Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

"Dio vi salvi Regina, e Madre universale..."

(God save you, Queen, and universal Mother...)

"From the mountains to the sea, we rise,

With the Trinighellu echoing our cries.

Blue and white, we wear with pride,

For Bastia, we'll never hide!

Forza Bastia! Hear us roar!

We fight with heart, we ask no more.

United strong, we'll never fall—

For Corsica, we give our all!

Bridge (chant-style)

Bastia! Bastia!

Blue flames rising in the dark!

Bastia! Bastia!

We are the island's beating heart!

Forza Bastia! Raise the sky!

Our dreams will never, ever die.

Through storm or fire, we still believe—

For Bastia, we will achieve!"

At Cesari Stadium, over ten thousand Bastia fans sang the fight song in unison, making the entire stadium interior and exterior resonate with blue.

On the field, players had finished warming up and returned to the dressing room for final preparations.

The match was about to begin!

The French broadcast commentator was somewhat surprised seeing both teams' starting lineups. "Oh, Julien is starting! This is only his fourth first-team match, but Hadzibegic has put him in the starting lineup for this match against Lille. This is a very unexpected arrangement."

Bastia fans weren't surprised at all.

Fans who couldn't get tickets gathered in various bars, with the Sunset Café Bar having the most people.

Seeing Julien in the starting lineup, fans called out, "Julien! Come on, score! Whether our drinks get discounted depends on you!"

"Better score ten! Then we drink for free!"

"Haha! Ten goals!"

In the dressing room, Bastia players were all somewhat nervous at this point.

Lille—last season's double champions.

Whew.

As Julien stood to leave, he took a deep breath.

At the dressing room door, Hadzibegic, Pascal Châtaigner, Dominique and others were there, high-fiving each player.

"Come on."

When Julien walked out, Châtaigner hugged him. "Tonight, show them what real talent looks like. You're no worse than that Belgian."

Châtaigner was somewhat indignant after Rudi Garcia said that having seen Hazard, he no longer saw genius in anyone else. He wanted to show him what Bastia's genius could do!

Hadzibegic also embraced Julien, whispering, "Give your all, for the championship."

When Julien stood in the player tunnel waiting to enter, he could already hear the stadium's roar.

Beside him were Lille's players. These Ligue 1 players looked completely at ease—playing a Ligue 2 team was much easier than league matches for them.

Julien stared straight ahead.

As the referee entered, he plunged into the tunnel of light.

Boom!!

Bursting through the light, he was met with a blue ocean—the cheers of Bastia fans.

On both sides of the tunnel entrance, fans in the stands screamed frantically, "Come on! United strong

We'll never fall!

Fight Bastia!!"

During the opening ceremony, the broadcast commentator began introducing both teams' lineups.

"Lille starts with Hazard, Nolan Roux, Joe Cole, Mavuba, and goalkeeper Landreau. On the bench, they also have Payet."

"Bastia's lineup is far less powerful than Lille's. Their starting forwards are Maoliada and their young talent, 17-year-old Julien De Rocca."

As soon as both lineups were announced, Gamblers worldwide had already made their choices.

"Sorry, Julien. Although you're our beacon, I really don't dare bet on you this match."

"Lille is at least top four in Ligue 1 this season. What does Bastia have to beat them with?"

"I'll definitely bet on Julien next league match, but this time, I still trust Lille."

Beep!!

At 7 PM sharp, the referee blew the whistle to start the match.

Lille kicked off first.

They immediately began pressing Bastia's formation forward upon gaining possession.

Although Bastia was at home, their strategy was very unified—they retreated from kickoff.

Including Julien on the right wing, everyone fell back to their own half.

The opening stage of the match was completely one-sided.

It was almost a one-way attacking drill.

Hadzibegic stood on the sideline, appearing calm on the surface but internally anxious.

To beat Lille, defense was key.

Whoosh!

However, before even three minutes had passed, Hazard showed Bastia fans the power of a Ligue 1 striker.

In the flank position, he went past two defenders, cut inside to the penalty area for a shot. Although the ball was hit somewhat centrally and saved by goalkeeper Novis for a corner, it sent cold sweats through everyone at Bastia.

