Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After the match against Macedonia was done, England had a bye into the second round of qualifying on the September 9. However, the team did not dismiss early. Instead the team played a friendly match against the visiting team, Australia in London.
The day was also Tony Twain’s birthday. After this day, he would have fully lived out his forty-five years of age and was on his way toward forty-six years old.
The national footballers from the Forest team had wanted to achieve a win to give the boss a birthday present. But Twain did not care about the result. To him, it was a chance for the team to get used to the lineup together. He did not mind sending a lot of players who did not play in the game against Macedonia.
But Twain still had something very important to do before playing against Australia.
On the morning of the match, he drove away from London Colney and left London alone. He drove along the A1 motorway and returned to Nottingham. Then he found the hairdresser shop he had visited many times before.
Next, he sat quietly in his chair and asked the middle-aged hairdresser to dye his hair.
Indeed, the important matter that he had to attend to was to dye his hair.
The days of hard work had increased the amount of white hair on his head. The roots of the previously dyed hair had grown out. He did not look good with a mix of black and white hairs.
Dying his hair was an important part of maintaining his image for him. He was only forty-six years old. He wanted to try and make himself look young. He did not want to give the impression of “being old.” Forty-six years old was certainly not considered old, but a head full of white hair would give people the impression that he was already sixty-six years old, which was not very good …
“Tony.” Connolly, the hairdresser who dyed him was five years older than him. He had been serving Twain ever since Twain had decided to dye his hair. The relationship between the two people was quite close. Therefore, he was able to dye the hair and chat with Twain at the same time.
“Eh?” Twain, who had his eyes closed, replied languidly with a nasal sound
“Happy birthday!”
Twain opened his eyes when he heard it and slightly turned his head. He was going to give the other party a surprised look but was stopped.
“Don’t move, Tony.”
“How do you know it’s my birthday today? I remember that I have not told you before…”
“Ha, as a celebrity, your birthday is no secret, is it? Today’s also used an extra to wish you a happy birthday. Even if I did not know it before, I know it today.” Connelly laughed.
But Twain was not in a very good mood. He muttered, “I’m already forty-six years old. My birthday six years ago was already not a happy occasion for me.”
Connelly smiled wordlessly and continued to work.
That was when Twain’s cell phone rang. He touched the button on his earphones and pressed the answer button.
“Happy birthday, Uncle Tony!”
Shania’s voice, brimming with energy, rang out of the Bluetooth headset, making Twain’s mood instantly better. Although Shania and Connelly essentially said the same thing, he was still a little surprised.
“It must be two o’clock in the morning on your side, isn’t it?” There was an eight-hour time difference between London and Los Angeles. It was 10:20 a.m. on Twain’s side.
But Shania said with a smile, “I waited especially until this time to call you, or else I won’t be able to sleep.”
Listening to his wife’s voice, Twain suddenly wanted to put his arms out to embrace her. He lifted his shoulders, only to realize that the Atlantic Ocean and American continent separated the two of them. Perhaps ten thousand miles were not enough to describe it.
“I’m forty-six years old, and a year older…” Twain did not mind that an outsider was around him. He was flirting with Shania on the phone.
“The older my Uncle Tony is, the more attractive he is! I like old men!” Shania said with annoyance. It was as if she was acting coquettishly in Twain’s arms. “What are you doing?”
“Dyeing my hair. ”
When Shania heard Twain say so, she suddenly laughed, “You’re celebrating your birthday in this way. Is it your birthday wish, Uncle Tony?”
“Of course. If I’m a few years younger, I’ll be able to spend a few more years with you.” Perhaps he became aware of the sadness of the problem, Twain hastened to change the subject, “Is it hard to do the filming in Los Angeles?”
“It’s okay. I’ll be in Paris in a few days. I can come see you at that time.” Shania also cleverly did not to dwell on the issue.
“Are you going to stay for long?”
“Only three days…” Shania’s voice was a little disappointed.
Twain was also quiet for a while.
The long-term separation prevented them from even living like a normal couple, and they did not know how long the situation would last.
“I saw the news that your England team had defeated Macedonia, and it was a big win. Congratulations, Uncle Tony!” The previous remark about how long she was staying this time felt as sad as “How much more time can Uncle Tony be with her” so Shania changed the subject too. Even though she did not care about football, it was better than talking about those things.
The two people chatted about some other stuff and Twain repeatedly urged Shania to go to bed. They dilly dallied for a while and went back and forth several times before Shania finally reluctantly hung up the phone to go to bed.
