Chapter 250 243: European Golden Boy

Ajax defeated Rosendal 4-1 at home.

Feyenoord drew 2-2 with Heerenveen away.

Eindhoven beat Twente 2-0 at home.

Alkmaar beat Groningen 2-1 away.

...

After the fourteenth round of the Eredivisie, the rankings of the top four teams in the league table did not change.

Eindhoven led the table with thirty-five points, followed closely by Alkmaar with thirty-three. Feyenoord and Ajax both had thirty points, but Feyenoord was temporarily in third place due to a superior goal difference.

The entire Dutch football world was shocked by Ajax's performance over the past month.

Climbing all the way from twelfth place to their current fourth, Ajax demonstrated impressive competitiveness.

Especially after Yang Yang's return, the team's attack had been greatly enhanced.

The only regret was that the team had been eliminated from the Champions League, forced to play in the UEFA Cup instead.

However, both the media and the fans were understanding of Ajax's situation. After all, being drawn against powerhouses like Juventus and Bayern Munich, even other top European clubs might not be confident of advancing, let alone Ajax.

It could only be said that Ajax's luck was truly bad.

While their rapid climb up the league table was evident, Ajax finally had a player break onto the top scorers' chart.

That player was the recently-turned-eighteen Yang Yang.

Eight goals allowed Yang Yang to advance further up the scorers' chart, tying for fourth place.

The top three players were Feyenoord's center-forward Kuyt with twelve goals, Heerenveen's center-forward Huntelaar with nine goals, and Feyenoord's forward Kalu.

But unlike these pure strikers, Yang Yang had six assists in addition to his eight goals.

In terms of combined goals and assists, Yang Yang's threat was comparable to players like Kuyt, not inferior in the slightest.

Many Dutch media outlets and fans agreed that after the departures of Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart, Yang Yang had become more mature and performed even better this season, quietly becoming Ajax's core player.

...

...

「December arrived.」

In the fifteenth round of the Eredivisie, Ajax challenged Vaalwijk away.

After a week of rest and playing at home, Vaalwijk launched a wave of attacks right from the start.

Midfielder Robert Fux broke into the penalty area in the seventh minute and scored for Vaalwijk.

But it was this very goal that woke up the Ajax players.

Just four minutes later, after a series of breakthroughs on the right flank, Yang Yang suddenly cut the ball back to the edge of the box. Sneijder converted it, leveling the score at 1-1.

In the thirty-sixth minute of the first half, Pinaar scored another, putting Ajax ahead 2-1.

After that, neither side managed to score again.

Ajax ultimately secured a narrow 2-1 victory over Vaalwijk.

That same evening, Eindhoven defeated Graafschap 4-0 away, with goals from Alex and Van Bommel, and a brace from Farfan.

Feyenoord also beat Nijmegen 2-1, with goals from Kuyt and Kalu.

Alkmaar defeated The Hague 2-0.

The Eredivisie standings remained unchanged.

...

...

「Midweek, the final round of the Champions League group stage.」

Ajax hosted Bayern Munich.

Before this match, Juventus had already secured first place in the group to advance. Maccabi Tel Aviv, with a terrible record of five straight losses, was at the bottom and destined for elimination.

Bayern Munich had basically secured the second-place spot for advancement, unless Ajax managed to beat them 4-0 at home.

Although everyone knew it was highly unlikely before the match, Ajax still played very aggressively during the game.

Just as Head Coach Ronald Koeman had said before the match, if for no other reason than the 4-0 away loss, the team had to fight for a victory to save face as the defending champions.

From the start of the match, Magath's team came out with an aggressive posture. With Hargreaves playing deep, Flint and Deisler on the wings, and Ballack pushing forward, their small midfield diamond caused a lot of trouble for Ajax.

Just nine minutes into the game, Bayern Munich capitalized on a counter-attack. Deisler and Kuff linked up on the right wing and sent the ball into the box. Pizarro faked a shot, and Ma Kai scored with a left-footed push, opening the scoring for Bayern Munich.

This goal fired up Ajax.

Subsequently, the Eredivisie team launched a frenzied counter-attack, with Yang Yang repeatedly creating danger on the right flank.

Finally, in the thirty-eighth minute, Yang Yang delivered a precise cross from the right. Charisteas headed it down in the box, Pinaar laid it back, and Galasek, surging from deep, struck a long-range shot from the edge of the area that pierced Kahn's goal, leveling the score for Ajax.

After changing sides for the second half, Ajax continued their relentless attacks.

In the sixty-fourth minute, Sneijder sent a brilliant through ball. Yang Yang made a quick diagonal run behind Bayern center-back Kovac to receive it, went one-on-one with the keeper, and scored, changing the score to 2-1.

But just as everyone at Ajax felt they could secure the victory, Bayern Munich substitute Ze Roberto crossed from the left, and Ballack, making a late run from deep, scored with a header to level the score again.

In the end, the two sides drew 2-2.

