Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The match against Argentina was considered the most important friendly match before the UEFA European Championship because it was the strongest team out of the many friendly match opponents. In the end, England beat Argentina 2:0 at home and Tony Twain’s team had yet to lose a game.
After the game, many English media were touting the achievements of Twain’s team. Many English fans cheered. England finally produced a good manager after so many years, so they did not have to envy Scotland anymore.
Twain very much wanted to laugh on the inside when he read such a report. He himself was a real Chinese man through and through. In the end, the English people still could not lift their heads up high in front of the Scots in terms of coaching.
After the match against Argentina was over, Twain continued to prepare for the UEFA European Championship. He and his assistants were gathering information on their opponents in the group stage of the UEFA European Championship, as well as information on the teams which could potentially become their opponents. The work on this area had been slow-going. His coaching staff was not as good as the one at the Forest team. It was not to say that their level was not up to standard, but it was an indication that they were not used to doing this kind of work.
In addition, the information on the national teams was not as easy to collect as the football clubs, especially intelligence on the Eastern Europe national teams. After the expansion of the UEFA European Championship, there were eight more teams in competition, and many more countries that had not been in the topflight tournaments in the European football in the past. They were mysterious to an island country team like England. But the presence of such teams in the UEFA European Championship finals could also increase the potential for upsets, making the game more suspenseful.
“We can’t dismiss them because they’re unfamiliar and weaker. We have to know the tactics and styles which they’re good at, their past results, which are the players who can pose threats in the team … I can’t feel reassured without getting these details clear.” Twain explained to the coaching staff why he valued intelligence research on the weak teams so much. “You can’t guarantee that they won’t advance from their group and show up in front of us. If we don’t know anything about them, we will be the ones in trouble. I don’t want to see that happen.”
To all the football fans, the opening of a major tournament like the UEFA European Championship was always something that they looked forward to. With great anticipation, they began to think about how to plan their time based on the schedule of the UEFA European Championship, so as not to miss every wonderful game. They would be able to discuss enthusiastically with friends which star players would be amazing in the UEFA European Championship and which star players would win success and recognition. In an apprehensive state, they expected the team they supported to be able to lift the championship trophy, beat all the strong enemies, and stomp their bodies under their feet.
They would buy cartons of beer, coffee and snacks in advance to put them at home. They would put together all their annual leave they had saved for this period and appease their wives, girlfriends and children so that for the next month, they would just let football be their companion.
How happy it was to be a football fan…
As a manager, there was no such romance at all for this period. They did indeed need to appease their wives and children or girlfriends, and they could only let football be their companion. Because when they were busy till they were dizzy, home was just a symbol for them.
Shania had returned to their home in England to spend time with her husband, but Twain did not have much time to go home. He had to spend with his coaches and study the opponents with them. At the same time, he had to keep a close eye on the national footballers’ condition. If someone was injured, there would be a specific person to call the football club to inquire about the player’s injury and decide if he needed to call in the substitutes. Just after the game against Argentina, Twain also specially called several big clubs in the hope that they would give full consideration to the importance of the UEFA European Championship to England. With the country as a priority, he hoped that they would minimize the appearance time for the England national footballers in the games. On the one hand, it could help avoid the possibility of injuries. On the other hand, Twain did not want to end up with a group of exhausted national footballers.
As the manager, Twain needed to appear in public regularly. He would be surrounded and watched by the media wherever he went, as if they had seen a talking gorilla.
He also had to answer idiotic questions a lot. Such as, would a certain player be call upon to the national team? Was there a contradiction between a certain player and another certain player? What did you think about a certain club chairman who was upset that a certain player was not called upon to the national team? A certain gentleman thought that his team had played too many games this season and complained that his players were injured in the national team, but the club was expected to be responsible to pay for the treatment. Furthermore, the national team did not pay a salary to the club. What are your thoughts on this statement? This is the strongest national team in history. Do you have the confidence to win the championship?
Twain was in terrible mood during this time and had a bad temper. He could not help waging a war of words almost every time he encountered the reporters. The media were happy to publish such news. Harassing Twain seemed to have become a commonly used method for the media across England to attract attention. The chief executive of the English Football Association, Shaun Harvey had been having headaches recently, which were caused from being tormented by Twain and the media.