"Hazard shows excellent form from the start. It looks like Lille is also determined to win this match."

Lille had a corner opportunity within three minutes.

Rudi Garcia stood on the sideline, signaling to his players what corner tactic to use.

Joe Cole's corner to the center caused chaos in Bastia's penalty area.

Several Lille players had the ball in the box but couldn't find shooting opportunities, ultimately having to pass out and reorganize the attack.

Lille's attacks came wave after wave, like surging tides.

What gave Cesari Stadium fans some peace of mind was that Bastia's defense stood like rocks, blocking the waves' impact.

Julien remained in Bastia's forward position throughout, but defense couldn't rely on him.

So, he kept waiting for attacking opportunities.

Because Bastia had almost no attacking chances, Julien was almost invisible for nearly ten full minutes.

This made fans at the Sunset Café Bar somewhat anxious, and disappointed quite a few people in the stands.

For example, Leonardo, Juventus's head scout for France, shook his head. The message from Turin had him pay special attention to Julien, but after ten minutes, Julien had disappeared.

There were also the De Rocca couple—they weren't disappointed, more like deflated.

Who wouldn't want to see their child shine on the biggest stage?

However, Châtaigner beside them remained relatively calm. "Don't worry. The team's overall strength is inferior to Lille's, so we have very few chances. But whenever there is an opportunity, it will definitely be Julien's."

The Cesari Stadium fans' volume didn't decrease despite the passive situation on the field.

In the fourteenth minute, their noise suddenly increased!

"Julien has the ball!" The broadcast commentator immediately followed up. "This is his only chance to advance with the ball since kickoff. Previously, he's only been dropping back to combine with teammates."

On the field, Bastia finally gained possession. Rothem didn't hold the ball, decisively passing to the right flank.

As Julien advanced with the ball, Maoliada quickly made a run into the center.

Lille left-back Digne immediately pressed toward Julien.

Meanwhile, center-back Chedjou also closed in on Julien, with both players blocking Julien's routes quite tightly.

Seeing the two defensive players gradually converging, Julien didn't slow down.

He charged directly at Digne.

His body slightly dropped a shoulder, leaning right, while his right foot swept the ball outward.

Seeing a teammate inside, Digne immediately chose to follow and block.

As his center of gravity shifted outward, Julien suddenly pulled the ball back with his right foot again.

One touch, two direction changes!

Digne was instantly confused.

'Cow tail?'

But there was no time to think—he quickly turned around.

But Julien's foot frequency made him even more surprised!

As Julien pulled the ball back to the left to complete the cut inside, Chedjou stepped up, and Julien knocked the ball from left foot to right foot, then from right foot back to left foot. Taking advantage of Chedjou's disrupted footwork, his left foot went straight through his legs.

Nutmeg!

Whoosh!

Julien actually squeezed through the defense of both players.

One-on-one!

Meanwhile, Maoliada was desperately making his forward run in the center.

With only the other center-back Beria beside Maoliada, he didn't dare leave Maoliada and could only pin his hopes on goalkeeper Landreau's charge.

Landreau's charge was very decisive.

But Julien's increased foot frequency brought the most direct change—more feints, making him harder to read.

Julien didn't slow down.

Facing Landreau, after a stepover, he suddenly burst two steps outward, then came to a sudden stop, his left foot poised to shoot!

Under Julien's series of movements, Landreau was already confused, purely relying on instinct to make the save.

He immediately dove to make the save!

But Julien's shot was still a feint!

Left foot pulled back, right foot naturally led forward, his whole body charging outward.

If he got past, it was an open goal!

After diving, Landreau saw it was a feint and desperately used his glutes to push himself forward, reaching out to grab the ball.

But Julien's movement was so quick!

He instantly led the ball forward one step, causing Landreau's hand to touch Julien's foot.

Julien was touched and stumbled but didn't fall.

Staggering, he quickly adjusted his center of gravity and, before Chedjou could get back to block, smoothly pushed the ball into the empty net!

Swish!

Unobstructed, the ball hit the net!

1-0!

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