Whoosh!
Seeing this move, Spanish fans at the Calderón grew restless. They were too familiar with this type of attack.
Spain had many such scenes of breaking down opponents.
Whether Barcelona fans or Spanish fans, they preferred to call this type of goal "passing it into the net."
And that's what they did.
France replicating it?
Whoa!!
The next second, Spanish fans raised their arms in celebration. Matuidi's pass was intercepted by Ramos.
Julien's run was wasted.
The ball was cleared long.
Clap clap clap!
Home fans applauded. That was too close.
On the sideline, Deschamps pressed his lips together, biting his nails hard.
If only Matuidi's technique were a bit better, if the pass had reached Julien, with his ball-handling ability, it would basically be a goal.
Such a shame.
Deschamps felt France desperately needed a player like Xavi or Iniesta.
Currently, France's midfield clearly lacked creativity.
Julien gave Matuidi a thumbs up, then walked toward the wing. He glanced at the match time.
Including injury time, at most six or seven minutes remained.
Both sides wanted to change the scoreline in these final moments.
But with stamina declining, neither could muster much speed.
Except Julien, who hadn't played much in the first half and still had energy in the second.
When Cabaye passed him the ball, he simply separated man and ball, bulldozing past Alba!
Alba, already on a yellow card, didn't dare foul Julien, and was only able to watch as Julien gained a body length advantage.
Seeing Ramos and Alonso already positioned to defend his inside cut, Julien decisively lifted the ball.
Bang!
The ball flew toward the center. The advancing Giroud gritted his teeth, and persisted to leap powerfully. Because Ramos had moved to defend Julien, only Busquets was left to challenge Giroud.
But his small body couldn't stop Giroud at all.
Giroud headed powerfully toward goal.
Nearly into the top corner!
The ball hit the ground and bounced toward goal. Casillas dove at extreme speed, extending himself with all his might, pawing the ball away.
The onrushing Ribéry, sandwiched by Juan Fran and Xavi, couldn't get the rebound, as Juan Fran kicked the ball out for a corner.
Whoosh!
Spanish fans felt they'd dodged a bullet. That ball looked destined for goal.
But Giroud and Julien immediately shouted at the referee: "It's in! It crossed the line!!"
French players quickly surrounded Brych, applying pressure: "That's absolutely a goal, he saved it from inside the net, it's a goal!"
"That's definitely a goal, it completely crossed the line!"
Spanish players rushed over, blocking the French players surrounding the referee, saying: "No, that's not a goal, it didn't completely cross."
Casillas wagged his finger at Giroud.
Evra still protested to the referee. Ramos pushed him away. Evra swatted Ramos' hand aside.
"Ah!"
Ramos screamed, covering his face and falling to the ground.
Juan Fran pushed Evra: "What are you doing?!"
Evra, already angry, went at Juan Fran directly.
Players from both sides quickly joined in, even substitutes rushed over, looking ready for a full-scale brawl.
Julien quickly grabbed the heated Evra and Sakho, pushing them back.
In this era without VAR or goal-line technology, such a call could never be overturned.
Just look at England's goal-line injustice two years ago.
Fans at the stadium booed wildly.
This was their home ground. Many fans threw debris onto the pitch.
Whistle whistle whistle!
The referee quickly blew his whistle. With the assistant referees' help, they barely separated the two sides.
By now, tempers on both sides had completely ignited.
Brych maintained his original decision.
Deschamps, for angrily cursing the referee, received a yellow card—two yellows making a red, he was sent off.
Deschamps laughed bitterly, shaking his head as staff escorted him from the pitch.
Before leaving, he told Stéphane: "Maintain the status quo."
Stéphane nodded.
On the pitch, Brych became a card master, showing yellow cards to both Ramos and Evra, plus Juan Fran and Sakho.
Ramos looked at his yellow card innocently: "I got hit and I get a card?!"
Brych made a diving gesture, considering Ramos deliberately fell to provoke.
Ramos tried to argue further but Casillas quickly pushed him away.
He feared the youngster couldn't control his emotions and get another card, which would be disastrous given Spain's already stretched center-back options.
Finally, things calmed down.
Julien looked at the scoreboard. Time had passed 90 minutes, no longer showing specific time.
He sighed. This chaos greatly favored Spain, coming right when France had momentum. Ramos pulled this stunt.
Soon the match resumed.
But the fourth official's board showed only three minutes of added time.
France pressed forward.
Unfortunately, with Spain fully withdrawn, it was difficult to create chances in three minutes.
As Xavi hoofed the ball long to midfield—
Whistle!
The final whistle blew. Match was over.
But outside the stadium, fans continued debating that goal. From the slow-motion replay provided by official broadcasts, one could vaguely see the ball completely crossing the line.
But as said before, without goal-line technology, different camera angles showed completely different views.
French and Spanish fans argued heatedly, neither able to convince the other.
At times like this, commentators broadcasting the match inevitably discussed the application of goal-line technology.
In fact, FIFA had long opposed introducing goal-line technology, relying only on referees and linesmen for enforcement.
Goal-line technology had been used in the Champions League starting in the 2010/2011 season.
But this still couldn't sway Blatter.
Discussion about introducing goal-line technology began in 2005, during a Tottenham vs Manchester United league match.
In that match, because neither referee nor linesman saw the ball cross the line, Tottenham's last-minute goal was ruled invalid, sparking widespread debate.
Blatter commented that FIFA had conducted many tests with unsatisfactory results. In 2008, Blatter explicitly rejected the system, claiming it was only 95% accurate.
In March 2010, the International Football Association Board voted 6-2 to permanently abandon the technology, with the two opposing votes cast by the Scottish and English FAs.
