When playing football, you should call it GOAT.

Chapter 183 July 4th: The Most Expensive Night in European Football

After the Lisbon night of June 30, 2004, the whole of France was plunged into a strange state of excitement.

At a newsstand in Paris early in the morning, L'Équipe was snatched away as soon as it was put on the shelf.

The front page featured a photo of Roy with his arms outstretched after scoring a goal, with the headline consisting of only two words: "LE ROI" (French for "King").

That day, Le Figaro made an unprecedented move by putting football news on its front page.

Early in the morning, 27-year-old Emmanuel Macron strode into the lobby of the Ministry of Economy and Finance building, clutching a newly purchased copy of Le Figaro.

The photo of Roy celebrating his goal on the front page was particularly eye-catching, accompanied by President Chirac's comment: "France is proud of our football artist."

The young inspector, who had just finished his civil servant training, glanced at the newspaper a couple more times, then folded it in half and stuffed it into his briefcase.

As the elevator began to ascend, his tense lips finally relaxed, and his face displayed the excited expression unique to football fans.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he almost forced out a breathy "Le Roi".

In the summer of 2004, all of Europe witnessed a commercial miracle.

Brands that signed contracts early on are now repeatedly checking their sales data.

Executives at brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Rolex, Dior Homme, and APM Monaco are already grinning from ear to ear in their offices.

The numbers on the report skyrocketed, even the most senior marketing director exclaimed, "I've never seen anything like this before."

During the European Championship, Nike's Mercurial Vapor 2 deep-sea blue boots, custom-designed for Roy, swept across Europe.

These shoes are as captivating as their owner.

The deep blue upper resembles the sea at midnight, paired with a bright silver Swoosh, making it look like a blue lightning bolt cleaving through the green field when running.

The shoe features a gradient design, transitioning from dark blue at the toe to sapphire blue at the heel, resembling the deep sea with its surging undercurrents.

Roy's performance made these shoes legendary: scoring 9 goals in 5 games, leading the French team to victory, and the images of him breaking through, shooting and celebrating while wearing these shoes were broadcast throughout Europe on television.

The fans went completely crazy.

The inventory in the warehouse was disappearing at a visible rate, and the production line had to work overtime overnight.

Long queues formed at the Nike store on the Champs-Élysées in Paris in the early hours of the morning, and sizes from 38 to 44 were sold out within 10 minutes of going on sale.

Prices tripled on the secondhand market, and teenagers in Milan even fought over the last pair of size 42 shoes.

That summer, every basketball court in Europe was a blur of deep blue.

Can't fit into Mercurial Vapor 2? Then you definitely haven't been seriously pursuing Roy.

In contrast, while the blue and white color scheme worn by Henry echoed the French team's tradition, its design was conservative and its popularity was lukewarm.

Nike intended to create a marketing concept of "French Twins," but Roy's shoes completely stole the show.

After all, with Zidane, under Adidas, leading the midfield in Predator boots, Nike needs a sensation like Roy to grab attention.

Rolex launched its Daytona watch advertising campaign, created for brand ambassador Roy, simultaneously in more than a dozen major cities around the world.

From Times Square in New York to the Champs-Élysées in Paris, from Ginza in Tokyo to the Bund in Shanghai, giant billboards in more than a dozen major cities around the world simultaneously lit up advertisements for Roy's Daytona watches.

An office worker in a London Underground station looks up and sees the reflective dial on his wrist; an office worker in Tokyo is drawn to a giant poster while waiting at a red light at Shibuya Crossing; and outside the Beverly Hills shopping mall in Los Angeles, Paris Hilton has just tossed her bags into her pink sports car when her sunglasses slip down to her nose and she suddenly catches a glimpse of Roy's huge advertisement.

She blew a bubble gum and took out her phone to snap a blurry snapshot of the poster.

The simple yet powerful advertising slogan, "Every Legend Has a Beginning," flashes repeatedly in every city, making every passerby take a second look.

This advertisement suggests that this rising star is creating his own legendary era, and the Daytona watch is witnessing an important starting point in his career.