You bastards, can’t you stop for a moment?!
Mr. Harvey weakly groaned deep down.
※※※
On April 16th, in the 34th round of the English Premier League tournament, Nottingham Forest took on Newcastle United, which was fighting to avoid relegation, in an away game. The match would affect the fate of the two teams in the next season, with the Forest team needing to qualify for the Champions League so that they could make more money. They currently ranked sixth in the league table and was six points away from the fourth-placed Liverpool. They needed to scramble for points in the next five rounds of the league tournament to avoid playing in the UEFA Europa League. Newcastle United, on the other hand, needed to stay in the Premier League and avoid relegation. They were currently on the brink of the relegation zone and could fall off at any time.
It was a life-and-death game, so it was a fierce competition from the beginning. The two sides constantly had physical contact, rough movements and lots of foul language were spouted too.
As the core of the team, George Wood naturally became the focus of his opponent’s attention. The Forest team needed to control the rhythm through Wood in terms of both offense and defense. He was the team’s “metronome.”
Now he could not pass the ball straight out after he received the ball and then handed the attack to his partner like before. He now needed to control the ball and then observed the situation on the pitch before he could decide how to attack. That way, the football stayed at his feet for a long time, giving the opponent opportunities to take advantage.
Wood was knocked down six times in the first half. Even if his body was strong and sturdy, he could not stop his opponent’s defensive moves like a log…. his red jersey had even changed color. Kerslake yelled on the sidelines. As soon as Newcastle United fouled against Wood, he would roar at the fourth official. It was like he was possessed by the spirit of Tony Twain.
But such a rant was of no use because his players were also dealing with the Newcastle United players in the same way.
The fourth official knew exactly what the game meant to both teams, so he could not interfere too much with these movements. He would keep one eye open and one eye closed as long as there was no accident.
Things did not improve in the second half. It was even getting increasingly combative. The players of both teams did not put scoring a goal as the priority, but rather they focused on which opposing player to knock down.
Wood was annoyed that his opponent’s constant fouls kept him out of the game. He had to focus all his energy on dealing with the offending players.
However, he had not hit anyone so far, which was considered a huge improvement. His temper was finally less fiery when he hit thirty years old…
In the 73rd minute, George Wood was knocked to the ground by his opponent once again. This time instead of getting up as quickly as he had done in the previous eleven times. He laid on the ground and did not move.
Kerslake was still loudly denouncing his opponent’s despicable behavior when the look on his assistant, Eastwood, beside him showed that something was wrong.
Wood did not roll on the ground in pain, nor did he raise his hand weakly to signal to be replaced. He laid so quietly on the ground as if he were asleep.
His teammate nearest to him was Gago, who rushed up to see what was going on, but was taken aback by Wood’s expression.
The team captain, known for his strength, was lying on the ground. His hands was pressing the tip of his right foot. His face was pale, and his brows knitted together with his face sweating profusely.
But he gritted his teeth and did not say a word.
“George!” Gago called him.
Wood did not answer him.
Gago knew there was trouble. He hurriedly got up and made a hand gesture to signal for a stretcher and a substitute toward the sidelines.
“That looks bad…” Eastwood muttered after he saw Gago’s gesture. Fleming had already dashed over along with the stretcher.
Kerslake stopped yelling at the fourth official. That action was now pointless because Wood was already injured…
Fleming rushed to Wood’s side and did a quick scan. Then he took off the boot off his right foot and began to check.
When Kerslake saw Fleming go up, he quickly turned around and gestured for a change of player. He had a sudden realization – George Wood had never been injured before, and was never brought off by an injury…
A bad thought emerged in his mind.
George Wood was eventually replaced by John Bostock. He had to be carried off on a stretcher, which was probably the first time he had been treated like this. He was a little dumbstruck lying on a stretcher. He was no stranger to the scene of a player getting injured and being carried off the pitch. But it was the first time this had happened to him. He was unable to accept it.
