Chapter 71: European Golden Boy Award

Chapter 71: European Golden Boy Award

On Friday, October 25th, the well-known "Turin Sports" newspaper released the list of 40 candidates for the 2013 European Golden Boy award. Now in its 11th edition, previous winners of the European Golden Boy award include football stars such as Van der Vaart, Rooney, Messi, Fabregas, Anderson, Aguero, Pato, Balotelli, Gotze, and Isco. Notably, Rooney and Messi have become top superstars in world football, and Gotze and Isco's high-profile transfers to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the summer of 2013 further underscore the award's prestige.

As expected, Bruno Fernandes was among those nominated. The list also featured other familiar names such as Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, Manchester United winger Januzaj, Real Madrid defender Varane, Schalke winger Draxler, Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Fred, Inter Milan forward Icardi, and Everton forward Lukaku.

Many of Bruno's opponents from the U20 World Cup also made the list, including Boakye, Digne, Kondogbia, Pereira, and Quintero. From Bruno's own Portuguese U20 team, winger Bruma and captain João Mário were also nominated. However, only these three champions from the World Cup were selected, with other notable performers like Cancelo and Aladje missing out.

Following the announcement, major European betting companies quickly released odds for the award, with Bruno Fernandes, Pogba, and Varane emerging as the top three favorites. This nomination added pressure on Portuguese coach Paulo Bento, who was already under scrutiny.

On October 27th, Udinese hosted Roma in a highly anticipated match. Roma had been exceptional this season, achieving a perfect start with eight straight wins, securing a five-point lead at the top of the Serie A table. A victory at Udinese would have equaled Juventus' record of nine consecutive wins at the start of the season. At the time, Roma was the only team across Europe's top leagues maintaining a perfect record.

Roma, hailed as one of Europe's most formidable teams of the new season, had recently defeated Napoli 2-0, continuing a league record of 501 minutes without conceding a goal, tying the record for the fewest goals conceded in the first eight rounds of Serie A.

Udinese, too, was in fine form with six wins and two losses from their first eight games, standing fourth in Serie A. Fresh from defeating AC Milan at San Siro, their morale was high. At the Friuli Stadium, Udinese was an undefeated force, not having lost in 22 consecutive Serie A matches there. Roma was Dinatale's favorite opponent, against whom he had scored 13 goals in 24 matches.

Just before the match, Roma announced that captain Totti and key defender Gervinho were injured and would miss the game—a significant blow for the team.

For the clash against Roma, Udinese fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation:

Goalkeeper: Klava

Defense: Elorto, Danilo, Naldo, Silva

Defensive Midfield: Pinzi, Kanté

Midfield: Badu, Bruno Fernandes, Lazzari

Forward: Dinatale as the lone striker.

Roma played in a 4-3-3 alignment:

Goalkeeper: De Sanctis

Defense: Maicon, Benatia, Castan, Balzaretti

Midfield: Pjanic, De Rossi, Strootman

Forward trio: Ljajic, Borello, Florenzi.

The game started with Udinese aggressively attacking under the support of their home fans, scoring in the third minute through a fast counterattack led by Badu with Bruno Fernandes finishing from the edge of the box. Udinese's approach was direct and effective, quickly leading 1-0 and ending Roma's Serie A clean sheet streak at 504 minutes.

In the 19th minute, another brilliant attack saw Bruno Fernandes crossing for Dinatale, who netted his 14th Serie A goal against Roma. By the 38th minute, Badu's cross led to a clearance that fell to Bruno, who struck a long-range shot past De Sanctis, making it 3-0. The situation worsened for Roma when Maicon received his second yellow in the 66th minute, reducing Roma to ten men.

Despite Roma pulling one back in the 82nd minute through substitute Bradley, the game ended 3-1 in favor of Udinese. This victory lifted Udinese to 21 points in the league, although they remained in fourth place as Juventus and Napoli also won their matches. Other traditional powerhouses like Inter and Fiorentina secured wins, while AC Milan faced a defeat against Parma.

Three days later, in the tenth round of a packed Serie A schedule, Udinese faced newly-promoted Sassuolo away. Sassuolo had struggled in Serie A, managing only one win from nine games and sitting 19th in the standings. In contrast, Udinese showed no mercy. Bruno forced a penalty in the 17th minute, converted by Dinatale, and later scored with a beautiful curler in the 56th minute.

November began with a tough match for Udinese at home against Inter Milan, where they suffered a 3-0 defeat, ending their 23-match unbeaten streak at home in Serie A. The team appeared fatigued, leading to multiple rotations by Guidolin which didn't resolve the tactical mismatches on the field. The loss was compounded by an injury to captain Dinatale, and despite Bruno creating numerous chances, Udinese failed to convert any. (End of Chapter)

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