Whoosh!
The crowd gasped in unison.
France's most threatening attacks had consistently come from De Rocca's side, so Finland's defensive focus was on the right flank.
But even so, under the double-team of Sparv and Ring, De Rocca still managed to slip through the gap between them with his change of pace.
This scene drew gasps from the fans.
Pukki quickly tracked back, eyeing the ball from behind and to the side, launching into a sliding tackle.
De Rocca never ran with his head down.
As Pukki went to ground, De Rocca was already prepared, braking sharply and pulling the ball back to avoid the slide tackle.
Then he flicked the ball forward and sprinted past Pukki.
Pukki quickly got back to his feet.
Toivio in front also abandoned his marking of Réveillère to cover.
But Pukki was too slow—he couldn't win the ball.
As the ball dropped, it seemed glued to De Rocca's left foot. He smoothly cut inside, and Toivio reached out trying to grab him, but De Rocca's feet were quick enough to create distance from Toivio.
Toivio only managed to catch a tiny bit with his fingertips. When he applied force, he slightly pulled De Rocca but also lost his grip due to the sweat on the jersey.
He failed to stop Julien.
Réveillère had already advanced to the flank, in space.
But Julien didn't pass.
Seeing Moisander also closing down his inside route, he immediately looked toward Giroud's position.
"Up here!"
Giroud called out at the right moment, holding off the other center-back Arkivuo while making a run toward the six-yard box.
Moisander's attention was inevitably drawn to this, causing him to hesitate slightly in his approach.
And it was precisely this hesitation that Julien seized!
He poked the ball forward.
Julien burst into the penalty area, with Moisander desperately trying to catch up.
But one step behind meant always being behind.
With his taller frame, Moisander was slightly less agile.
After Julien entered the penalty area and built up speed, he suddenly stopped, causing Moisander to halt as well.
Then Julien accelerated again.
Moisander couldn't keep up!
"Hiss!"
The Finnish fans at the stadium collectively drew sharp breaths, watching De Rocca's sequence of moves in disbelief, shaking their heads and praying for no goal.
Goalkeeper Hradecký positioned himself at the near post, but as he stepped forward, De Rocca's left foot delivered a very discreet powerful shot!
Moisander instinctively stretched out his leg to block, but the ball still slipped past his foot, struck the inside of the post, and deflected into the net!
GOAL!
In the 73rd minute, France finally relied on De Rocca's individual brilliance to put the ball in the net.
Crash!
The French fans at the stadium erupted in celebration.
"GOAL!! De Rocca! An incredible goal—he turned a non-opportunity into a goal! This reminds me of Maradona, and of Messi from the Dream Team Barcelona. This is football!"
The TF1 commentator shouted frantically, "The best defensive tactics can't stop a genius's moment of inspiration! De Rocca is that pure genius!!"
After scoring, Julien turned and ran toward the touchline while pumping his fist toward the stands.
Unfortunately, there were relatively few French fans, so the atmosphere wasn't as thunderous as at home. He could only feel the amazement of the Finnish supporters.
Julien pointed toward the corner where the French away fans were located, patting the badge on his chest.
Soon, his teammates rushed over and embraced him.
"Beautiful goal!"
"Julien, you made us all spectators—doing everything by yourself!"
At Sideline.
Deschamps applauded happily, his face flushed with excitement.
Finally, a goal.
He had almost thought his French coaching debut would end in a disappointing draw. But once again, De Rocca had stepped up.
Looking at De Rocca among the celebrating crowd, Deschamps couldn't help but recall those legendary French figures who had always emerged in the team's darkest moments.
De Rocca was continuing the legacy of those great figures, walking toward legend!
Pääteläinen shook his head helplessly. In the end, they couldn't hold on.
But Finland had already done their utmost—what more could they do?
This was De Rocca single-handedly breaking through five defenders!
What more could he say?
In this goal, not a single Finnish defender had made an error—they had steadfastly executed his tactics. But they couldn't stop it—this wasn't their fault.
France took the Lead.
This also brought relief to French fans. To qualify directly from this group, they needed to win every match, then take points in the direct clash with Spain. Otherwise, they'd finish second at best.
European World Cup qualification was extremely competitive—nine groups total, with France's Group I having five teams while others had six.
Only the nine group winners qualified directly.
The remaining eight best group runners-up would play home-and-away playoffs, with the four winners earning World Cup spots.
Now that France was ahead, their fans could breathe easier.
Since France's group had only five teams, Spain hadn't played on the first matchday.
But they had played a friendly yesterday, choosing to warm up against Rijkaard's Saudi Arabia, winning 5-0 at home.
The defending champions—this was France's biggest rival.
"Currently, De Rocca has scored five goals for France in official matches, achieving this in just four games—four in the Euros, now his first World Cup qualifier goal.
Perhaps we're witnessing the birth of a French scoring legend.
Henry tops France's all-time scoring chart with 51 goals, followed by Platini's 41, Trezeguet's 34, and Zidane's 31. At De Rocca's rate, breaking these records shouldn't take too long."
Hearing the television commentary, Zidane smiled with satisfaction.
At their first meeting at Clairefontaine, he hadn't imagined De Rocca would one day become France's core player.
Back then, Julien was just another promising French player in his eyes.
But seeing tonight's performance, Zidane felt truly gratified—France finally had a successor!
Not one of those "talents" who ultimately lost their way, but a genuine talent!
"I look forward to you surpassing my goal record soon," Zidane murmured as he watched De Rocca being substituted for Cabaye on the television.
