For the fans at Helsinki's Olympic Stadium, this was truly a dreamlike display from De Rocca.
Without watching the replay on the big screen, it was impossible to understand how he had accomplished it all.
Some fans held their heads in disbelief—this style of football was rarely seen in Finland.
What they usually witnessed in the Finnish league was more about long balls, aerial duels, and direct play.
Finland's football level wasn't particularly high in Europe, with over a century of absence from major international tournaments in their history.
World Cup qualifiers and European Championship qualifiers were the highest level of competition they could participate in.
The climate played a role in this.
Helsinki's winter lasted four to six months, with temperatures ranging from zero to minus thirty-five degrees Celsius.
Looking at Finland's entire football history, most fans had probably only heard the names of Litmanen and Hyypiä.
These were the legends of Finnish football.
Finnish fans described it this way: Litmanen was the supreme, while Hyypiä was the embodiment of salvation.
However, in today's Finnish squad, there were no such players. Moisander had replaced Hyypiä, and Teemu Pukki led the attacking line.
Finnish fans gasped, and French fans gasped equally—because after De Rocca's inside cut was blocked, he passed to Giroud who had found space, but the latter sent the ball flying over the bar.
Deschamps on the sideline showed rich expressions, amazed by De Rocca's performance and disappointed by Giroud's missed opportunity.
As Deschamps' first official match, he didn't want to lose, so he was inevitably somewhat agitated.
Some Arsenal fans watching the match merely commented indifferently upon seeing Giroud's miss, "Well, that's nothing new—he's missed even more outrageous chances at Arsenal."
Pääteläinen on the sideline looked relatively calm, only continuously gesturing toward his defense, reminding his players to mark tightly.
At this home venue, Pääteläinen decisively adopted a defensive approach.
Starting with a 4-4-2 formation, they quickly shifted to nine players defending near the penalty area, leaving only Pukki alone up-front waiting for counterattack opportunities.
Such tactics weren't surprising.
What did surprise French fans was how truly ugly Deschamps' France team was playing.
Throughout the match, except for occasional flashes from the two flanks, they completely lacked creativity.
Across France, fans expressed the same sentiment, "Today's French midfield is too mediocre."
Facing Finland's defensive wall, France hadn't found a way to break through their opponents.
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When the referee blew the whistle for half-time, both sides shook hands in a goalless draw.
Deschamps shook his head as he walked into the dressing room.
France had dominated possession completely, but just as Deschamps had said about Pääteläinen's tactics, "When they have the ball, they don't know how to play."
France was the same.
The TF1 commentator sighed at half-time. "Throughout the entire first half, despite having over 70% possession, we only managed six shots, and five of those six opportunities came from De Rocca's right flank.
De Rocca constantly faced three to four defenders, and he performed excellently. The key question is: who in the French team can step up to help De Rocca, instead of making him repeatedly charge into crowds of players, wasting energy needlessly? On this point, I think Deschamps' use of this French team has serious problems."
French Dressing Room
"We did well with possession and pressure, but we lacked the final touch. Finland's defensive organization is tight, but we need to be calmer and more decisive!"
Deschamps stood in the middle of the dressing room, looking at the players who were sitting or standing, and continued:
"Franck, the quality of your crosses with Valbuena is too poor. You must make changes. And you too, Rio."
Deschamps pointed at Matuidi, "You must be more decisive in your forward runs. Use your long shots to create chaos for them. Even if you don't shoot, you need to be at the edge of the penalty area for support."
Deschamps didn't waste a moment, speaking for over ten minutes, covering the situation at almost every position on the field.
Including Julien, "Sometimes you don't need to pass just because you see space. I think you can trust yourself more, be decisive in breaking through—they can't stop you. A penalty is also a tactical option."
"Alright."
In Finland's dressing room, Pääteläinen simply continued emphasizing, "We must mark France's right flank tightly! Better to commit fouls than let that kid break through!"
Pääteläinen looked at the Finnish left-side players: Toivio, Ring, and Sparv.
These three players had spent all their energy in the first half primarily defending France's right-wing attacks.
Most of the time, they even ignored the overlapping Réveillère to focus on marking De Rocca.
After all, since the European Championship, no team dared to underestimate De Rocca anymore.
Even Italy, considered capable of reaching the European Championship final, had their European crown dreams shattered by De Rocca.
What right did Finland have to underestimate him?
Second Half
Both sides made no substitutions at the start.
Five minutes in, the rhythm remained the same as the first half.
De Rocca passed the ball on the right flank, and Sparv instinctively gave him a light push.
These Finnish players' defense against him included plenty of small fouls.
Julien drifted slightly toward the center.
Sparv stuck to him like a plaster, and was impossible to shake off as wherever Julien went, he followed.
The TF1 commentator frowned and said, "Finland is defending De Rocca like he's a superstar. In this match, De Rocca hasn't even had a chance to approach the penalty area. Under such dense defense and on artificial turf, it's difficult for De Rocca to perform."
Madrid
Zidane was following this match—whether it was the French national team, Deschamps' official coaching debut, or De Rocca's World Cup qualifier debut, all were worth his attention.
Zidane had somewhat anticipated France's predicament.
He tried putting himself in Deschamps' position—what would he do facing such a scenario?
As Zidane pondered, De Rocca's image inevitably appeared in his mind.
"Give the ball to De Rocca."
Zidane smiled—perhaps that would be his tactic: trust De Rocca, trust the players' individual brilliance.
It could only be said that Deschamps, having De Rocca, had truly found his trump card.
"Oh, De Rocca is brought down again. This time the referee finally gives Sparv a yellow card—he's fouled De Rocca multiple times."
The commentary continued from the television.
The free kick was taken. Sakho won the header but sent it wide.
"Oh no! Why shoot? He could have laid it back to De Rocca—Julien could have scored!" In Bondy, Mbappé's voice rose and fell.
The Mbappé brothers and Saliba sat together on Mbappé's bedroom bed, watching the small TV in the bedroom.
Watching France repeatedly come close to scoring, they sighed in frustration.
"De Rocca!"
Ethan suddenly exclaimed!
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