Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The second half started and the Beşiktaş fans thought about how to create more noise and pressure on the Forest team when Nottingham Forest gave them a welcome gift.
Beşiktaş kicked off in the first half, so it was the Forest team’s turn in the second half. The Nottingham Forest players seized the opportunity to launch an attack. This time, they showed the strength of the defending champion, so that the home fans could see the big difference in both teams’ strength.
The football was at the feet of the Forest players from start to finish. No matter how hard the Beşiktaş players defended, they had no way to intercept the Forest team’s ball. They dribbled and passed the ball until they were at the front of Beşiktaş’ goal. Then Petrov, who plugged in from the back, finished the shot. It hit in the goalpost range. It was a little too straight on, so it was pounced on by the Beşiktaş goalkeeper, Rüştü Reçber.
Although it did not result in a goal, Twain happily said to those around him, “that’s right, this is more like it. This is our true standard!”
It did not matter whether they scored a goal or not in the end for this offensive. The key was to let everyone see the Forest team’s real power. Otherwise, the Beşiktaş fans thought that Nottingham Forest was a weak team that could easily be bullied. Just like how Beşiktaş’ strength was overstated due to their fans, Nottingham Forest’s strength appeared to be underestimated due to the fans.
The attack would serve as a wake-up call for Beşiktaş to tell them that Nottingham Forest was not so easy to deal with. But Sağlam, who was blinded by the feverish home atmosphere, did not take it seriously. The Forest team had such an attack in the first half and the ball brushed the goalpost and flew out. Didn’t they also play under immense pressure from us as well?
It was no big deal. With such feverish home support, any opponent could forget about playing well there. “Hell’s home ground” was not a gimmick.
He brandished his arms on the sidelines and used exaggerated body language to instruct his players to continue to press ahead with the offense. One goal was not enough. They had to lead with two goals in order to be safe.
Beşiktaş pressed up like a tide rushing forward.
Just like Twain said during the halftime interval, their offensive, though seemingly imposing, was pathetically ineffective. A large crowd swarmed but could only spin outside and not break into the box.
In the end, Beşiktaş’ attack was stopped by Ayala. The fans booed as loud as they did in the first half, but the Forest players who were distracted were getting fewer. Once they saw through the appearance to uncover their true nature, they realized that Beşiktaş was really weak!
Nottingham Forest organized another offensive. Ayala gave the football to van der Vaart.
The Dutchman did not dribble the ball, nor did he stop the ball to observe. He swung his leg for a long pass and kicked the football to the front field.
The Beşiktaş players returned to defend and the Forest team wanted to attack, so they could not give them a chance to return.
In the front field, van Nistelrooy scrambled with the opposing center back, Gökhan Zan, for the drop point. The two players jumped at the same time and the result was no one headed the ball!
Zan interfered with van Nistelrooy and van Nistelrooy also did not let go of Zan. The two men tangled together which gave the opportunity to Petrov, who plugged in at a high speed. He swiftly bypassed the two men and stretched his leg to firmly take down the falling football.
The stopping of the ball won the commentator’s acclaim. His training in technique could clearly be seen in being able to stop a high ball so beautifully during a high-speed run.
Petrov, who stopped the ball, slowed down slightly. The other Turkish center back, İbrahim Toraman, had appeared in front of him. He was the only defensive force other than the goalkeeper, Rüştü. Beşiktaş’ preferred tactic of letting the defenders press up to attack finally made them suffer.
Having shaken off the entanglement with van Nistelrooy, Zan climbed up from the ground and pounced toward Petrov, intending to double team him to intercept the football.
Petrov jabbed the football through the gap between the two men before they could completely encircle him.
“Van Nistelrooy! No one is marking him!”
Beşiktaş’ only two defenders went to corner Petrov, while, at the same time, van Nistelrooy, who had just got up from the ground, had no one to mark him. Van Nistelrooy was not in Petrov’s line of sight, but when he discovered that Zan had come up to defend against him, he knew it was van Nistelrooy’s chance, so he chose to pass the ball.
Sure enough, while he was surrounded by the two players, he saw van Nistelrooy appear behind the two Turkish defenders and receive his pass. As he had plugged in from behind, he was not offside!
Now there was only Rüştü in front of the Dutch striker.