In the group's other match, Juventus, with nothing left to play for, drew 1-1 away against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

As a result, Juventus and Bayern Munich both advanced together, while Ajax was forced to drop into the UEFA Cup.

...

...

「Eredivisie Round 16.」

Ajax hosted Vitesse.

Playing two matches in one week had left Yang Yang extremely fatigued. He failed his pre-match physical exam with Jan Kruitenberg and was forced to start the match as a substitute.

However, the team couldn't find a way to break through Vitesse's goal. Youngster Ryan Babel, who replaced him, played as a left winger, and Wesley Sonck returned to the right wing, but neither player performed well.

Ronald Koeman finally couldn't resist and brought on Yang Yang in the seventieth minute.

He then substituted Pinaar for Wesley Sonck, forming an attacking trident of Pinaar, Charisteas, and Yang Yang. As a result, Ajax launched a wave of attacks in the final fifteen minutes.

Then, in the eighty-eighth minute, Pinaar dribbled into the box from the left and passed back to Maxwell. The Brazilian left-back sent a precise, low pass to the right of the penalty spot.

Yang Yang made a quick diagonal run into the box from the right channel, controlled the ball, and immediately fired a shot, sending it precisely into Vitesse's goal.

One-nil!

Thanks to Yang Yang's last-minute winner, Ajax defeated Vitesse 1-0.

In another key match of this Eredivisie round, Feyenoord, after going down by two goals, fought back to equalize twice, ultimately scraping a thrilling 3-3 draw at home against Eindhoven.

Meanwhile, Alkmaar thrashed Twente 5-0 at home.

After this round of matches, the Eredivisie standings finally changed.

Eindhoven and Alkmaar both had thirty-nine points, but Eindhoven remained at the top due to superior goal difference. After their draw, Feyenoord only had thirty-four points, while Ajax, with thirty-six points, leapfrogged Feyenoord into third place.

With his goal this round, Yang Yang's Eredivisie goal tally reached nine. However, he was overtaken in the scorer's chart by Alkmaar's forwards Perez and Huntelaar, ultimately ranking fifth.

Huntelaar had scored two goals in the previous round, while Perez scored a brace in this round's 5-0 victory.

...

...

On the morning after the 16th round of the Eredivisie, the latest news came from Italy's *Torino Sports Daily*.

Following Ajax's core player Van der Vaart winning the European Golden Boy Award in 2003, Yang Yang successfully beat Manchester United's Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, Atletico Madrid's Torres, Inter Milan's Martins, and Anderlecht's Kompany, among others, to claim the title of European Golden Boy in 2004.

Just like last season, *Torino Sports Daily* sent the Golden Boy trophy directly to Ajax.

In an interview with *Torino Sports Daily*, Yang Yang stated, "I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious award. It's a great honor that represents everyone's affirmation and encouragement."

Regarding his performance over the past year, Yang Yang expressed general satisfaction, saying, "I feel I can do even better."

The European Golden Boy Award is decided by a panel of thirty well-known European media outlets. Each player can receive a maximum of ten points. Yang Yang won the favor of the European media with his outstanding performance in last season's Champions League, especially his winning goal in the final, as well as his excellent performance this season.

Five famous media outlets—Italy's *Gazzetta dello Sport* and *Rome Sports Daily*, Spain's *Marca* and *Diario AS*, and the *Dutch Telegraaf*—all gave him a stunning perfect score of ten points.

Several other outlets, including *Team Report* and *Bild*, also gave him a high score of nine points, proving that Yang Yang's performance over the past season had earned the recognition and affirmation of mainstream European media.

In the end, with an impressive score of 273 points, Yang Yang surpassed Van der Vaart's total from last season. He was a full fifty points ahead of the runner-up, Rooney, and nearly one hundred points ahead of third-place Cristiano Ronaldo, winning the 2004 European Golden Boy Award without any doubt.

With this European Golden Boy Award, eighteen-year-old Yang Yang made a name for himself across all of Europe for the first time.

Media from multiple countries, including Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, took notice, believing that Yang Yang would become the new standard-bearer for Ajax and would also transfer to a major European club this summer.

Just three days after receiving the European Golden Boy Award, Ajax's 17th Eredivisie round match was held early due to their participation in the Toyota Cup in Yokohama, Japan. Ajax traveled north for an away match against Groningen.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw, but in the second half, Yang Yang first assisted a goal for Sneijder. Pinaar then scored a goal, and Yang Yang himself scored twice in the seventy-fourth and seventy-eighth minutes, completing a brace.

With two goals and one assist, Yang Yang was once again named man of the match. He also raised his goal tally to eleven, placing him second on the scorers' chart, along with eight assists.

Then, over the weekend, Eindhoven suffered a surprising 2-0 upset loss at home to Roda JC. Feyenoord also lost 2-0 away to The Hague, while Alkmaar steadily defeated Rosendal 2-0 away, reversing the standings to claim the top spot.

After this round, Ajax finally caught up to Eindhoven.