The Golden Boy Award doesn't have a traditional public, performance-based award ceremony.
Tuttosport typically uses a simpler, more pragmatic approach from announcing candidates to the final award.
This year was no different.
On the 21st, Tuttosport announced this year's Golden Boy Award winner on its front page—
Golden Boy 2012: Julien De Rocca: Bastia's French forward Julien De Rocca won the vote with 560 points, defeating second-place Isco who received 232 points and third-place Thibaut Courtois who received 109 points.
The front page featured a photo of Julien holding the Golden Boy trophy.
In the photo, Julien's expression was calm, but his eyes were always filled with confidence.
This photo was taken in advance by Tuttosport representatives at Bastia's training ground.
Unlike large ceremonies, the Golden Boy trophy is typically presented by Tuttosport representatives who travel to the winner's club. The ceremony is usually arranged at the player's training ground, relatively simple and private.
This was why Hadzibegic mentioned "after the Golden Boy Award" in his interview with French media.
Because everyone at Bastia knew the final winner was Julien.
Even when Julien was being interviewed by Tuttosport, his teammates were heckling around them. They were all happy for Julien, he was France's first-ever Golden Boy Award winner.
In fact, over the past month, numerous media outlets had already reported that Julien would win the Golden Boy Award by a huge margin.
The data released by Tuttosport confirmed this.
Julien had nearly three hundred more points than second-place Isco!
Additionally, he surpassed the previous Golden Boy record: Lionel Messi's 454 points in 2005 by a full hundred points!
This was extremely impressive. It showed that over the past year, whether for the national team or his club, Julien's performance had been truly explosive.
Most voters with voting rights were won over by him.
Tuttosport then detailed Julien's career in an in-depth feature.
Starting from Julien's childhood in Fontaine-le-Puits, then Clairefontaine, and the big clubs like Lille and Chelsea. The editors didn't omit descriptions of Julien's personality, writing about his fights, pressuring teammates, then being released by Chelsea, taking a criminal path, and ending up in juvenile detention.
"Don't blame De Rocca. He was lost back then too."
"But that confusion wasn't an endpoint, it was Julien's turning point."
From here, the report became increasingly detailed, recounting Julien's journey from a Ligue 2 club into the French national team: the double crown, Euro semi-finals, triple crown, leading Ligue 1 this season, Europa League victories over Atletico to advance to the knockout stage...
The turning point was all in juvenile detention.
It was that month in detention after his birthday that caused Julien's earth-shattering transformation.
Before detention, Julien was merely a talent. Such talents always emerge, but few ultimately become stars.
Now, Julien was a star in the eyes of the French and Bastia people!
"The courage to turn back from a wrong path is sometimes more shocking than talent."
This in-depth feature occupied the largest portion of the entire report, presenting a complete Julien De Rocca to everyone.
A prodigal genius who'd returned to the right path.
A romantic French football story.
Such an experience naturally drew discussion. Some disdained Julien as a "criminal," others saw a ray of light in Julien's experience illuminating their own lives... Much debate followed.
Only one place was an exception.
Bastia.
Here, fans regarded Julien as a city hero, the club's most legendary captain.
Here existed only the purest, most genuine emotions.
The final section was an exclusive Julien interview, but it had little content because fans could immediately tell these were templated responses.
But regardless...
After becoming France's first Golden Boy Award winner, Julien was thoroughly famous throughout France!
Tuttosport and its partner newspapers like France Football and L'Équipe generated tremendous buzz around this Golden Boy Award.
Almost immediately, numerous French brands contacted Pierre, hoping Julien would endorse their products.
Julien had anticipated this and told Pierre long ago he wouldn't accept endorsements for now.
The first endorsement needed prestige.
It also needed to set a benchmark; this would make future endorsement negotiations simpler. Temporary losses in endorsements would exchange for premium personal brand power in the future.
Julien didn't pay much attention to outside voices. Instead, he focused on match preparation.
The final battle before Christmas!
"Sometimes I really envy you—being able to train diligently and maintain yourself while rising to fame. But most of the time my rational mind tells me I couldn't do what you do."
Before preparing for the Nancy match, Rothen chatted with Julien while smiling.
Julien turned to look at him.
When Rothen said this, his expression was complex, looking reminiscent? Regretful? Lost?
Perhaps he saw in Julien's experience his own past self—the high-spirited Ligue 1 assists king? Or the dejected man "wandering" at PSG?
Julien just shook his head slightly. "I just know that what I can control is working hard at football. Everything else in the outside world, I have no way to influence."
Then he turned to Rothen and shrugged. "And I don't like doing things I can't control."
Rothen laughed and gave him a thumbs up.
Every conversation with Julien made people forget his age.
After training, Hadzibegic gathered everyone for a brief meeting. "Tomorrow is this year's last match. I hope everyone can give this year a perfect ending at home."
"We must win!" Angoula shouted.
"Haha."
Others laughed and agreed.
Hadzibegic nodded and continued: "The team now has three injury cases. I hope everyone pays attention—I don't want to see more."
Talk of injuries visibly dampened everyone's spirits.
De Bruyne and Choplin were injured in the last match against Montpellier, and the third was Palmieri, injured during training.
Palmieri's injury was relatively minor, it would take about a week for full recovery.
At December 23rd
All of Bastia was boiling with excitement. For the last home match before year's end, fans wore their jerseys and headed to Stade Armand-Cesari.
