Amr Obaid (Cairo) Before the start of Euro 2024, many big stars retired from international football, and others were absent due to injuries or technical decisions of coaches, but at the same time new “super” stars appear to compensate for their European teams for those absences, and perhaps the most prominent of them all is the Manchester “duo.” City, Spain’s Rodri and England’s Foden, each of whom occupied the position of one of the “high-status” stars in the ranks of Spain and England. Who can imagine the “Matador” midfield without the presence of the “legendary” Busquets, who has represented a “milestone” in the tactics of Spain and Barcelona for 15 years, but missing the penalty kick against Morocco and then being eliminated in the round of 16 in the 2022 World Cup was “ The “straw” that ended his international career two years ago, but the “Year of Life” put Rodri instead of Busquets in the “La Roja” midfield, and under the care of Pep Guardiola, Rodri became one of the best pivot players in the world ever, as “The Philosopher” relied on him to Leading “The Blues” towards complete control of the English League, and winning the Champions League, the European Super League, and the Club World Cup, which was reflected in his brilliance with the Spanish national team, where he was a member of the squad that won the European Nations League 2022/2023, scoring a penalty kick in the final against Croatia. As for the “Three Lions”, the decline in Raheem Sterling’s level with Chelsea forced coach Southgate to exclude him from the England list, which is a logical “technical” decision despite the duo’s association with an international career that spanned approximately 8 years, during which Sterling scored 18 of his 20 goals at the national level. Phil Foden, who also shone in an extraordinary way under the leadership of “the genius Pep”, and at the age of 24 years, he now owns 6 league titles with “City”, in addition to the “Champion League”, the Continental Super League and the Club World Cup, in addition to the “Euro 2020” runner-up with the “Three Lions”. ». If the absence of the “retired” Benzema does not make a difference for coach Deschamps, and the same applies to Pogba in light of Kante’s return and the change in the composition of the French midfield, then the retirement of the great goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris, who has the largest number of international appearances with the “Roosters” in history, with 145 matches. It may leave some anxiety in the hearts of the French, especially since he is the champion of the 2018 World Cup and the winner of the 2020/2021 European Nations League, in addition to runner-up at Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup, as the loss to Argentina in the Qatari World Cup final marked Lloris’ last appearance with France. However, his “distinguished” successor, Mike Maignan, has appeared well recently, after he contributed to the return of Italian Milan to the local podiums, winning the “Calcio” during the 2021/2022 season, only one year after he led his former team, Lille, to defeat… Paris Saint-Germain’s dominance in the French League, crowned with “Legue One” in 2020/2021, with its coach Deschamps describing him as a “leader” who gives him complete confidence in the back line. Things seem more complicated for 3 other teams, most notably the Netherlands, which suffered a “severe blow” after the injury and absence of the pivotal midfielder, Frankie de Jong, who, despite being affected by the decline in Barcelona’s level this season, is considered one of the pillars in the “orange” ranks, and hopes Fans of the “Mills” want Joey Firman, the Dutch League champion with Eidenhoven, who scored 7 goals and made 19 assists, to be the ideal replacement for De Jong, and this applies to the star Bastoni in Italy after the retirement of Chiellini and Bonucci, as well as Belgium goalkeeper Quin Casteels, Courtois’ replacement.