Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

The veteran turned and waved farewell. The newcomer stepped onto the stage in full gear.

This was the law of football, and the law of the natural world.

The "Farewell" that had played at the Euro opening ceremony echoed once again that night at the Donbass Arena.

This was one of Chopin's most famous pieces.

"I have never written such a beautiful melody before, and I fear I may never encounter one again."

That was how Chopin had evaluated this composition of his.

That night, Shevchenko's farewell was just like that.

For Ukrainian football, Shevchenko was Chopin's melody, stirring the heartstrings of every Ukrainian fan.

He too was irreplaceable.

When he turned and waved farewell, Would Ukraine have someone to inherit his number 7 jersey?

Shevchenko hugged each of his teammates, knowing they too had burned through everything they had.

During his sideline interview, Shevchenko's eyes still glistened with tears, but his face showed a relieved smile. "It's time to give the young players a chance. I believe in their future."

Shevchenko glanced at the stadium full of fans and the Ukrainian flag, saying, "I will play one more match. This will be my final battle for the country, perhaps a friendly. I haven't decided yet. I'll speak to some people and ask them to organize such a match. I will make this request to the Ukrainian Football Association."

He looked toward the stands again, waving to the fans, and seeing those who had become tearful.

How Shevchenko wished time could slow down, give him just a little more time.

But alas, they had lost.

Lost to the powerful French team.

However, only the fans were celebrating France's victory.

At that moment, in the locker room, dark clouds gathered.

In the tense atmosphere, Blanc said sternly, "Anyone who thinks the team can't function without them can go home and try it. The team doesn't need anyone who creates problems."

Blanc pointed to the locker room door. "Anyone who doesn't want to play can walk out that door and tell the media loudly how you've been targeted, say it all!"

Nasri walked out of the locker room without a word, followed closely by Ben Arfa, who couldn't wait any longer.

Blanc looked at the others. "Anyone else?"

No one responded.

Benzema backed down, feeling that Blanc was pushing things in an even worse direction, which wasn't his intention.

Ménez, M'Vila, and others shared similar thoughts.

They also didn't approve of Blanc's current approach, but for various reasons, they didn't make the same choice as Nasri and Ben Arfa.

Blanc took Lloris to the post-match interview, saying before leaving, "Prepare well for the knockout rounds."

No one in the locker room said much more. They were all familiar faces, exchanging glances before individually preparing themselves.

When they left the locker room, Giroud took a deep breath, telling Julien, "This atmosphere makes me feel oppressed."

Julien just smiled and said. "Hasn't the French team been like this all these years?"

Giroud sighed again. "Yes, why can't we unite? We could clearly win more trophies."

"That's why the French team needs change."

Hearing Julien's words and seeing the current state of the French team, Giroud suddenly realized he was caught in the storm.

He and Julien walked toward the team bus together.

Just before boarding, he heard many fans outside the bus shouting "Julien!"

He suddenly realized—

Change would definitely come to the French team, but Julien De Rocca's meteoric rise seemed to have accelerated this process.

His gaze turned to De Rocca, who sat by the window. His emotions were complex. This young man had far greater influence than he had imagined.

And this was only his first professional season.

When Giroud sat down, Juliena was resting with his eyes closed, feeling somewhat tired.

This was one of the rare matches where he had played the full game at full intensity. It was also a major tournament with the national team, and in the rain, which consumed even more energy.

To some extent, he had to thank Nasri for not giving him too many opportunities in the first half.

Otherwise, his stamina wouldn't have lasted the full match.

But after this game, he had gained quite a bit. He had officially appeared in the French team fans' field of vision.

National team starter. It seemed to have become natural.

However, he still needed to improve himself. In the football world, everything ultimately came down to ability.

That day he could feel that once he was marked tightly, his ability to create opportunities wasn't quite enough.

Especially without support from teammates, it became much harder to play.

Next match: Italy.

The starting defensive lineup from Serie A champions Juventus.

It was destined to be a difficult match. Then he looked at his victory points.

In the match against England, he had played less than ten minutes, and despite scoring the winning goal, he still hadn't earned any points.

This time in the match against Ukraine, his performance had been excellent.

Victory points earned: 15.

It was lower than he had expected, he had thought his performance deserved at least 20.

It seemed as his abilities strengthened, victory points would become increasingly hard to earn.

With this, his victory points reached 96.

Just four more points, and he could open another victory chest!!

