Central France, Clermont-Ferrand City
Clermont's coaching staff was watching footage of the French Cup match between Valenciennes and Bastia.
"Oh my God, how did he get past like that? This kid's touch is really good—quite tricky. One defender definitely can't stop him."
"How co we haven't discovered such a player? This talent is too strong."
"I rember soone tried to sell him to us before, but we refused. Julien De Rocca—a very morable na."
The assistant coaches chattered among themselves.
anwhile, head coach Der Zakarian stared intently at every move De Rocca made.
Der Zakarian had already studied Bastia's other players quite thoroughly, including their 4-3-3 formation. He had originally been quite confident about beating Bastia at ho.
But with Bastia's magical coback in the French Cup and the ergence of this player, Julien, he had to reconsider everything.
"If he cos on, tell the players to be physical with him. Don't let him get his dribbling going. Press him with numbers and give this young man a taste of professional league intensity—open his eyes."
Der Zakarian made his decision. He found that while De Rocca's dribbling technique was indeed Ligue 1 level, his strengths and weaknesses were obvious.
This gave him so relief—he was still relatively easy to target.
Just a young man who could dribble, we needed to just get physical with him, right?
anwhile, at Bastia.
After announcing the squad for the away match against Clermont, Hajdibegic spoke privately with De Rocca.
"Julien, you did well in the last match, but I believe you can do more. I'll give you so ti in the league—work hard to integrate with the team. We need you."
The Bosnian's words weren't as cold as when they first t; instead, he had beco amiable.
After all, De Rocca had helped him achieve his French Cup advancent dreams.
The French Cup had always been fertile ground for Ligue 2 teams to cause upsets.
If other teams could win Ligue 2, why couldn't his Bastia do the sa?
"Next match, Clermont will definitely have targeted deploynts against you. Be careful when the ti cos. I'll also find ways to have other players share the defensive pressure you face."
De Rocca nodded. Clermont was indeed a formidable opponent.
After 20 rounds, Clermont had already earned 40 points, ranking first in the current Ligue 2 table, while Bastia was second with 36 points.
Additionally, several teams behind them were breathing down their necks.
Reims was third with 35 points.
Everyone's scores were quite close, so these kinds of top-level dialogues—direct confrontations between promotion competitors—would largely influence the final season results.
Hajdibegic clearly had great ambitions this season.
He wanted to advance as far as possible in the French Cup.
And in the league, he definitely wanted to finish in the top two!
The Ligue 2 promotion rules were quite simple. the top two teams were directly promoted to Ligue 1, while the third-place team participated in the promotion playoff semifinals.
The fourth and fifth-place teams participated in the promotion playoff quarterfinals, with the winner playing a two-leg match against the third-place team.
The playoff semifinal winner would then face the third-from-bottom Ligue 1 team (the bottom two were directly relegated to Ligue 2) in a two-leg match.
The winner stayed in or was promoted to Ligue 1, while the loser went to or remained in Ligue 2.
The team's training ended quickly that day.
But De Rocca's training wasn't over. Looking at his attribute limits, he felt sowhat obsessive-compulsive—he had to max out these attributes.
At the sa ti, he was considering how to use the victory points he'd earned from the last French Cup match.
Should he directly increase his limits, or wait to exchange them for victory treasure chests and take a gamble?
The forr was a steady, thodical improvent; the latter was betting on a one-step breakthrough.
He leaned toward the latter.
Attribute improvent wasn't sothing that could be accomplished overnight. Even maxing out his current limits would take considerable ti.
Even if he raised his limits, he wouldn't gain imdiate combat effectiveness in the short term.
But the system's ntion of enhanced abilities intrigued him.
As De Rocca pondered, Maolida approached him, holding a white box with a familiar logo.
"Hey, Julien." Maolida waved the box in front of De Rocca. "My goal bonus from the last French Cup match—you deserve so credit for it. I noticed you don't usually use a phone, so I bought you an iPhone as a gift for returning to the first team."
De Rocca shook his head. "That was a goal you scored yourself."
Maolida insisted. "Don't refuse—this is my gesture of goodwill. We still have more than ten league matches ahead, and I hope we can cooperate well. The promotion bonus will be quite generous."
"I ca to France from the Comoros to make a living. Back ho, people would fight tooth and nail over ten francs. I play football for money."
"You helped score and earn my bonus, so I should give you a gift in return."
"Here, take it. We're teammates—no need to be polite with ."
De Rocca didn't imdiately agree, but Maolida had already pressed the latest iPhone 4S into his hands.
Julien could only accept it. This generation of iPhone was the beginning of Jobs' adoration. After its release in October last year, it sold four million units in the first week.
Seeing De Rocca accept the phone, Maolida smiled. "You can use it to register for social dia platforms—Facebook, Twitter, etc. Your playing style will easily attract fans. I can't do that; after using it for over a year, I still only have a few hundred followers."
De Rocca didn't tell Maolida that he knew how to maximize the use of these platforms.
After expressing his thanks, Maolida brought up the real business. "The boss told after training that when we're both on the field, I should act as your support. I'll do everything I can to cooperate with you."
"Good."
This was Hajdibegic's preparation. De Rocca had strong breakthrough ability and could attract a lot of defensive attention, naturally making him a thorn in opposing teams' sides.
He needed help.
A strong striker like Maolida was a good partner.
The ti for the match against Clermont was approaching.
Bastia Daily specifically previewed this match, expressing anticipation for Julien's performance in the league.
Local Bastia fans were now full of expectations for De Rocca.
A top-level genius different from Bastia's usual style—this was the label they gave him.
anwhile, in Clermont, local dia made a small joke, calling De Rocca the "Corsican Monster" while referring to other players as "islanders."
"The team must be careful of this Bastia anomaly who just made it to the first team—the 'Corsican Monster.' The French Cup was his debut, but he perfectly displayed what people had expected of him three years ago, successfully reversing the match result."
"This will be our defense's greatest threat!"
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