The media had always thought he was a steel warrior. He himself had thought so too, but he did not expect the steel warrior to rust in his thirties…
The television commentator also did not know what to say in the face of such a scene. He was silent for a long while before he opened his mouth because he felt that it would not do if he did not say something. He said, “… George, George Wood has left the game with an injury and it looks like he won’t be able to play in this game. … It is an unexpected development. George Wood, who has never been injured, is actually hurt… Let us take a look at what happened just now…”
Newcastle United’s Spanish left back, José Enrique rushed up from the side and shoveled Wood to the ground. It did not look like the collision was powerful, but after tackling the ball, Enrique naturally turned his body, and Wood’s right foot was caught between Enrique’s legs. With his right leg scissor in between his legs,… the supporting leg bore all the force of it. If he was still not injured by that, then Wood should have been dragged to the laboratory for an autopsy.
As “Saint George”, the patron saint of the England team, the Newcastle United fans stopped cheering and booing after they saw Wood leave the game with an injury. Enrique desperately tried to explain to the referee and the Forest players who had swarmed to him, “I did not mean it, I did not mean it…”
Was it useful to explain it at this point?
The referee gave Enrique a red card!
Kerslake stared at the fourth official and said, “If you had intervened earlier, then this wouldn’t have happened! Now we can only pray that George’s injuries are not serious, otherwise…” He and the fourth official both remembered Tony Twain’s angry face.
Kerslake left the fourth official and turned to run to the other side, where he had gone to see how Wood was doing.
Fleming shook his head as he faced his searching look, “The situation does not look good, David.”
“How bad is it?” Kerslake’s heart sank.
“It looks like a broken bone…”
Kerslake only heard a “boom” sound in his head.
The team captain and core player had fractured his bone at the crucial moment in the battle for the Champions League qualifier. It meant that he would not be able to play in the next four rounds. He could almost predict his fate at the end of the season. Evan Doughty was not a patient club chairman.
He had come up empty-handed this season and did not win any titles. The Champions League was his last lifeline.
It looked like he’d better start planning what to do next season…
He also had another thought and it was this…What about the England team?
※※※
Twain only heard the news about Wood’s injury after this round of the league tournament because he and Walker did not watch the game at Newcastle. They went to Manchester instead.
When the news reached Twain’s ears, he still did not believe it. He thought he had misheard, or that Walker was joking. He said, “Are you sure it’s George Wood who was hurt? And not some other George?”
Walker shook his head and replied, “Which other George is there in the England team?”
“How did he get hurt?” Twain did not first ask “how’s his injury” because he felt that it should not be a big problem even if Wood was injured. He would just cough out some blood at the most. He was more interested in how he got hurt.
“He was knocked down by the opposing defender and the weight bearing foot was injured.”
Twain tried to recreate the scene in his mind, but he found it hard to imagine. So, he asked, “How’s the injury?”
“The big toe on the right foot is broken.”
Twain turned to Walker and looked at him in astonishment. His expression was as if he heard that the Martians had invaded Earth.
“It’s true. I just spoke to Fleming on the phone.” Walker could understand why Twain made that expression. He had a similar reaction to Twain in the beginning.
Twain turned his gaze away and looked around everywhere, never resting his eyes at any point.
“F**k!” He suddenly swore, “F**k! Motherf**king!”
It was as if he had gone crazy. String of dirty words spew out of his mouth. Fortunately, there was no one else in the room but Walker. Otherwise other people would have been shocked by it. But it was not surprising that his old partner, Walker, was familiar with Twain’s temper.
“I had f**king called the English Premier League coaches specifically before, hoping that they would have arranged less lethal tactics for the national footballers… The bunch of Newcastle United bastards treated my words as one ear in and one ear out? Does Kinnear (the Newcastle United manager) that old bastard not know what George Wood means to England? Our main core player had a fracture in his big toe! This is not some f**king common cold!”
Twain walked circles in his hotel room, waving his arms in agitation and shouting abuse.
Walker also did not advise him to calm down. He knew that Twain was under immense pressure and had a bad temper. It might be good to take this opportunity to let him vent for a while. Perhaps it could be beneficial.
After he abused all the people who should be scolded, Twain calmed down slowly. He asked, “Did Fleming say how long it will take for him to recover?”
“… three months.” Walker said somewhat diffidently. He was worried that Twain was going to have another round of abuse.
This time, it was better. Twain stared blankly for a while when he heard the amount of time needed, but the word “f**k” did not fly out of his mouth the moment he opened it. He glanced past Walker toward the blue sky outside the window.
Three months later, the UEFA European Championship would already be over, and it would have been too late…
