Sometimes the hardest battles are not on the pitch. As France fights for a place in the World Cup final, its manager Didier Deschamps led the team while carrying a pain no trophy can measure - on 29 June, in the middle of the tournament, his mother died.

Deschamps returned to France for the funeral, then rejoined the squad. He turned grief into work - perhaps the only way a man knows who has spent his whole life in the rhythm of matches and training. Few would find the strength to sit on the bench just days after burying a parent.

Deschamps is no accidental figure. Born in Bayonne and raised in Anglet, he carries deep Basque roots - his father Pierre was a professional rugby player. „I love going to watch a match of pelota, even though I do not get many chances," says the manager of the home traditions that run in his blood. And his coaching record speaks for itself: world champion in 2018, finalist in 2022, third at the European Championship.

Ahead of the semi-final against Spain, Deschamps stayed calm and respectful of the opponent: „We know Spain well, they are the reigning European champions." A man who knows how to win and how to lose - and now shows he knows how to work while carrying the heaviest weight inside. It is a story that anyone in the Balkans, where family is everything, understands without a single word of translation.