Twain was familiar with the Beşiktaş goalkeeper, a veteran player who became famous five years ago in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea. His performance in that World Cup was considered perfect. He was instrumental in Turkey being able to make it to a historic third place. When he eventually competed with Marcos for the best goalkeeper for the World Cup, he only lost due to the team’s honor: second runner-up was not as dazzling as the champion, after all.
After that, he transferred to Barcelona. Barcelona had been plagued by a perennial problem of goalkeepers having erratic performances. They hoped that Rüştü would change that situation and give Barcelona a goalkeeper comparable to the Real Madrid goalkeeper, Casillas.
Unexpectedly, Rüştü’s performance in Barcelona was disastrous. He was seeing out the rest of his time in Turkey and was not the main goalkeeper even for Beşiktaş. At the age of 34, he was no longer the valiant player. He was able to get to be in the starting lineup in the game because the main goalkeeper, Hakan Arıkan, was injured.
Rüştü faced one of the biggest tests since the start of the game. Could he successfully block van Nistelrooy’s shot?
A thunderous hissing erupted the scene. They put pressure on van Nistelrooy, who was going head to head alone against the goalkeeper.
Facing the attacking Rüştü, van Nistelrooy chose a direct push shot. He pushed the football to the left and Rüştü misjudged the direction, but after he fell to the ground, his foot fended off the football.
The football and Rüştü’s foot collided, and it flew to the left.
The hissing from the stands transformed into cheers.
“He threw it out!” The Turkish commentator exclaimed.
Before the Turks had time to be happy, the Forest team’s third offensive wave surged forth.
While Gökhan Zan pursued van Nistelrooy, Toraman and Petrov collided together. With Rüştü on the ground and Üzülmez still desperately on his way back to defend, they were relieved when they saw that the football had not flown into the goal. Unknowingly, their footsteps slowed down.
Gareth Bale appeared in Beşiktaş’ penalty area, where the football was flying towards him.
As if under command, the Beşiktaş fans instantly turned their cheers into boos, directed at the young Bale.
Still lying on the ground, Rüştü turned his head to see Bale move to the side and swing his left foot. He hurriedly got up from the ground and dived back to the goal to block the other player’s shot angle.
Why would Bale be willing to give him another chance to be a hero? The loud boos from the fans did not bother him at all. He might have been young, but Bale would not lose to anyone in terms of mental strength.
He set his position and adjusted his stance. He zoomed in on the incoming football and slightly adjusted his center of gravity. He began to power up and the force spread to his waist and exploded from his abdomen to turn his body as he kicked his left leg to accurately contact the football.
A bang could be heard, and the football was in the air, where it changed direction and flew toward the goal!
Rüştü struggled to throw his body out, and it was hard for him to do such a difficult move at 34. He straightened his hands as far as he could to expand his defensive area to try to fend off the football.
However, he was still not high enough, and the football flew over him to hit the underside of the crossbar. It bounced straight down and smashed inside the goal line!
“What a great GOOOOAL!!” The British commentator was finally able to roar after he held back for most of the game, “Nottingham Forest equalizes the score and it’s 1:1! A terrific volley from Gareth Bale!”
After he scored the goal, Bale did not run around excitedly. Instead, he put his index finger on his lips and ran toward the grandstand where the Turkish fans were most concentrated.
No matter how his teammates hugged him, he kept the pose. He did not care what objects were being thrown from the stands. He was just going to use this moment to vent his anger.
The Beşiktaş fans in the stands did not do as they were told. Their boos got louder and mixed with all sorts of insults. Bale ignored it and turned around to hug his teammates.
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“Zan and Toraman surrounded Petrov and thought that the Forest team’s attack was over. They didn’t expect Petrov to poke the football out in between them to van Nistelrooy. Rüştü blocked van Nistelrooy’s potential shot. Everyone all thought that the Forest team’s attack was finally over and it was the end of the matter… But Gareth Bale appeared in front of everyone and he scored the equalizing goal! It was a beautiful goal, a boost to the morale!” The commentator gushed about the process of the goal.
Twain high-fived the people in the technical area in celebration. What was it like to attack at multiple points, advance layer by layer, and at the same time roll in like the tide? Watch and learn, you Beşiktaş brats, this is it!