APM Monaco, a jewelry brand that was originally only known in the fashion world, has stirred up an unexpected frenzy in Asia, especially in Japan, by boldly signing Roy as its spokesperson.

Although Roy has never set foot in Japan, he has been mythologized as the "Demon King of the Football World" in the hearts of young Japanese girls.

A legend circulates on the 2ch forum that Roy is the reincarnation of a young war god protected by Vaishravana, and the simple silver bracelet he wears contains mysterious power.

Every day, long lines of high school girls in school uniforms form in front of the APM store in Omotesando, Tokyo, all eager to buy the same "amulet bracelet" worn by Roy.

The shop assistant said, "They believe that wearing this bracelet will bring them the protection of the Demon King, and they will have good luck in exams and love."

The craziest thing is that some fans zoomed in on a close-up screenshot of the bracelet in Roy's advertisement and claimed to see the image of Vaishravana in the reflection, with the comments section full of screams of "Kakkoi!"

This urban legend caused the bracelet to sell out quickly every time it was restocked in Japan, forcing the Harajuku store to implement a "one bracelet per person" rule.

And so, APM Monaco, a niche French jewelry brand that was originally only available in small boutiques, now has counters in department stores in Tokyo and Osaka.

The brand owner said with a smile in an interview, "We initially signed Roy simply because we felt his temperament matched the brand's image. We never expected him to sell so well in Asia. Now, the performance of our Japanese branch has surpassed that of our French headquarters."

Roy's agent team was also busy. His female manager and agent, Mendes, jointly managed NextGen Marketing, which was dedicated to generating buzz on major European football forums and portals.

They launched several marketing campaigns in succession: first, a barrage of data comparisons, directly comparing Roy to Pelé and Maradona before they were 21 years old.

The headlines were increasingly sensational: "Data Speaks: Pele's goal tally at age 21 was less than half that of Roy" and "Maradona never won the Champions League in his life, while Roy has already won the treble."

Suddenly, many "veteran football commentators" appeared on the forum, unanimously concluding: "These two football kings could not have reached Roy's level at his age."

The most ruthless thing they did was to bring in a former Brazilian international for an exclusive interview, with the headline: "Pele admits: Roy's achievements at 19 were more amazing than mine at that age."

Although Pele only made a few polite compliments during the interview, the edited and rewritten text completely changed the meaning.

This content spread like wildfire across major sports forums, leading many young fans to genuinely believe that Roy had surpassed the two football legends of his age.

Claire and Mendes privately discussed, "To create a god, you have to compare him to the best. Saying Roy is better than Henry isn't shocking enough now; we have to directly compare him to Bermaz."

Sure enough, once this marketing strategy was launched, even mainstream media began to discuss whether "Roy is creating a growth trajectory that surpasses the King of Football".

And the marketing of the Golden Globe Awards.

Mendes pounded the table during an internal NextGen meeting, saying, "Remember our core slogan—'The Ballon d'Or has never been awarded to a 19-year-old, but there has never been a 19-year-old Roy either.'"

The female manager added, "We have already contacted columnists from 12 mainstream media outlets, and they will gradually use this phrase during the nomination process. ESPN commentators will also naturally bring up this phrase during key matches."

Mendes grinned: "When the judges have heard this sentence so many times they're sick of it, our 'youngest Ballon d'Or winner in history' will be born."

Besides Roy, the other players under NextGen have also been busy.

They understand the principle of "creating stars while they're hot," and taking advantage of the European Cup's popularity, they tailored marketing plans for each of their players.

They hired a group of writers to post various inspirational stories about Portuguese players on the forum.

Photos of Deco playing football barefoot in a Brazilian favela, videos of Maniche training late at night, old photos of Carvalho's family crammed into a dilapidated apartment, and especially the poignant story of Cristiano Ronaldo playing football in the countryside as a child, have been packaged into tear-jerking articles and circulated widely.

The most amazing thing was that during the European Championship, every time the Portuguese team finished a match, close-up shots of the players shedding tears would appear online, accompanied by sentimental captions such as "They carry the hopes of the entire nation on their shoulders."

The female manager even personally took charge, stringing together the growth stories of several Portuguese players to create a documentary called "The Birth of a New Golden Generation," which was sold to a sports channel for repeated broadcast before the European Championship.

