European media have been overwhelmed recently—too many explosive stories.
First, at the European Championship, Germany was unexpectedly defeated by Croatia.
Then, rumors of infighting within the German team surfaced.
Next, the Netherlands crushed France.
Spain defeated Switzerland.
One after another, the headlines kept coming. Now, the bombshell: Carlo Ancelotti, who had served AC Milan for eight years, decided to formally part ways with the club.
Both Ancelotti and AC Milan publicly stated it was an amicable split without any disputes.
The club gave their usual thanks for Ancelotti's eight years of dedication.
Ancelotti appeared choked up several times in front of the cameras, visibly saddened.
But it was all just an act!
If it weren't for Šuker having some insider knowledge beforehand, he would have been completely blindsided.
Šuker couldn't quite understand why Ancelotti was forced out.
Logically, even though AC Milan had declined recently, Šuker was still there, and so was Kaká. Ancelotti could at least have stayed another year. They could have all left together in 2009!
But now, Ancelotti left without warning, going solo.
The next day, Šuker's phone blew up.
Teammates like Gattuso, Inzaghi, Nesta—all called him.
"Boss suddenly left? This is so unusual!"
"How would I know?"
"Boss likes you the most. Don't you know the inside story?"
"I'm playing the Euros. Not at Milan. Call the boss yourself!"
"You think I haven't tried? But Paolo isn't answering—heard he flew straight to the US yesterday!"
"The captain left too?"
"Yeah!"
"Damn it! What the hell happened?!"
"Maybe call the President?"
"You call. You're the best qualified."
"Screw you! You're supposed to be the knights' table member—so you call!"
"The knights' table don't even know where they moved to. I'm no knight!"
"Forget it," Šuker sighed suddenly."Let them do whatever. Once it's done, it's done. People who want to leave, you can't drag back."
Gattuso said:
"Who's our coach next season? If they bring in some greenhorn, I'll beat them up."
At that moment, Milan's vice chairman Galliani announced the new coach on TV.
Šuker saw the name and muttered quietly:
"Go ahead and beat him up. He's a rookie coach."
"Who's the rookie?"
"Tassotti."
Gattuso was speechless.
Šuker hung up. Even now, he had no idea what truly happened.
Though Ancelotti wanted to leave, his departure was too decisive. Something definitely happened.
And just after Ancelotti left, AC Milan rushed to announce his successor, promoting assistant coach Tassotti to head coach as a stopgap.
Why the rush?
There were plenty of good coaches available on the market. Milan's connections in Italy meant they could find a fitting replacement easily.
This raised many suspicions.
But Šuker had no time to ponder now. The European Championship was imminent, and he had to focus on the games.
The second round of the Euros had just finished.
Four teams had already qualified for the knockout stage:
Group A: Portugal
Group B: Croatia
Group C: Netherlands
Group D: Spain
All had won their first two matches.
Two teams were eliminated:
Group A host Switzerland
Group D defending champion Greece
Both lost their first two games, losing hope to advance.
Current Group B standings:
Rank Team W-D-L Points Goal Difference
1 Croatia 2-0-0 6 +5
2 Germany1-0-1 3 -1
3 Poland 0-1-1 1 -3
4 Austria 0-1-1 1 -1
Third round matches:
Germany vs. Poland
Austria vs. Croatia
For Poland, only a win would mean progressing to the knockout stage. Otherwise, they had no chance.
Austria was in the same situation—but theirs was even more complicated.
Austria had to beat Croatia to have any theoretical chance to advance.
But that was nearly impossible. Croatia was secure at the top.
Even if Germany won, the head-to-head record meant Croatia would still finish first.
Plus, Croatia beating Austria was far harder than Poland beating Germany.
That evening, a mysterious visitor went to meet Bilic's room.
After a long discussion, Bilic made a decision:
Croatia would field a full reserve team in the third round.
"Why a full reserve team?"Mario Mandžukić was confused. He still wanted more goals in the Euros.
But he couldn't refuse the coaching staff's order.
Šuker rolled his eyes:
"Don't you get 'favoritism' in football? Last night, the hosts probably came knocking!"
Austria still had a theoretical chance:
If Poland beat Germany, and Austria beat Croatia, both teams would be tied on points.
Head-to-head results would be equal, but Austria would lead on goal difference.
Though it was a faint hope, it was still a hope.
Poland smelled a conspiracy brewing.
Polish media began loudly calling out fairness in football.
They insisted that even if they advanced, they would give their all, and match-fixing was shameful.
They also stressed that Šuker—who created great matches—would never do something against sportsmanship.
This was Poland trying to warn Šuker and Croatia.
They feared Croatia might throw the game!
And this group had a history.
Croatia had previously eliminated England by playing with questionable tactics.
They could have qualified smoothly but chose to fight England hard, knocking them out on English soil.
English fans hated Croatia for it.
Poland didn't want to become the next England.
Meanwhile, Germany got angry.
They published an article full of historical records, stats, lineups, honors—all implying:
"Do you really think you can win? Take care of yourselves first before begging!"
It was clear Germany was not taking Poland seriously.
Before the game, Poland was hyping Croatia as if they were guaranteed to win.
For Germany, a win or a draw would be enough to advance.
But last round, Croatia had crushed Germany badly.
This time, Poland's antics made Germany furious.
Poland's moves had maxed out Germany's anger.
"Group B is really heating up!" Šuker laughed while reading newspapers.
Poland was trying to influence Croatia.
Austria was begging Croatia to throw the game.
Germany was threatening Poland.
The last round was set to be explosive.
Croatia, after two wins, was relaxed.
But the coaching staff still chose to field reserves.
They couldn't be too obvious.
So only Šuker and Modrić were excluded.
The final group matches started simultaneously.
The day before, Croatia announced that Šuker and Modrić would miss the game due to injury.
Poland erupted.
"Injury, my ass! They're throwing the game!"
Poland demanded the organizers conduct full medical checks on Šuker and Modrić to confirm if they were truly injured.
Austria didn't even respond.
"Only sick people do this!"
In the end, Šuker and Modrić did not appear on the field.
In the other match, Poland's coach looked grim.
On one hand, Croatia was throwing the game.
On the other, Germany had beaten them badly.
Poland's pre-match comments had infuriated Germany.
The Germans launched an aggressive attack right from the start.
The atmosphere was intense.
Within 15 minutes, 4 yellow cards were issued.
At the 17th minute corner, Michael Ballack scored a free-kick goal, putting Germany ahead.
Meanwhile, Croatia and Austria played slow, cautious "old-man football," watching the Poland-Germany match closely.
After all, if Germany were knocked out, it meant one less huge threat.
But that was wishful thinking.
Poland played well but couldn't stop Germany's relentless assault.
By halftime, Germany had already scored three goals, and the match was effectively decided.
The 90 minutes ended.
The final group stage qualifiers for Groups A and B were confirmed:
Group A:
1st: Portugal (2W-0D-1L, 6 points)
2nd: Turkey (2W-0D-1L, 6 points)
Group B:
1st: Croatia (3W-0D-0L, 9 points)
2nd: Germany (2W-0D-1L, 6 points)