If they could beat Italy, that would be enough. If they lost, he would have to wait for the French Super Cup before the new Ligue 1 season.

The French Super Cup was a warm-up match for Ligue 1.

Each year, the Ligue 1 champion faced the French Cup winner. If one team won both trophies, then they faced the Ligue 1 runner-up.

This meant that before the new Ligue 1 season, Bastia would face Montpellier for the new season's first trophy!

Julien was quite confident about this match.

The new season's Bastia would be stronger, while Montpellier would be weaker, as their core players had all been poached.

Their top scorer Giroud would almost certainly move to Arsenal.

Lost in thought, the bus returned to the hotel.

Everyone returned to their rooms to rest.

While French newcomers like De Rocca and Giroud silently rested early,

Nasri had already begun his attack on Blanc.

"Substituted after 50 minutes?

Ha-ha! This old fool has wanted to humiliate me for ages! Do you really think it was for tactical adjustments?

Last year he told the media 'Nasri needs to prove himself,' and now he throws me off the field like garbage, this is his 'communication art'!"

"'We must unite,' 'the locker room must listen to me'—that's what he says. When Ben Arfa questioned 'why let De Rocca start,' he just yells 'anyone who doesn't want to play can go home!' So, we're leaving! Let his precious boys De Rocca and Giroud go lick his tactical board!"

"Ha! Does he think he's Zidane?

I've had enough of his hypocritical rhetoric! He once praised me as 'France's future core,' now he says I'm 'disrupting unity' because he's afraid the media will discover the truth: the French team's cancer is his outdated 4-4-2!"

Finally, Nasri gave the camera the middle finger, saying boldly, "Oh, and isn't he going to Tottenham for some fishing? I suggest Mr. Levy check his locker room recordings first, it's guaranteed more exciting than 'The Godfather'!"

Nasri even dragged in the news about Blanc possibly coaching Premier League side Tottenham after leaving the French team.

Ben Arfa agreed with everything Nasri had said.

"Samir is absolutely right. Blanc is a complete fraud. I don't deny his talent and contributions as a player, but as a coach, he's garbage!"

"Without us, the French team will only face darker years ahead! Want to reach the Euros? World Cup?! No way!"

The post-match statements from both players instantly pushed the French team's infighting news to the top of Euro coverage.

While fans were still amazed by the Netherlands' quick exit due to internal strife, they discovered France was even more dramatic.

The Dutch team had just accused each other, while France was practically grabbing each other by the collar and cursing in the street.

The French Football Federation hadn't made any statement yet, but various legends had already come out to publicly criticize Nasri and others for disrupting French team unity.

Nasri immediately fired back: "Has the French team ever been united? Were you united in 2010?"

Mentioning the 2010 French team's internal scandal further amplified the impact of this incident.

The French team had embarrassed itself again!

Besides his post-match press conference comments about the Ukraine match, Blanc said nothing else.

But undeniably, the entire French squad had become hot property in reporters' eyes.

The next day at training, reporters were camped out waiting, rushing up to any French team player they saw.

However, no one dared say anything at that juncture.

Only Evra reluctantly stated, "Seeing such scenes makes me feel terrible."

This time, not being at the center of the storm, he indeed felt something different.

Perhaps it was his advancing age, or something else. He even told the cameras, "I hope the French team will never have such incidents again."

The French team was at the center of the storm, while Italy's coach Prandelli saw some added hope for this match.

The current French team was in turmoil.

As a legendary figure in Italian football, Prandelli naturally knew the French team's strength was now greatly diminished.

Locker room problems were definitely not just about one or two players—there would be more players who, for various reasons, wouldn't openly rebel.

Of course, he must also guard against the possibility that the French team might explode with unexpected strength during this turbulent time.

That wasn't impossible either.

As French team infighting news multiplied, with various players, legends, and fans arguing, the French Football Federation officially released a statement three days after the match—

"After review by the disciplinary committee, national team players Samir Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa violated the 'National Team Code of Conduct' during the European Championship, including publicly insulting coaching staff, leaving the team without permission, and inciting opposition.

The following punishments are hereby issued:

National team and all representative team bans: Nasri banned for 5 years (until July 1, 2017); Ben Arfa banned for 3 years (until July 1, 2015);

Financial penalties: Full forfeiture of Euro tournament bonuses."

Once this news broke, everyone knew their national team careers were over.

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