Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

Everyone was celebrating and singing wildly.

Kanté stood alone to the side, somewhat awkward and uneasy.

That was just how he was—a modest and quiet person who often appeared clumsy and shy, but always with good intentions.

Julien noticed him.

He pushed him forward to his Bastia teammates: "Let me reintroduce N'Golo Kanté, Bastia's defensive midfielder next season! No one can escape his defense!"

"One day, he'll also have his name called on television like this!"

De Rocca's words weren't taken seriously by the Bastia players—they treated it as a joke. But they also accepted Kanté.

This harmless little black man, aside from his skin color, actually fit quite well with Bastia's profile in terms of build.

Only Kanté understood. He saw the seriousness in De Rocca's eyes.

He was a sensitive person who could sense whether others were being fake or genuine.

At least in this moment, Julien was serious.

"Could I also make it into the national team?"

As Kanté celebrated De Rocca's selection with everyone else, he wondered, thought about it, then quietly shook his head: "Impossible."

He denied himself but affirmed De Rocca—this was a good-hearted person.

Amid the celebration. Julien received many text messages and phone calls.

His phone was constantly busy; as soon as he finished one call, he immediately had to return a previous missed call.

They were all from people he knew.

Most ended by saying they would definitely come to the stadium to watch his national team debut.

Mbappé was even more excited on the phone. "My God! Julien! Do you know our whole family was watching the live broadcast? My brother Ethan jumped up and knocked over the coffee table—it was amazing! You really made it into the official national squad. God, at that moment, I cheered out loud. You deserve it..."

Mbappé's speaking pace was like a Gatling gun, combined with the characteristics of French.

Julien found it a bit overwhelming.

"...Our whole family will go to the stadium to cheer you on! We'll cheer for every dribble you make, get excited for every goal you score..."

Julien found it somewhat sugary; he didn't know that young Mbappé was such a chatterbox.

However, Zidane's call helped Julien calm down. "You probably won't have many playing opportunities for now. You need to be clear about your position in the national team.

The national team isn't Bastia.

They won't have everyone revolve around you to design tactics. You know this yourself—your defensive contribution is very low. This is completely fine for mid-to-lower table teams because teammates will cover for you since you're the core.

But in the national team, this is impossible. Every player who makes the national team is at the top level.

Everyone needs to do their own job well, but someone will definitely complain about their extra work.

Having a clear understanding of your own position is very important. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Julien answered sincerely.

Zidane was truly treating him as one of his own in this guidance—there was no flattery, only the experience of someone who had been there.

Julien certainly understood that at his level, he was naturally useful in lower-level leagues, but in high-level competition, he could easily be targeted.

If he lost possession, with his defensive ability, it would be difficult to intercept the ball, making it easy to be caught on the counter-attack.

If his tracking back was a bit slow, his side would be picked apart every time.

Bastia had Rothen and others helping him with defensive positioning but what about the national team?

Who would be willing to cover for a 17-year-old kid?

Zidane continued. "This time, just consider it experiencing the atmosphere of a major tournament. There will come a day when you are the core of the team, but at least not now."

"Thank you."

Julien thanked him sincerely.

Zidane was momentarily stunned, then laughed heartily. "Work hard."

"Yes."

Julien hung up the phone and turned to look at his Bastia teammates, Hadzibegic, Chataigner, Kanté, and others, as well as his family members.

Everyone's eyes were filled with envy, excitement, relief, and various other emotions.

Julien smiled at them slightly.

They were already discussing which restaurant in Bastia they should go to tonight for a proper meal to send off De Rocca.

While Julien's mind echoed Zidane's words—having a clear understanding of your own position is very important.

At Bastia, he was the core, but in the national team, he was nothing.

He looked out through the reception room window.

There was the silent, soundless grass pitch.

The squads for various European Championship teams were announced one after another.

Some were left out, some were selected for the first time. Fans had surprises, expectations, and doubts.

In France.

The inclusion of all four young talents at least maxed out the excitement level among fans.

De Rocca's selection no longer generated the same level of controversy as the first time.

But doubts still remained.

L'Équipe even suggested in their report on Nasri's comments that Nasri was referring to De Rocca.

Nasri had won the Premier League with Manchester City this season and was riding high.

After the national squad was announced, journalists interviewed him.

Nasri said. "We will give everything for this blue jersey. Each of us earned our opportunity by conquering the coaching staff with our own abilities. But as far as I know, in certain national teams, some people get into the squad through connections."

In a very long interview, L'Équipe extracted just this paragraph to make a big story:

"Previously, Alain Giresse revealed that someone in the French national team had been nutmegged by De Rocca. This player, based on various speculations, is most likely Nasri.

Now Nasri has publicly stated in an interview that some people get into the national team through connections, which could very well be targeting De Rocca again, suggesting that De Rocca entered the national team through Zidane's connections.

Previously, Zidane had strongly supported De Rocca's national team selection."

This L'Équipe report, in the eyes of some French fans, was continuing to stoke internal team conflicts!

Many fans left comments online calling it fabrication for the sake of traffic.

Meanwhile, in England.

The Sun timely published a report claiming that "when a cleaner was tidying Nasri's room, it was in complete mess. The timing was exactly the day Alain Giresse made his revelation. The cleaner also said, 'Samir was very angry at the time, cursing constantly, and I vaguely heard the name De Rocca.'"

The report also mentioned Evra: "When Evra was partying with a woman at a bar, he allegedly said, 'Nasri is just an arrogant fool whose brain got kicked around in the slums—he couldn't even defend against a mugger.'"

The Sun's report once again pushed the topic of French team internal conflicts to the forefront.

If it had been any other newspaper, fans might have questioned it.

But when this kind of gossip was reported by The Sun, it was probably true nine times out of ten.

Both Evra and Nasri played for Manchester clubs, which was The Sun's traditional territory.

Suddenly, there was widespread discussion.

But none of the players involved in this matter spoke out.

On the first day of national team assembly.

When Blanc was interviewed, he said: "None of these things happened. It's all just tricks by the English media trying to divide us because we're in the same group as England."

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