Twain took off his earphones and Connelly was finally able to dye his hair on this side.
“You both have a very good relationship, Tony.” Connelly said enviously, “All I know is that my wife thinks I don’t make enough money.”
“So, are you envious of the long-distance relationship too, Connelly?”
“If it’s long distance from my mother-in-law, I’d be delighted to! Ha ha!” Connelly chuckled loudly, and Twain laughed with him as well. “I can go drinking and watch the football games without anyone nagging at me! A life with freedom is what every man like me yearns!”
“Hey, Tony. Can you reveal anything about the game this evening? How are you going to play against Australia?” After laughing, Connelly suddenly lowered his voice and asked beside Twain’s ear.
Twain smiled and said, “How else can we play against them? Anyone who did not get a chance to play in the last game has a chance to play tonight.”
“That’s right. Australia is not a strong team.” These words were inevitable and right coming from an England fan. In their eyes, no other team could be considered a strong team except England. “Then I’ll cheer you on in front of the TV tonight!”
“Thank you, Connelly.”
The two people stopped talking. Connelly focused on his work at hand, and Twain continued to enjoy the leisure time with his eyes closed. Then, unknowingly, he felt asleep. He had been tired lately as he had not been getting enough sleep. He could always fall asleep easily at such times.
But that did not stop Connelly from doing his work because even when he slept in a chair, Twain’s head was always in a fixed position and did not droop down.
By the time, Twain was woken up. It was already after his hair was dyed.
“Did I fall asleep?” Twain was still a little confused.
Connelly nodded with a smile, “You slept quite soundly. You did not wake up no matter how much I nudged you.”
“Well… I’m sorry.” Twain rubbed his eyes and then looked at himself in the mirror.
A head full of black hair plus he had caught some sleep just now, he looked full of vitality more than he did when he first arrived. He should have nothing to worry about when he made his appearance in front of the players and the media with this image.
He opened his mouth to the mirror and made a smile. “I look good!” He praised and said, “If I could, I’d really like to suggest to the Football Association that you be called up to the national team’s coaching unit, Connelly!”
“Ha!” Connelly laughed, “To go there specially to dye your hair?”
Twain took out some money and gave Connelly a tip as he replied, “Yes.”
Stepping out of the store, Twain sat in his jeep and pulled down the rear-view mirror to look at his reflection again. After confirming that he did not miss a spot or neglected an area, he started the car and drove away from here to head toward London.
On the long and boring road, he hummed an English song which he had learned in middle school.
“Happy birthday to you – Happy birthday to you – Happy birthday dear teacher — Happy birthday to you…”
※※※
Twain finally rushed back to the hotel before lunch. He had informed Walker in the morning that he had some personal stuff to do, so everyone was not surprised when he rushed in from the outside, looking a little travel worn.
The players were having their meals. Twain found the coaches’ table and sat down as he greeted his colleagues.
“Happy birthday!” Walker raised a glass of juice and toasted him. At the same time, he noticed the black hair on Twain’s head which had increased a lot more from yesterday. He guessed what Twain had done.
“Happy birthday, Tony!” The other people also raised their glasses to Twain in succession.
“Thank you, thank you…” Twain returned the toast one by one.
After Walker saw Twain sit down, he smiled mysteriously at Twain and said, “We’ve prepared a birthday cake for you.”
He clapped his hands.
Then the players stood up one by one, laughing and clapping together as they sang the song. While Wood and Terry, the two captain and vice-captain, pushed a small dining trolley as they walked in through the door.
Amid the singing, they walked through the entire room of the hotel’s restaurant and came to the front of Twain’s table.
Wood lifted the lid and a chocolate cream cake created in the shape of Wembley stadium appeared in front of Twain’s eyes.
“Happy birthday, boss.” Wood tried his best to put a genuine smile on his face, but it looked even more awkward…
Twain smiled and shook his head, “You guys planned this in advance?”
“We heard it by chance from Aaron’s mouth after we won the game against Macedonia.” Terry explained.
Mitchell heard his name mentioned and quickly raised his hand to wave to Twain. It was like he was introducing him to a meeting with his large audience and friends.
“Don’t blame me for blabbing, boss!” Mitchell said loudly, “I was just talking to David about what gift to send you for your birthday, and they heard it.” He pointed to the other teammates around him.