Deschamps seemed to have understood Hadzibegic's post-match interview from last time. At eighty minutes, he took Julien off.
Clap clap clap!
The French fans at the stadium rose to applaud De Rocca.
Tonight's performance made fans completely forget about the so-called "Four Little Swans" led by Nasri.
In fact, during previous friendlies, the suspended Nasri was described by The Sun as "a dejected poor soul without ideals."
The Sun reported that Nasri had suffered injuries in the new season, struggled at Manchester City, and faced the national team ban—they were multiple blows. During his recovery, he was spotted drowning his sorrows at nightclubs, caught red-handed by The Sun.
A reporter had interviewed Nasri about his feelings regarding the national team ban, asking directly.
Nasri smiled reluctantly and said, "It's fine. I can focus on club matches. I'll give two hundred percent effort for the team's title defense."
Most fans considered the match essentially over—France winning 1-0.
But on social media, some French and Finnish fans got into arguments.
Originally, the teams had no rivalry, but some frustrated Finnish fans commented on French fans' posts, "Want to borrow our sauna to dry off your World Cup trophy? Afraid it's gotten rusty from not being polished!"
French fans weren't backing down, "Your entire country's population is smaller than Paris's. Must be tough finding eleven people who can actually play football, right?"
Of course, this was only a small minority of fans. Most Finnish supporters were self-deprecating: "Our chances of scoring are like seeing the Northern Lights—all pure luck!"
Soon, the referee blew the final whistle.
Thanks to De Rocca's decisive strike, France claimed a hard-fought away victory.
At post-match conference:
Deschamps was frank, "For a team in reconstruction, winning wasn't easy. Many players are working together for the first time—there are still many problems. I hope they can gradually find their rhythm, and more importantly, find the collective feeling of being a team."
"We tried to score more goals throughout the match, but made too many mistakes. Also, the understanding between forwards and midfield isn't sufficient—many times the positioning was good, but no one made runs or offered support. We need more patience and stronger cooperation."
"Of course, De Rocca's presence compensated for many coordination issues. I must admit that Julien's individual ability is currently a crucial attacking weapon for us. Finland knew this and prepared thoroughly, but they failed. Almost no one expected—including myself—that Julien could find a way to score while being defended by five players."
"Although we won this match, I must say we're in a difficult group. The strongest team isn't us—it's Spain. So, every match is crucial for us. In the next game against Belarus, we'll put in more effort. I hope the players can perform to their level. As long as we do our job, I believe we'll get good results."
That Night, the French squad flew back to Paris by charter flight. They would rest at Clairefontaine for two or three days before preparing for the next match against Belarus.
Time was extremely tight.
After briefly celebrating the victory in the dressing room, the players focused on preparing for the next game.
Throughout the night, media and fans discussed endlessly—some praised the performance, others felt something was still missing.
Opinions were varied.
The Next Day
France had no morning training, but Julien still got up for a run. With the packed schedule between national team and club duties, he had little time for training.
This significantly impacted his attribute improvement, relying purely on reward boxes.
"I definitely need to control injuries and can't get hurt during the off-season again."
While running, Julien thought about injury management.
The off-season was actually his biggest opportunity to surpass others. When everyone else was on vacation, he could work hard on his attributes while there were no matches!
Then he checked his current attributes:
[Height: 184cm
Weight: 70kg
Dribbling (+1): 86 (89); Passing: 81 (85)
Shooting: 81 (88); Heading: 44 (63)
Speed (+1): 74 (76); Strength: 69 (70)
Jumping: 60 (72); Stamina (+1): 80 (82)
Defense: 31 (40); Tackling: 25 (33)
Flexibility (+1): 68 (70); Ball Control: 90 (95)
Hidden Attribute: Injury Resistance: 60]
Most attributes had improved slightly.
Seeing many attributes approaching their limits, he wondered whether he should use victory points to exchange for attribute caps.
Previously, he lacked immediate impact, so he had to quickly improve his abilities by exchanging for boxes. Currently, boxes weren't essential, but his various attributes needed gradual refinement.
"Sigh, but with the packed schedule, there's no time for extra training."
Julien shook his head, temporarily restraining the urge to raise the caps—he had to wait.
The Europa League would start at the end of the month. With multiple competitions, he still needed crucial problem-solving tools.
Take a gamble on the boxes. He looked at his victory points—the winning goal against Finland had earned him 15 points.
Current remaining victory points: 86.
If the next match against Belarus went well with some contribution and a win, he'd probably earn another 15 points.
Comparing the Euros with regular league matches, Julien noticed national team competitions seemed slightly more valuable than club matches.
Was it because national team events had greater influence?
After all, the World Cup was called the world's greatest spectacle.
After training alone, Julien headed to Clairefontaine's dining hall.
"Hey, Julien!"
On the way, he heard a somewhat familiar voice but couldn't immediately place it. When he turned around, he saw it was Griezmann!
Lacazette was with him, and both smiled warmly upon seeing him.
Julien greeted them both.
They walked to the dining hall together, chatting casually—they were still with the U21 team.
Seeing GriezmannJulien remembered that in three months, the incident that would lead to Griezmann's thirteen-month ban by the French Football Federation would begin.
This would also be when U21 coach Mon Baer would resign in disgrace.
He couldn't let this happen again. The current French team needed a Griezmann behind Giroud.
Neither the current Matuidi nor Valbuena could do what Griezmann could.
Even he couldn't, not now. Whether now or in the future, a peak Griezmann was crucial!
Julien decided he had to intervene in this matter. But he needed the right approach.
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