The northeastern suburbs of Paris.
Bondy.
Only eleven kiloters from the city center, but completely different from Paris's prosperity—known as an "immigrant slum."
This was a poor, chaotic place with extrely high unemploynt, once ravaged by violence and riots. Many of the housing projects here were built by the French governnt in the last century to accommodate immigrants.
This was also the epicenter of the 2005 French riots.
A series of terrorist attacks had occurred here—it was a breeding ground for French extremists.
Two o'clock in the afternoon.
Léo Lagrange Stadium.
The crude stadium couldn't diminish the enthusiasm of Bondy's fans.
Under Wilfried's guidance, Julien didn't go to the stands but followed directly to the bench area.
When De Rocca appeared, the stands and even the opposing Les Ulis bench erupted in amazent.
De Rocca had actually co!
In today's France, De Rocca was showing signs of becoming a first-class star.
His outstanding performance at the Euros had made him highly anticipated among French fans.
This was 17-year-old Julien De Rocca.
Having experienced the Euro stage, when Julien watched this match, the level of excitent was clearly insufficient. But deep in his heart, Julien sighed softly.
Bondy—a chaotic slum town, a small city of only fifty thousand people.
Yet it had over one hundred and fifty football pitches.
It had produced Mbappé, Saliba, and stars like Mouani, Ikone, and Mukiele.
Whoosh!
The fans gasped.
While Julien was lost in thought, Mbappé finally found space on the left wing, exploding forward and cutting inside to the penalty area.
As his left foot feinted past a defender, he smoothly shifted the ball to his preferred right foot.
A shot into the near corner, piercing the goal.
Bondy 1-0 up in the 28th minute!
All the Bondy fans cheered, and Julien stood up to applaud Mbappé.
After scoring, Mbappé waved toward the bench. Then he ran off the pitch, facing the fans in the stands with arms spread wide.
This was his celebration.
Whistle!
Many fans in the crowd whistled—Mbappé was very popular in the Bondy community. And he didn't disappoint his fans' expectations.
After several unsuccessful shots, in the 39th minute, he again found an opportunity on the left wing. Using his first-step acceleration advantage, he shook off the defending player, cut into the box, and scored again—his second goal.
Mbappé once again perford his signature celebration with arms spread wide.
Julien smiled.
Wilfried beside him laughed, "After Kylian scores, he always uses this celebration now. He thinks it looks cool."
The first half ended with Bondy leading 2-0.
In the dressing room, Wilfried decided to substitute Mbappé in the second half, but the young player wanted to continue playing. However, his father refused, citing his young age and unsuitability for playing too long.
Mbappé said to Julien, "I've been trying to learn so of your moves, but I still can't master them completely."
Julien shook his head. "You don't need to learn exactly how I play. You have your own path. Even without , you'd beco a superstar. Your talent has never been in doubt. So, play however feels comfortable to you."
Mbappé looked at Julien. "But only you and my family say I'll beco a superstar. Others at most say I might make it to Ligue 1."
Julien t Mbappé's gaze. "Kylian, no one knows your potential better than I do. Play with confidence and never doubt yourself. You will succeed. You are France's answer on the left wing—I'll be waiting for you in the national team."
"France's answer on the left wing."
Mbappé repeated these words, his eyes igniting with confidence.
If Julien said he could do it, then he definitely could!
The anxiety in the young man's heart was dispelled, replaced by an incredibly fervent desire!
The national team!
When Julien left, he received enthusiastic pursuit from Bondy fans.
"De Rocca, you played amazingly at the Euros! If you hadn't gotten injured, we could have reached the final!"
"We're all your fans—can we take a photo with you, Julien?"
"Could you sign sothing?"
Julien didn't refuse. He took photos and signed autographs with the enthusiastic Bondy fans, even eting so Bondy youth team players who also ca for photos and autographs.
"Julien!"
Soon, a familiar face stood in front of him—William Saliba.
He was holding a France national team jersey.
Number 19.
This was Julien's national team number.
Julien ruffled Saliba's hair. "You're asking for an autograph too? Just ask next ti."
Finishing his words, De Rocca took the jersey, found a flat surface, and didn't just sign his na—he wrote a ssage:
"William, this jersey carries not only my na, but the legendary beginning of your future as a world-class center-back."
Then he signed his na.
Saliba took the jersey, read the ssage, and his eyes imdiately lit up.
This was the feeling of being recognized by his idol.
He clutched the jersey to his chest. "Thank you, Julien!"
The other fans around saw that Saliba had received not only a signature but also De Rocca's personal ssage, and they all showed envious expressions.
Julien left.
The fans still craned their necks watching the direction the car had departed.
Mbappé watched all this, his emotions stirring, with Julien's words "I'll be waiting for you in the national team" deeply etched in his mind.
Beside him, Saliba still clutched that jersey, De Rocca's words about being a "world-class center-back" echoing in his mind.
In youth, one is always moved to passion by a passage, a sentence.
They would never forget this day for the rest of their lives.
Clairefontaine
Julien and Rafael varane were still roommates—they had been roommates in the U21s, and now in the national team, they were roommates again.
Varane was chatting: "Can we beat Uruguay in this friendly? They're the Copa Arica champions."
Julien shook his head. "I am not sure, but I think these friendlies are more about tactical cohesion. Don't worry about winning or losing."
Julien wasn't concerned about winning anyway. Because there were no victory points to be gained.
As his strength increased, the last match against Montpellier in the French Super Cup only added 15 points when they won.
He currently had 46 remaining victory points.
At this rate, future Ligue 1 matches would probably only add ten to twenty points each.
He wondered what the Europa League would be like.
This season's Europa League had quite a few top European teams that had surprisingly dropped into the competition.
Teams like Liverpool, Tottenham, Inter Milan, Atlético Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and others.
It wouldn't be easy for Bastia to go far.
But deep in his heart, he wanted to make up for Bastia's 1978 regret—
Win the Europa League trophy.
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