Corentin Tolisso: 10 things on Bayern Munich's French World Cup winner
Corentin Tolisso has won four Bundesliga titles, two DFB Cups, the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Supercup and Club World Cup, as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup since joining Bayern Munich from Lyon in summer 2017, but what else is there to know about the France international midfielder? bundesliga.com takes a closer look…
1) He was once a striker
Tolisso started out with local clubs near his birthplace of Tarare and home town of Amplepuis, about 30 and 40 miles from Lyon respectively, where he would earn his stripes as a professional.
Unlike the tough-tackling, probing midfielder he would become, however, he began life as a forward. At the age of 11, he even scored a hat-trick in a 4-4 draw against his future club, Lyon. Not surprisingly after a performance like that, the seven-time French champions signed him up to their academy in 2007.
2) A Bayern fan from the start
Tolisso answered Bayern's call in the summer of 2017, and made a dream start by scoring on his league debut in a 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on the opening day of the 2017/18 season.
The French midfielder had been a massive Lyon fan growing up, but perhaps it was no surprise that he looked so comfortable at Bayern. Shortly after sealing his move to Germany, after all, he had posted a picture of himself as a child in which he was proudly sporting a Bayern jersey.
"Don't dream your life… live your dreams," the message accompanying his Instagram post read. Speaking to L'Equipe shortly after his arrival in Munich, he explained why the switch was so fitting. "My agent called me to tell me about Bayern's interest, and a few days later, I met them," he said.
"It's one of the top three clubs in Europe with a great playing philosophy which suits me. I went for it without any hesitation. When I was little, it was already a club that meant something to me. There were French players there like Willy Sagnol and Bixente Lizarazu, there were big names…"
3) It wasn't plain sailing
The first couple of years at Lyon's academy went well but Tolisso recalls that he soon began facing tougher challenges when he hit 15. "At the end of the season they said to me 'we're not keeping you at the training centre, boarding," he told Onze Mondial magazine in 2017. "We're keeping you at OL but you'll have to find a solution to come to school and training here.'"
Tolisso's family lived a long way from Lyon's training complex, meaning that he was suddenly in a quandary. "That was my first really difficult moment," he said. "I cried about it. It was complicated. I didn't know what I was doing to do." The future France international's family came to the rescue. His mother found a job in Lyon, and they moved to within 30 minutes of the city.
"From the age of 16, I left every morning at 6am with my mother. I went to secondary school and she went to work. After my classes, I went to training and then I took the metro. After that, I used to catch one of the last trains to get back home.
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"It was quite complicated and tough above all. All the more so because, during that same year, I got injured. I had a meniscus [knee] operation. I was out for more than three months. It was difficult to live through, but I didn't give up."
4) Building his fighting character
The initial injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as Tolisso feels he “transformed” as a player on his return. Even another knee issue didn’t hold him back, as he began to grow and become much stronger.
By then he was developing into a talented midfield player, fuelled by a desire to prove his early doubters wrong.
"For me everyone has their life, everyone has their story, everyone has had their difficulties," he told Onze Mondial. "You can't manage to become a professional by clicking your fingers without any problems, or without any sacrifice. It's at that time that it was complicated for me - my mindset took shape."
5) Unusual debut
A week after his 19th birthday, all Tolisso's sacrifices will have felt worth it when he was sent on to make his Ligue 1 debut in a 4-0 win over Nice.
Hardly anyone at the Stade Gerland or watching at home will have noticed, however. It was deep in stoppage time when the youngster came on, and Yoann Gourcuff had just scored a free-kick for the home side.
The TV cameras were still showing slow-motion replays of the goal when Tolisso came on, and a few seconds later the referee blew the final whistle. So not only is there no footage of his first appearance as a professional, but he also didn't touch the ball.
6) He could have played for another team at international level
Tolisso earned his first cap for France at U19 level, and soon became an important part of his country's under-21 side. The 23-year-old's father is from Togo, but in a 2015 interview with L'Equipe, he dismissed any notion that he would represent the West African nation at senior level.
"There's no debate," he said. "I'm not disowning Togo, the country my family originally came from. But I was born here and grew up here [in France].
A year later Togo manager Claude Le Roy said he would nonetheless try to convince Tolisso to play alongside the likes of Hoffenheim attacker Ihlas Bebou at international level. But Le Roy's efforts proved fruitless, as Tolisso made his debut for France in March 2017.
7) A versatile player with a solid scoring record
In his final season in France, Tolisso finished with 13 goals in all competitions, often playing as an advanced midfielder behind goal machine and fellow academy graduate Alexandre Lacazette.
In his career so far, Tolisso has averaged a goal every six games, with his tally for Bayern already stands at 18 in just under 100 appearances. And when he was on his way to Bayern, former France international Jean-Pierre Papin compared him to one of his predecessors at the German champions.
"Tolisso is a bit like [Toni] Kroos in terms of his style of play," Papin, an ex-Bayern striker, told Bild. "He can defend, he can attack and he can play an important role in midfield. He has great technique, is dangerous in front of goal and can also make goals."
As for the former Lyon captain, he knows he will never be a player who will dribble past several players in a game. He told Onze Mondial that he takes inspiration from the likes of Kroos, Luka Modric, Thiago, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
"I try to be as effective as possible," he told the French magazine. "Control, pass, control, pass, move, then to be decisive - assist, goal."
Watch: All of Tolisso's 2017/18 Bundesliga goals and assists for Bayern
8) He's continuing the French connection
Tolisso was the seventh Frenchman to turn out for Bayern, following Papin, Lizarazu, Sagnol, Valerien Ismael, Franck Ribery and current clubmate Kingsley Coman. Ribery's presence was particularly important in helping Tolisso settle in so quickly at the Allianz Arena.
"He makes you hungry to play and supports everyone," explained the 24-year-old of the veteran winger who is 12 years his senior. "He talks a lot to Kingsley and I, which is also important because I don't yet understand everything."
Tolisso did the same for fellow World Cup winners Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard when they began life at Bayern in summer 2019, and will look to do the same for Dayot Upamecano in the summer of 2021.
9) His is a popular birthday
Tolisso was born on 3 August, which seems a pretty good day to come into the world if you want to become a successful sportsperson in later life. Bayern goalkeeper Sven Ulreich is exactly five years older than Tolisso, while a host of other talents were also born on the same date.
Rugby Union World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams is one, while another high-achieving sports star to share the birth date with Tolisso is New England Patriots quarterback and five-time Superbowl winner Tom Brady.
10) He's driven
Tolisso's jaw-dropping goal against Freiburg has been admired throughout the world since it first struck the back of the net on 4 March 2018. The Bayern man said his formidable effort was the product of extra shifts on the training ground.
"I practise these type of shots after training with our assistant coach Peter Hermann," Tolisso told German publication kicker. "The extra work paid off [against Freiburg] and I'm delighted because of that," the France favourite added.
Watch: Tolisso's March 2018 Bundesliga Goal of the Month
Tolisso's dedication also enable to him recover sooner than expected from an ACL tear suffered on his first start of 2018/19. He was expected to be out for the entire campaign, but returned in time to make a cameo appearance from the bench in the DFB Cup final against RB Leipzig on 25 May.
"I work hard every day to be back with the team. That drives me. I am in the mood to be in the square again with my colleagues, to show what I can do. That’s my big goal, that’s what drives me. I want to show what I can do and help the team."
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