These videos went viral on major sports websites, bringing many fans to tears.

Mendes privately told his friends, "This is exactly what the fans are into now. We want to build the Portuguese contingent into the most inspiring dream team."

Sure enough, not long after, the commercial value of these players all soared, and they were inundated with advertising endorsements.

The person who started all of this is currently focused on practicing on the training field.

He was well aware that his every move and every item he used was triggering a buying frenzy in distant shopping malls. His sportswear brand, AETHOS, was originally just a niche accessories retailer, but since it started bearing his signature logo, sales have skyrocketed.

Gyms in Paris are now exclusively stocked with AETHOS dumbbell wristbands.

Just because Roy wore the same style in a training video.

In outdoor sports stores, water bottles with his number printed on them are always out of stock; in school PE classes, children vie to use the same sports towels he uses to wipe their sweat.

“Just getting him to use your own product on camera,” the brand manager said with a smile, “is the best advertisement.”

The streetwear brand "NO PERMISSION" has become incredibly popular.

The first "Coronation Moment" T-shirt.

The limited edition of 5000 pieces priced at 150 euros sold out in three minutes, and the resale price immediately soared to 2000 euros.

The regular version of the T-shirt, priced at €79, became a street style hit in Europe that year. In Rome's Spanish Steps, groups even formed to imitate the coronation gesture depicted on the T-shirt.

In the summer of 2004, Roy's "Coronation Moment" T-shirt became a must-have for young idols around the world.

Usher, who just won the Billboard title, wore it to buy coffee during a break from filming his music video, while 17-year-old Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova appeared outside her training ground wearing a tennis miniskirt.

LeBron James is even more amazing.

During the NBA offseason, he wore this outfit in an ESPN interview, grinning at the camera: "Roy and I are brothers—I wish him all the best in the European Championship, although we haven't met yet, but I bet he'll bring the trophy back to Paris."

When pressed by reporters for his thoughts on the "coronation" theme on the T-shirt, the 19-year-old NBA number one draft pick wiped his sweat and said, "One day, I will also give my all like he did for the French team. After Roy wins the European Championship, it will be my turn to bring the gold medal back to the American team at the Olympics."

The following day, the Cleveland Plain Dealer published the photo with the caption: “Our emperor is wearing someone else’s crown—but don’t worry, he will bring the real crown back to Cleveland sooner or later.”

Sports Illustrated published this quote alongside Roy's past interviews, with the headline: "The Pact of the New Kings."

The most sensational story, however, involved Britney Spears. She wore this T-shirt as she left her hotel after her Las Vegas concert, and paparazzi flashes made the "crown" on the shirt gleam.

The next day, Rolling Stone magazine published the photo with the headline: "Britney Spears' first love in soccer."

Vogue called it "the first marriage between football and haute couture".

The most amazing thing is that the Guangzhou pirates made a fortune, and the bosses all said, "This product supports half of the factory area."

Real Madrid's management was furious about the "fake coronation" T-shirts all over the streets, but they were helpless against the blurred outline of the Bernabéu.

When Roy publicly rejected Barcelona and said he would "never wear their jersey," Real Madrid's management suddenly found the crown patterns on those T-shirts more appealing.

Compared to the thrill of humiliating Barcelona, ​​what is this little joke?

The commemorative T-shirts released after this year's Champions League semi-final victory over Arsenal, featuring the provocative slogan "They say I'm too young," sold out in three days.

The most amazing thing was that T-shirt that fans called the "tear-wiping shirt".

After the Champions League final, Roy was briefly photographed wiping away tears with his jersey. His team worked overnight to turn this scene into a gold-stamped print, accompanied by the words "PERMISSION TO CRY?"

As a result, the official website crashed when it went on sale, and the resale price was inflated to five times the original price.

Now, eight out of ten young people on the streets of Paris are wearing their clothes. In the words of the brand director, "We're not selling fabric, we're selling the rebellious persona that young people crave."

That's the magic of the star economy.

When a person's brilliance is dazzling enough, even the shadow beneath their feet can turn into a gold mine.

