's selection of the best player.
Unless the club represented by Qin Xiong performed badly in the Champions League, plus the China team did nothing in the AFC Asian Cup or World Cup years, then it was possible for Qin Xiong to withdraw from the AFC's selection.
The award ceremony was still in progress.
Qin Xiong sat back in his seat, and Sylvia happily took the award of the best returnee player from him. She picked it up and looked at it carefully, as if it was a treasure.
After the other awards were awarded, the finale of the Asian Footballer of the Year award began to be revealed.
Of the three candidates, Qin Xiong did not know the other two at all.
The big screen showed the annual performance highlights of the three candidates produced by the AFC.
In addition to the performance of the AFC Asian Cup and the World Cup qualifiers, the other two candidates also had highlights of their performances in the Asian Champions League.
But compared with Qin Xiong's annual highlights, they were overshadowed.
It was clear at a glance.
Although the AFC would not refer to Qin Xiong's performance in the Dutch domestic league and cup, it was only in the Champions League. Behind Qin Xiong's wonderful performance, those opponents who set off his excellence were all famous European clubs.
And in the last two seconds of the video, the scene changed.
Qin Xiong and his Ajax teammates picked up the Champions League trophy together, and then it was fixed on the picture of him as the captain of the China national team picking up the AFC Asian Cup trophy.
The two pictures of holding the trophy overlapped. The AFC Asian Cup occupied twenty-third of the map, and the rest was the Champions League. Although the AFC Asian Cup was certainly not as attractive as the Champions League in the eyes of many fans, the AFC certainly could not ruin their own brand here.
At this moment, the results were about to be revealed, but in fact, everyone knew who the winner would be.
It could not be anyone else!
How could a player who picked up two of the most important trophies in the Asian Footballer of the Year award mechanism lose to the other two?
Qin Xiong came here ambitious and regarded the Asian Footballer of the Year as his own.
But he really did not think about what he would do if he lost.
Perhaps with his character, he would leave the field directly on the spot without gracefulness.
And he would never come to the AFC's annual ceremony again.
There was no other reason.
If it was his, it should be given to him. He would not accept losing to those Asian players who had a clear gap with him!
If he did not accept it, he would not just protest with his mouth. He would use his actions, so there was a 99% chance that he would get up and leave the field directly.
Sylvia held Qin Xiong's hand more and more tightly. She seemed to be more nervous than Qin Xiong. Instead, it was Qin Xiong who gently patted the back of her hand and smiled at her to signal to her to relax a little.
When the AFC president, Dietmar Hamann, read the two words "Qin Xiong" in a strange tone, the scene broke out in a long applause!
Qin Xiong hugged Sylvia after he stood up. In fact, it was she who took the initiative to hug him.
Qin Xiong shook hands with the Chinese football players around him with a smile on his face. The Chinese Football Association officials sitting in the same row were full of joy.
There was no doubt that countless sponsor representatives were also paying attention to the provincial capital.
Their eyes were focused on Qin Xiong.
From a competitive point of view, Qin Xiong winning the individual award of the Asian Footballer of the Year did not make much sense because the status of the Asian Footballer of the Year in international football was very low. Never mind a superstar, he might not even be a first-class star player!
But from a commercial point of view, the China player, Qin Xiong, winning the Asian Footballer of the Year award would further stimulate and develop the Asian market for the sponsors who invested in him!
This would make Qin Xiong's commercial value higher.
Qin Xiong walked up to the podium for the second time. The thunderous applause made the atmosphere extremely explosive.
From another point of view, Asia had a player who could win the Champions League. This was also the pride of the AFC and represented the progress of Asian football. Even if a person's success was only a small step forward, it was better than nothing, wasn't it?
Central TV broadcast the entire AFC annual event live. When Qin Xiong stepped onto the podium, the host proudly said something that excited all the Chinese fans.
"The captain of the China national team, Qin Xiong, has won the highest individual honor in Asian football at the age of 19. This is an affirmation of his achievements in football over the past year. The Champions League champion, the Asian Cup champion. He is a figure who has contributed greatly to Ajax and the China team. He is even the soul of the team! And Qin Xiong, who has these two team honors as the foundation, can be said to be the most valuable Asian Footballer of the Year in history. He deserves it, he deserves it! He has written a new history. He is the youngest in history and may also be the most glorious Asian Footballer of the Year in team honors! Let us congratulate him and let us be proud of him! The Asian Footballer of the Year, Qin Xiong, is in the history books! "
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