Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

"Both teams have returned to the pitch. For now, neither Rudi Garcia nor Hadzibegic has chosen to make substitutions. Relatively speaking, Bastia definitely has the greater psychological advantage. Lille's problem now is that they need to show effectiveness in attack..."

The commentator's words reached the ears of fans watching this French Cup broadcast.

Lille fans were very dissatisfied with this score-line.

"What kind of football are they playing like this? It's hard to imagine the team has declined so much so quickly—we were champions last season!"

"We have no choice— we can't keep those players. Sow and the others left, and Hazard will leave at the end of this season too."

"Sigh..."

The biggest regret for these Ligue 1 fans was exactly this—teams couldn't keep their players.

Almost all players who came here treated Ligue 1 as a stepping stone to the other four leagues.

When Lille fans saw the celebrations of Bastia people on TV, and the close-up shot of Julien, they felt somewhat bitter.

"Bastia fans will lose Julien too."

The broadcast gave Julien a full three-second close-up.

In the first half, Julien scored one goal, but the other goal also came from opportunities he created through his play.

This made him very popular with Bastia fans.

Seeing him, most fans' minds conjured one phrase. A promising future.

"His future won't be at Bastia—I'm very clear about that," Châtaigner chatted with Pierre and his wife while the match hadn't restarted yet. Châtaigner had always been sincere toward Julien's family.

Pierre shrugged. "We won't manage too much of Julien's affairs. When he comes of age, I might not even be his agent anymore. He should have his own choices, so I might not know his future either."

Châtaigner smiled. "Yes, Julien is a child with strong opinions. He's great, but what I want to say is, although I really don't want him to leave, he deserves a bigger stage! Bastia isn't his destination—it's just his starting point."

Speaking of this, Châtaigner paused and stared directly at Pierre.

After a few seconds, he asked. "I think you know Julien's talent. Do you think Julien has a chance to make the national team? There's a major tournament like the European Championship this summer."

"National team?! European Championship?"

Pierre was completely stunned by Châtaigner. Although he usually watched football and followed the national team's Euro qualifiers, he had never thought Julien would have any connection to the national team and European Championship.

After all, Julien's form had been very unstable these past few years—he could barely get playing time.

When Julien was still at Chelsea, he had been called up to France's U17 team, but due to personality issues and conflicts with teammates, he didn't get any playing opportunities.

Châtaigner didn't continue the topic, pointing to the pitch. "The match is starting."

All three turned their attention to the field. None of them spoke, each were lost in their own thoughts.

Châtaigner's question wasn't random—there was the European Championship this summer, and with Julien's current performances, if he could maintain this level, he might actually have a chance to participate in the Euros.

Of course, he'd only be a substitute, probably wouldn't even get on the pitch.

But for Châtaigner, never mind playing—the question was whether he made the squad.

Then Bastia would have more leverage in transfer negotiations.

This would be a French international!

However, Châtaigner also knew that for Julien to get current France manager Laurent Blanc's attention, he needed to show even more ability.

The French Cup was the perfect opportunity!

Châtaigner thought about it—he might need to give Hadzibegic an additional task: go as far as possible in the French Cup and build tactics around Julien.

Actually, Châtaigner felt that if Julien really made the national team, it might work well—the national team had big center-forwards like Giroud and Benzema, so Julien would have space to break through and many opportunities.

Lost in these thoughts, time gradually passed.

Bastia fans were on edge under Lille's relentless attacks at the start of the second half.

Fortunately, Bastia players' iron-willed defense gave them peace of mind.

However, what Bastia considered iron-willed, Lille fans saw as dirty!

"Ah! That's not even a yellow card?!"

"This referee's standard is way too loose."

"Won't the ref give a card until Hazard gets chopped down on the pitch?!"

Lille fans raged and cursed.

But Bastia fans near the away section wouldn't indulge them.

"What about when you were kicking Julien?!"

"Julien got fouled by your dirty tricks too! You can't only talk about fairness when it benefits you!"

Both sets of fans were having a go at each other.

On the pitch, the players were also battling.

The more Hazard saw the opposition's packed defense, the more determined he became to crack their shell.

So, he kept dribbling and trying to combine in small spaces to break out.

But he failed again.

When Kahusac and Rothem double-teamed and harassed him, defender Marie charged over and nicked the ball away.

Then Marie played a direct pass.

He sent the ball to Julien, who had dropped back to receive it.

Clap clap clap!

The moment Julien touched the ball, fans on the sideline erupted in applause and cheers.

This was star treatment.

Julien surged forward quickly.

Just as he crossed the halfway line, Hazard, who had lost the ball, tracked back in defense and came flying in from the side with a tackle that took both man and ball.

Tweet!!

The referee immediately blew his whistle.

Julien clutched his shin.

Bastia fans on the sideline erupted in angry abuse.

Hazard realized he'd lost his head and quickly came over to pat Julien, apologizing in French.

Hazard was born in La Louvière in Belgium's Walloon region, just ten kilometers from France in a typical French-speaking city—his mother tongue was French.

This was also why his name "Hazard" was pronounced ah-ZAR (in the French way), not HAZ-erd like in English.

Julien waved him off.

He refused Hazard's offer to help him up, instead lied on the ground still clutching his foot and signaled his teammates to call the team doctor.

Who didn't know a bit of time-wasting technique?

Besides, Julien knew he had to play the full match, so he might as well rest a bit now.

Smart energy management was also an important football skill.

The referee still didn't show a card this time, but he warned Hazard about his excessive challenge—one more such actions and he'd be booked.

Hazard shrugged and pointed to his sock, which already had a hole torn in it.

The referee ignored him.

He urged Bastia's medical team to hurry while checking the time on his watch.

Lille players, seeing Bastia's medical team dawdling, grew irritated.

One by one they approached the referee, claiming this was time-wasting.

Under pressure from Lille players, the medical team "quickly" finished their work and took Julien to the sideline.

The match continued.

Hadzibegic on the sideline noted that it was already the 63rd minute and nodded slightly—Julien had just bought the team two minutes.

But he remained tense and muttered. "Still half an hour to go..."