Many claimed Blatter didn't want machines influencing matches because, in his view, machines were absolutely impartial with no room for manipulation.
But what most embarrassed Blatter were several major refereeing errors in the 2010 South Africa World Cup!
Including England's goal-line injustice.
Then FIFA, which had just voted to permanently abandon goal-line technology, announced less than four months later it would restart discussions on using it.
But until now, FIFA competitions still don't use goal-line technology.
Their discussions have yet to reach a conclusion.
Julien and his teammates exchanged high-fives, each face showing disappointment at not winning.
This feeling was completely different from before the match.
Before kickoff, they felt a draw would be enough—drawing away against Spain, who had won 24 straight in World Cup competitions, would be completely acceptable for France in its rebuilding phase.
But when the match ended, they couldn't accept it.
Simply put, looking at the result alone, France was satisfied, but having seen the process, they weren't satisfied with this result.
Spain felt the opposite.
After the match, at the press conference, Deschamps spoke frankly about the draw: "If France had lost this match, it would be unfair. We even had a chance to win. Don't forget the referee disallowed our good goal. Our players didn't lose faith; they fought until the very end."
Then discussing the overall match: "In the first half we were very passive. The defense did fairly well, but we had too little possession, almost no attacking opportunities.
The second half was completely different. France had the advantage, we played freely, created more chances."
Despite drawing with Spain away, Deschamps still pointed out: "We must stay clear-headed and calm, because France faced the best team in Europe and the world.
Our players were rewarded for their efforts.
France is a young team. Everything we're doing is moving in the right direction. We have the conditions and space to improve. This French team lacks international tournament experience, but playing like this will help us grow.
It will also make the players more confident.
I believe when Julien, who will only turn eighteen next month, performs like tonight against the European and World Champions, his future will be even stronger.
This is a process of accumulating experience.
Our team has the ability; the players need time to accumulate experience.
Our goal now is to reach the Brazil World Cup. This is our first step; more objectives await us later."
Then a reporter suddenly asked about something unrelated to this match:
How did Deschamps view Rennes' U21 midfielder M'Vila and three other players privately going to a Paris nightclub, ultimately leading to the team being reversed by Norway and failing to qualify for the European Youth Championship finals, with the French FA issuing a suspension of over a year?
"The FA has issued its punishment. M'Vila has the right to appeal, but this is none of my concern."
Regarding the French FA's punishment, Deschamps didn't want to explain.
On the other side, Del Bosque said. "Spain controlled the match in the first half. We played well, maybe lacked some depth. Indeed, in the first half we could have secured victory with a 2-0 scoreline.
The second half became more open. I don't know if this made Spain's players tired, but the situation began turning against us."
"That last ball was a miraculous save by Casillas. I don't want to comment too much on the referee. Whatever decision they make, that's how it is."
A reporter mentioned that Fàbregas missed a penalty in the first half, which was also an important reason Spain didn't take three points.
Del Bosque responded. "I've said many times; I don't temporarily assign penalty takers during matches. Many players on the team can take them. Anyone can miss a penalty; it's nothing. If the team only fails because of one penalty, then we don't deserve victory."
Finally, Del Bosque praised France. "They played very well. Their wings put great pressure on our defense, especially Julien—he's a very formidable player. If possible, I'd hope he played for Spain, not France."
Tonight, this match was destined to be full of controversy.
French media used a slow-motion image of the ball crossing the line as their cover, with the headline: "This Is Not a Goal."
Fans also furiously cursed referee Brych.
Simultaneously, calls for FIFA to introduce goal-line technology grew louder.
This was another goal-line injustice.
FIFA had yet to officially respond.
However, some French fans remained very clear-headed. For instance, Henry wrote on his personal social media:
"Whether this ball went in or not can no longer change this match's result. What we need to discuss now may not be whether it's a goal.
Because when we talk about this ball, France has already won.
We need to see the gap between France and Spain. The players went to Madrid with a mindset of possibly losing.
But does that mindset still exist?
No, I think the lads must be thinking: when we return home, we must defeat Spain!
Because they're nothing special."
Henry's words successfully shifted some French fans' attention elsewhere.
Indeed, French fans could see that although France was still rebuilding, they already possessed their foundation stone in Julien.
In the second half of this match, Julien could be said to have perfectly demonstrated his personal talent.
Making Spain's wing defense quite flustered.
Conversely, Spain's core players were getting older year by year.
French fans didn't believe Spain could defend their title and claim a fourth major tournament championship.
The French players' feelings were indeed similar to what Henry said.
In the post-match locker room, everyone regretted not taking all three points. They could have won.
Julien said goodbye to Giroud and others.
Taking Kanté, who hadn't made his World Cup qualifying debut, back to Bastia.
In just three days, they would face the fifth Corsican derby in Ligue 1!
Away against Corsica's other Ligue 1 team, Ajaccio!
This was a grand occasion for all Corsican football fans.
Bastia fans, Ajaccio fans, neither wanted to lose!
But clearly, Bastia, currently sitting second in the league, held the absolute advantage.
After landing in Bastia, it was again Chataigner who personally drove to pick up Julien.
In the car, Chataigner spoke indignantly to Julien and Kanté: "That ball should absolutely have counted as a goal! The referee stole our victory!"
Julien and Kanté had already come to terms with it, their emotions were not as intense as Chataigner's.
Chataigner said fiercely. "When we return to France for the home match, let them see what we're made of!"
Having said that, he quickly moved to the topic of the Corsican derby.
"This match is important, but also somewhat difficult to play—not on the pitch, but off it."
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