This is the reality of the football world.

When a player performs exceptionally well on the field, his commercial value snowballs – endorsement contracts, image rights revenue, and commercial activities follow one after another.

But Roy knew very well that all these added values ​​were built on the same foundation: his football skills.

On the training field, he was still the player who arrived earliest and left latest.

On match day, he will still fight with all his might for every possession.

Because he understands that once the football under his feet stops obeying him, the business empire he has built around it will collapse like the House of Cards.

Football has given him everything, and all he can give back is to continue playing well in every game.

Because whenever the spotlight goes out, he always returns to the purest starting point: a football player who needs to constantly prove himself with his own two feet.

All added commercial value is built upon this simplest of truths.

Only football can keep all of this going.

2004 7 Month 1 Day.

In the European Championship semi-final, the Czech Republic and Greece clashed at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto.

From the start of the match, the Czech team displayed a strong offensive, with Rosicky's volley hitting the crossbar and nearly opening the scoring.

However, in the 40th minute, Czech key player Nedved suffered a knee injury and was forced to leave the field, casting a shadow over the team.

Neither side managed to score during the 90 minutes of regulation time. In the final minute of the first half of extra time, Greece capitalized on a corner kick opportunity, with center-back Dellas heading the ball into the net, scoring his first goal for the national team.

This "silver ball" ended the game directly, and the Czech team once again became a victim of the new European Championship rules.

Eight years ago, they suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final for the "Golden Ball," and now they have fallen to the "Silver Ball."

When the final whistle blew, Czech players collapsed to the ground, and Jankulovski and other players covered their faces and wept.

Meanwhile, the Greek team continues to write their legend.

This team, which was given odds of 80 to 1 before the tournament, first upset the German team in the group stage, then defeated the strong Nordic team Sweden in the knockout stage, and now even the Czech golden generation, a favorite to win the championship, has fallen to them.

Ironically, the silver goal that sealed the victory came from the least noticeable player in the Greek squad, Dellas, a center-back who couldn't even secure a starting position at Roma. With a header, Dellas brought back the tragedy of the Czechs' heartbreak eight years earlier when they lost the Golden Ball.

(In the silver goal rule, the team leading at the end of the first half of overtime wins, while in the golden goal rule, the team that scores first in overtime wins immediately.)
65-year-old German coach Rehhagel made history, becoming the oldest coach to lead a European Championship final.

On July 5th, the Greek team will challenge the formidable French team at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon.

As the defending champions, the French team displayed terrifying attacking power in this European Championship – scoring a staggering 19 goals in 5 matches, averaging nearly 4 goals per game, which struck fear into the hearts of all their opponents.

他们先后以3-1力克英格兰、4-1横扫荷兰、4-0血洗保加利亚、4-2击退西班牙、4-2淘汰葡萄牙，以摧枯拉朽之势挺进决赛。

Meanwhile, the Greek team wrote one of the most incredible comeback stories in European Championship history. This team, whose pre-match odds were 80/1, relied on an impenetrable defense and efficient counter-attacks to defeat traditional powerhouses such as Germany, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.

Even more unexpectedly, this is the first time in the 44-year history of the European Championship that such a situation has occurred: a team that has never reached the final will challenge the defending champions. Greece, the biggest dark horse of this tournament, now faces the defending champions, France.

This kind of match is unprecedented in the history of the European Championship.

On one side is the French luxury warship led by Zidane and Roy, the old and new core players, while on the other side is the Greek steel army built by Rehhagel.

The 32-year-old artistic master Zinedine Zidane and the 19-year-old prodigy Giovanni Roy, a mentor-student pair with a 13-year age gap, interpret the charm of French football in completely different ways.

Zidane's elegant organization and Roy's violent aesthetics complement each other, allowing the defending champions to maintain both maturity and stability while bursting with youthful energy.

Their opponents, Greece, proved with a textbook example of defense and counter-attack that unity and discipline can create miracles on the football field.

This final is not only a clash between two football styles, but will also determine whether France continues its dynasty or Greece continues its myth.

Regardless of the final result, this match is destined to become a classic in the history of the European Championship.

(End of this chapter)