In fact, Twain was a very approachable manager. Although there were a lot of rumors outside against him, these national team players found that the devil-like man was not difficult to get along with after interacting with Twain for a week, … And sometimes he was even easy to get along with. They could joke with him and he would not glare at and rebuke them to ask them to pay attention to the difference in their ranks. If he was in a good mood, he would even take the initiative to joke with them. After the win over Macedonia, for example, Twain teased George Wood in the locker room. It was quite funny to see George Wood, who normally had a straight face, looking like he did not know whether to cry or laugh in front of Twain’s roguish appearance. To be able to cheekily make fun of that stern-faced and fierce star player, perhaps Tony Twain was the only one who could do so.
Seeing so many players care about his own birthday, Twain’s heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment. It looked like he had captured the hearts of the players and it was harmonious within the team.
He stood up and accepted the birthday cake from the players. He held up his glass which was filled with fruit juice in it.
“I’m very thankful to you guys. After playing this game, the national team will be temporarily dismissed. The next game is October 16th. I hope that I can still see you all come back to me at that time, and that everyone is healthy and well, plus in good form. To arrange to have so many good players is certainly a problem for the manager, but I would rather enjoy this kind of problem, which is a happy problem to have for me. Everyone, please enjoy and relax for this evening’s game! Thank you!”
It was a good opportunity and he had not forgotten to use this opportunity to further close in the gap between himself and the players.
He downed the glass of fruit juice in one gulp.
※※※
In the game in the evening, just as Twain said, it was a completely different lineup for the England national team than in the previous game.
Even George Wood was placed on the substitutes’ bench. None of the eleven players who played in the game against Macedonia, was in the starting lineup.
Australia did not see the game that way. Although politically England was their mother country, football was not a place for politics. It was a very tempting result to be able to beat England at the Wembley Stadium. Australia wanted to give it a try.
Such a game still attracted a lot of fans to the stadium to watch the game live.
Australia took advantage of England’s lineup which was still not tight enough to take the lead. They played aggressively.
While Twain was said not to care about the outcome and that he just wanted to observe the performances of the players, not everyone on the pitch thought so.
Like Joe Mattock, Bentley and Agbonlahor, the three players from the Forest team, they did not want to lose on the boss’ birthday. They had already given his birthday cake and the birthday gift should be the victory of this game. Even if it was just a friendly game, they did not want to lose.
Twain’s long-held philosophy at Nottingham Forest had played an inertial role at this time. The Forest team’s habit of refusing to lose a game made them work particularly hard on the pitch.
The commentator also thought it was a way to put in a good performance in front of Twain and get a chance to be selected in the starting lineup.
By the end of the first half, England’s “Nottingham Forest gang” had a tight cooperation and tore apart Australia’s defense. In the absence of a good coordination within the entire team, these small collaborations within the players from the same club showed value.
Joe Mattock directly crossed the ball from the left side to the right side and Bentley beautifully stopped the ball. Following which he passed the ball across to the middle with the striker, Agbonlahor making the most of his speed to then plug in from behind and shook off the hulking Australian center back. He receive the ball and went straight into the penalty area!
It was much easier to face the goalkeeper one on one. After Agbonlahor made use of his upper body and swayed to trick the goalkeeper, he shot, and the football passed through the goalkeeper’s legs to roll into the goal. The score was equalized by England to 1:1!
After the goal, Agbonlahor dashed all the way to the England team’s technical area and hugged with Tony Twain.
“Happy birthday, boss!”
On the way back to the field, Agbonlahor got hold of his other teammates and said, “Don’t let the Aussies mess up the boss’ birthday. We have to win!” He clenched and waved his fists vigorously.
The Forest players worked very hard. It did not look like a friendly match to inspect the squad. It was more like a life-and-death battle about who could advance to the next round.
The Australians fought hard for a while at the start of the second half before putting up their hands in surrender.
England started to work hard in the second half, which was completely outside of Twain’s arrangement.
In the 67th minute, Curtis Davies succeeded in his fight for the header from the corner kick and his header put England in the lead.
In the 79th minute, Delph received a pass from Vaughan after he broke into the penalty area and gave a low shot to break the goal, making the score 3:1.
In the 85th minute, Downing had even scored a goal, but it was ruled to be in an offside position, so the goal was invalid.
But Twain was already very satisfied with 3:1 score. England’s strength was indeed above Australia’s.
In the post-match press conference, some reporters who had a better relationship with Twain congratulated him on winning the game on his birthday and receiving the best birthday gift.
It looked like his birthday would not be spent alone after he became the manager of England national team.
His forty-six-years-old birthday was Twain’s first birthday with the national team. He was a year older again.