Sağlam was furious at the goal concede, as his players had slackened at the last minute and lost their target, which led to Bale’s appearance in the danger zone without any defense at all.
He kicked a water bottle angrily on the sidelines. As a former Beşiktaş striker, he still had his footwork skills. The bottle landed at the feet of the fourth official.
The fourth official looked down at the water bottle that rolled and stopped at his feet. Then he looked up at Sağlam. The furious Beşiktaş manager apparently did not have the time to care about the little details. He brandished his arms on the sidelines and yelled angrily at his players.
The fourth official picked up the water bottle and thought about it before he put it aside. He was not going to look for trouble with Sağlam.
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The game continued.
Nottingham Forest was in high spirits after the equalizer. Even if the Beşiktaş fans in the stands created all kinds of noises, they had no way of interfering the Forest players, because through this goal, they realized that Beşiktaş just used the fans’ powerful momentum to intimidate their opponent.
Once the mask was revealed, Nottingham Forest turned back to the Champions League winner that swept through Europe and eventually reached the top.
Beşiktaş’ oppressive style of play had no effect on the Forest team, but allowed the Forest team to seize the opportunity of their empty rear defense area to fight back frequently, causing a pandemonium in Beşiktaş’ rear defensive line.
Sağlam paced back and forth in the technical area. He woefully discovered that the atmosphere gradually lost its hold on Nottingham Forest. The goal seemed to have woken them all up.
The Forest team gradually took the control of the game. They used their more outstanding skills to lead Beşiktaş around in circles.
No matter how loud the home fans booed, they could not help the Beşiktaş players grab the ball. No matter how horrifying the fans might have been, they could not go up and grab the ball in person.
When George Wood once again grabbed the ball from Delgado’s feet with a fierce shovel and the referee made no move, the home fans’ disgruntled hisses rang out in the stands. The Beşiktaş manager, Sağlam was furious and angrily scolded the referee.
He spoke in Turkish, which Twain did not understand, but he saw the referee suddenly halt the game with a whistle, but not because he wanted to give Wood a yellow card. Instead, he ran straight to the Turkish technical area and then in front of the fans in the stadium, he weathered the thunderous boos and he flashed a card at Sağlam, who was still in swearing… and it was red!
The Beşiktaş substitutes’ bench and the people in the technical area were stunned and stared blankly at the referee’s hand gesture, which pointed to the tunnel. It took several seconds for someone to come and defend their manager.
Twain added fuel to the fire. When he saw Sağlam was sent off, he did the move used to celebrate a goal — he clenched his fist and fist pumped a few times.
His provocative action triggered more clutter from the stands behind him. Twain returned to the technical area, clapping and not caring about the rain of clutter outside.
Regardless of how the Beşiktaş team explained or protested, the agitated Sağlam’s verbal abuse of the presiding referee was a fact. According to the rules, the referee had the right to banish him to the grandstand. The referee stood in front of the group of upset Turkish coaches and players with his arm pointing to the exit. He did not put it down and his face was taut which obviously meant: Please get out of here!
Twain was still clapping in his seat, which caused the Turkish fans to gnash their teeth.
Finally, still swearing, Sağlam walked toward the grandstand and left the technical area. Twain stepped forward just in time to see his opponent off the field with a smile on his face.
The poor Sağlam saw Twain, who deliberately wanted him to see it. He turned his head to glare at Twain as he muttered. His words were probably not pleasant. but Twain could not understand it anyway. He only sent him away with a smile, as if the two men had just met at halftime.
He was sent off, so there was no chance for him to laugh to the end.
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The manager’s send off was an extremely heavy blow to Beşiktaş. The cheers of the fans at the scene turned into a more irritating noise in their ears.
Then in a spurt of energy, the Forest team scored another two goals consecutively in the remaining twenty minutes and defeated the Turkish powerhouse team with a score of 3:1 to obtain their first win in this season’s Champions League.
After the game, all the members of the Forest team safely left the field under the protection of the riot police who lifted up protective shields. They celebrated in the locker room for an hour and waited for the fanatical Turkish fans to disperse before they left the stadium in the bus and returned to the hotel where they stayed.
The Forest team picked up a win. What about Twain? In addition to the victory, he also reaped a bunch of souvenirs.
