"Génial!"
Châtaigner saw the ball hit the net in that instant and leaped to his feet, throwing his arms up in celebration.
But his cheers were drowned out by the voices of the fans in the stadium, becoming part of the roar that echoed through the empty spaces of the Cesari Stadium.
After scoring, De Rocca rushed toward the corner flag. When he tried to think of so celebration move, he found his mind completely blank, so he simply stretched out both arms toward the stands, his right hand clenched in a fist, pumping it in the air.
World-class goal, neighborhood-level celebration.
His teammates rushed over and embraced him.
"What a beautiful goal!"
The Bastia youth team players' faces showed excitent mixed with a sense of satisfaction. The fear they had felt being dominated by De Rocca—now the Ajaccio U19 players would get to taste it too.
The Ajaccio U19 players indeed felt De Rocca's terrifying presence.
He had just co on, and they hadn't even had ti to familiarize themselves with De Rocca's style before he had already scored.
On the sideline, Ajaccio U19 head coach Aristide frowned deeply.
He actually knew Julien De Rocca.
More than four years ago, when De Rocca was still in Lille's youth academy, Aristide already knew his na and had even suggested that Ajaccio's youth academy should recruit him. But at that ti, De Rocca had already made a na for himself among French young players and was ultimately taken away by Chelsea.
What happened afterward was disappointing.
Later, Aristide stopped paying attention to De Rocca. In his view, this was just another star among thousands of players who had fallen into obscurity.
Having been rooted in youth developnt for years, he knew such examples occurred every year.
Rising like a cot, then suddenly fading into dust.
And now.
He saw this na that had disappeared from his view, feeling sowhat surprised.
"De Rocca," Aristide murmured to himself.
He was still savoring that mont, unable to help but sigh—this is what talent looks like.
The match continued.
But the atmosphere at Cesari Stadium had changed dramatically.
"De Rocca!"
"Give the ball to De Rocca!"
The fans looked at that sowhat slender figure with anticipation. They might not have known him before, but as long as he wore Bastia's jersey, he was the best player in their hearts!
Shouting De Rocca's na, they all hoped to see him perform like he just had again.
One goal from De Rocca had completely ignited what had been a dull stadium.
The Bastia youth team players also understood that when De Rocca was on the field, he was the key player.
They kept passing the ball to him.
De Rocca lived up to expectations. Whenever he received the ball, he would try to break through and show off his dribbling skills.
First, because this technique was very effective, and second, because he wanted to show the team that he had the ability to return to the first team.
He wanted to earn victory points, which required at least second-division level play. Youth team matches held no aning for him.
The only aning was to help him beco more familiar with his talent.
The Ajaccio U19 players fully experienced the gap in talent during this period.
De Rocca not only pushed forward freely on the wing but also cut inside to the center, putting enormous defensive pressure on the Ajaccio U19 players.
As De Rocca got more into the rhythm of the match, facing these U19 players, calling his performance a Professional player showboating to amateurs would not be an overstatent.
The defending players could only stop De Rocca through fouls.
The referee's whistle kept blowing, but no yellow cards were given.
This made Tavenot very angry on the sideline.
He kept complaining to the fourth official. "If they keep playing like this, are they playing football or kicking people?! Do they have to cripple this kid before you'll give cards?!"
Ptui!
De Rocca spat out the grass from his mouth while lying on the ground.
His teammates pulled him up.
His eyes were sharp as a hawk's as he scanned the opponent's defensive formation. With his first-class dribbling ability, even when they positioned themselves defensively, he could forcibly create opportunities.
The forr De Rocca didn't like passing and greatly enjoyed the thrill of beating players, often dribbling for the sake of dribbling.
But this De Rocca was different. He demanded that every dribble be effective!
When Cristiano Ronaldo first arrived at Manchester United, he loved showing off flashy moves that looked good but were inefficient.
With this example in mind, De Rocca certainly wouldn't get lost in dribbling just because his dribbling ability was very strong.
Soon, his teammate kicked the ball back into play.
The ti had reached the early eighties, with roughly eleven or twelve minutes remaining.
De Rocca didn't waste ti.
After receiving a pass from his teammate, he glanced at the situation in the center, flicked the ball with his foot, kept his eyes on the front, looking like he was about to break through from the wing.
When the defending player shifted his weight to the outside, preparing to cut off De Rocca's path...
Bang!
De Rocca executed a no-look pass which was one of his signature moves.
After the pass, he continued rushing forward a few steps.
The opposing defender thought the ball was still at De Rocca's feet and followed him for a few steps before realizing sothing was wrong.
While he stood there dazed, looking for the ball, De Rocca circled around him and cut into the penalty area. At that mont, his midfielder teammate played a through ball behind the Ajaccio U19 defense line.
De Rocca's quick positioning completed this through-ball diagonal run with his teammate.
Taking possession in the penalty area, the entire goal area was in chaos.
The opponent's recovery defense was very tily.
De Rocca wasn't in a hurry, executing one feint after another. The defenders in the penalty area didn't dare to tackle easily, giving him space.
A touch with his left foot, shifting his weight toward the goal line—the opponent took the bait. De Rocca imdiately pulled the ball back with his right foot and smoothly connected with his left foot.
Bang! A low shot, the ball headed straight for the net. The opposing goalkeeper had been watching De Rocca's movents and dove out the mont he shot.
But he was ultimately half a step too slow.
Swoosh!
The ball nestled firmly in the net.
2-0.
"Beautiful!"
"De Rocca is too strong!"
"Screw Ajaccio! We are Bastia!"
The fans in the stands were instantly energized. Although this was Ajaccio's U19 team, seeing them beaten so thoroughly at ho gave them great satisfaction.
Although their Bastia had fallen on hard tis, their ancestors had once been affluent too.
Naturally, they had this confidence!
On the sideline, conceding such a goal in the 84th minute made Aristide frown even deeper.
The match's outco was decided—victory or defeat wouldn't cause him any emotional fluctuation. He was thinking about De Rocca.
From the recent news, De Rocca had been in a state where he was nearly without a team to play for.
But his performance in this match was too fierce!
As a youth coach, he really wanted to know how this was achieved.
But there was no answer. He could only attribute everything to talent.
The Bastia youth team coaches couldn't help but applaud De Rocca at this mont, and Châtaigner in the stands even took out his Nokia phone and called the first team's head coach.
"Hey! Listen, De Rocca needs to return to the first team!"
"Yes, that's right, his form is back!"
"Screw prison—that's behind him now! He's changed!"
After speaking, Châtaigner hung up directly.
There were only a few minutes left in the match, and he didn't want to miss a single second.
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