Even though the stadium couldn't possibly accommodate everyone.
Chataigner had anticipated this and notified fans a day earlier that those without tickets could watch from the open space beside the stadium.
Bastia rented a huge screen erected in the open area. They also built a temporary shelter to block the winter night's cold and possible rain or snow.
With Christmas just two days away, most fans had time off, so an especially large crowd came to the venue tonight.
The police maintaining order were incredibly busy.
When Bastia's team bus drove toward the stadium, the scene reached its climax. Tens of thousands of fans on the streets erupted in cheers.
"Julien!"
"Bastia is number one!"
"Take them down!"
The players waved to acknowledge the fans.
Julien looked at the restless sea of blue outside the window, his memory of this land was growing ever deeper.
"Tonight is the last match of the league's first half, Round 19. All teams kick off simultaneously today. The home team, Bastia, currently sits on top of the league, but second-place Paris Saint-Germain is only one point behind. So, if Bastia can win this match, they'll naturally secure their position as league half-season champions."
Before the match even started, the TF1 broadcast commentator was introducing the match's importance.
The league's charm lay in its long tug-of-war.
Now the struggle between PSG and Bastia attracted many Ligue 1 viewers. Perhaps because of the Christmas holiday, viewership for both Bastia's and PSG's matches this round was soaring.
Especially Bastia.
In fact, they'd been in the top three for viewership for many rounds, it was simply incredible for a team from Corsica.
Moreover, they were a promoted team.
The commentator naturally knew why: "...The core of this match is still De Rocca. With Kevin De Bruyne injured, Bastia's midfield can only rely on veteran Rothen as the organizer, which will inevitably shift Bastia's attacking focus to the right wing.
Julien De Rocca officially became the 2012 Golden Boy Award winner two days ago. He's the first Frenchman to win this award. Yes, we have Ballon d'Or winners, but no Golden Boy winner.
Current De Rocca is all of France's hottest super rising star..."
BOOM!
BOOM BOOM!!
After expansion, Stade Armand-Cesari's cheering was increasingly magnificent. Being in its center stirred the spirit, making you want to shout along with the crowd, causing the sound waves to surge ever higher.
At this moment, Mbappé and Saliba in the stands felt exactly this way. The two had brought Ethan to Bastia together, all anticipating Bastia's final battle of the year.
"After Julien won the Golden Boy, it feels like more people like him," Mbappé said. This wasn't random, he'd seen Julien jerseys for sale in Parisian shops and occasionally spotted people wearing Julien jerseys on the streets.
Previously, Bastia jerseys were absolutely niche, few people recognized them. But now, more and more people were discovering Bastia through Julien.
"Yeah, I previously..." Saliba was about to respond when he suddenly saw the players emerging. "They're here! Julien!"
He excitedly pointed toward the tunnel.
At that very moment, the entire stadium erupted with one voice.
"BASTIA!!"
Twenty thousand fans shouted crazily. Simultaneously, on the side opposite the tunnel, fans pulled out banners.
"Julien, Bastia will remember forever"
"You'll always be our captain!"
"Open Bastia's history, it's all Julien"
Among these banners were portraits of Julien that fans had drawn themselves.
Emerging from the tunnel, Julien was still moved seeing this scene.
Bastia fans had placed their purest emotions on him.
THUMP!
"Julien!"
After the initial stadium-wide chant of "Bastia," as the Ultras Bastia hardcore section's drums sounded, everyone in the stadium followed the beat, shouting Julien's name in unison.
THUMP!
"JULIEN!!"
The entire stadium had no chaotic sounds, only twenty thousand people chanting together.
Such momentum was spine-tingling.
Moreover, countless fans outside the stadium heard the shouts from inside and joined in.
Inside and outside the stadium, one name rang out.
Such a moment clearly moved the TF1 commentator: "Do you hear that? I think you do, right? Listen to the stadium's sound. Bastia people are all shouting De Rocca's name. God, this chanting makes your heartbeat synchronize with the shouts.
This is De Rocca, this is Bastia's captain. I think on this land, only the legendary former Bastia captain Papi received such treatment, but De Rocca is so young. He's creating honors that even Papi couldn't achieve with Bastia..."
For the last home battle before Christmas, fans didn't create a grand pre-match ceremony, no tifo, no deeply moving slogans.
They had only these voices, these endless shouts.
On the field, pre-match ceremonies proceeded. Nancy won the kickoff.
Players from both sides walked toward the center circle.
The drums had long stopped, but the shouting hadn't stopped.
"Julien!"
"JULIEN!!"
The fans seemed tireless.
On the sideline, Nancy coach Fernandez listened to the voices inside and outside the stadium, his scalp was tingling. This was terrifying, such an opponent was truly frightening. Such strong cohesion.
It was hard to imagine this was just a promoted team.
He had a premonition, that tonight's match would definitely not be easy.
Julien stood in the center circle, observing Nancy's players while waiting for the referee's whistle.
Nancy was a typical small French club, founded in 1910 but dissolved in 1965 due to financial difficulties.
The current Nancy was reformed two years later using some of the original personnel. Before this season, their honors exceeded Bastia's, they had one French Cup, one League Cup.
Plus, five Ligue 2 championships.
But now? The gap between them was the difference between a championship contender and a relegation team.
TWEET!!
The whistle sounded and the match officially began!
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