Chapter 119: The Hard-Nosed Millwall Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Walker also stood up to protest. Just as they were all dissatisfied with the referee’s decision, Millwall started a speedy offense on the field.
Wise passed the football to Cahill ahead of him. Then Tang En saw Cahill dribble the ball straight along the wing, very close to the sideline and past Gareth Williams. After entering the 30-meter area of the Forest team, he made a feint and suddenly changed to cut through to the inside!
This move deceived the right back, John Thompson, from the Forest team who came up to defend against him. Next, he dribbled the ball across, and Eugen Bopp came up to tackle. He put his hands up to block the German teenager and continued to dribble towards the middle zone.
At this point, the Millwall strikers were crossing into the penalty area and interweaving inside. They broke through the Forest defensive line.
Upon seeing this, the scene that Tang En saw in the 2006 World Cup suddenly appeared in his mind. Tim Cahill, who also wore the number 4 jersey, was at the arc in the penalty area, ran up in an assist, and almost lifted his leg…
“Don’t let him shoot! Foul! F**king foul!” yelled Tang En. But his voice was soon drowned out by the loud cheers.
Cahill, number 4, had suddenly ran across to kick the ball into the goal!
The football entered through the small gap between Michael Dawson and Wes Morgan! With a gust of wind and brushing across the grass tips, it flew into the net past the hands of the Forest goalkeeper, Darren Ward.
“Goooooooooooal! Tim Cahill! What a beautiful long shot, he alone defeated the Forest team’s entire defensive line! The twenty-three-year-old new star! Such unparalleled momentum! The home team, Millwall is in the lead!”
The Millwall players hugged together to celebrate the goal, and Tang En and his assistant, Walker, complained to the fourth official about Muscat’s foul.
“That was obviously a foul! You don’t even blow the whistle for a slide tackle from behind, what are you doing?! Do you have to wait for that damn Aussie guy to break my players’ legs before you do something about it?” With his mouth wide open, Tang En sprayed spittle at the fourth official as he yelled.
Millwall’s center back, the deputy captain, Kevin Muscat was considered “notorious” in England. He even had the title of “The First Butcher.”
Not long ago, he broke the leg of a player from Charlton. Although he received £750,000 pounds of retirement compensation, he would never play ball again.
There was a long list of names who had fallen under the feet of this 1.8-meter-tall center back: Craig Bellamy, Dugarry, Lazaridis…
Luckily, Johnson dodged at the critical moment, otherwise his name would have immediately been on the list.
When Tang En was badgering the fourth official, the Millwall manager, McLeary decide to come up and butt in. He said sarcastically to Twain, “Mr. Twain, you’d better look into your own problems and not trouble the referee.”
Tang En widened his eyes and stared at the other man, “You are a b*stard who has just gotten off lightly, and you have come to gloat?!” He really wanted to pounce on the nasty jerk and give him a punch, but unfortunately if he did that, he would also have to leave—McLeary, naturally, would be sent directly to the hospital.
The Millwall fans who saw this scene from the stands naturally booed at Twain, and the fans who were closer in distance loudly hurled abuse at Tony Twain, their voices clear and audible.
The fourth official, who was sandwiched between the two managers, had no choice but to give them a slap on the wrist and issue a warning to each of them, “Both of you, return to your area. Whoever leaves his technical area again, I will have the referee issue you a penalty to go to the stands! Go back now!”
He waved his hands. The Millwall manager raised his head as if he were a victorious rooster and marched back. And Tang En, who was still swearing, went back to the technical area unwillingly. In fact, he knew in his heart that as long as the referee decided to count the goal, no matter how much noise he made, he could not change the result. This was not the 1982 World Cup in Spain, the absurd era whereby the referee could be made to change the score when the crown prince of a small West Asian country threatened to leave the match.
They still could not hold in the end! The situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable. With a goal in hand, Millwall could completely withdraw and defend their half of the field, and then they could make use of their brutal defense and home ground momentum to block the Forest team’s counterattacks and maintain the score of 1:0 to the end.
This was the scenario that Tang En did not wish to see the most.
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When the match resumed, Millwall’s performance seemed to confirm what Tang En had in mind just now. They deliberately reclaimed their defensive line and then used vicious and brutal defenses to stop the Forest team’s counterattacks.
David Johnson was twice violated by Muscat again within 15 minutes. When he stood up with a limp, the punishment for the perpetrator was merely a verbal warning from the referee.
In this way, the Forest players were enraged by this sort of defense from Millwall, and this anger was further ignited by the home ground fans’ incessant booing, laughter, and jeering.
Full of youthful vigor, when Eugen Bopp saw his teammate assaulted by the Muscat again and again, he was determined to find the opportunity to retaliate against him and to let him know that the Forest team was not to be trifled with!
When Muscat had just stopped a pass through a suspected foul slide tackle, he rushed forward. He looked like he wanted to seize control of the ball. In fact, he used his upper arms to push the other man in the ribs. The impact lifted the unprepared Muscat from the ground!
The referee blew his whistle, and the surrounding Millwall players rushed up. The Nottingham Forest players also joined in. There was a loud hiss from the stands.
It was a chaotic scene.
“This b*stard!” Tang En scolded Bopp from the sidelines. “Isn’t this just what Millwall wants? He’s too immature!”
Because of the referee’s hurried whistling and a few clear-headed players from both sides, a fight did not happen. The referee called out Eugen Bopp and gave him a yellow card.
The Millwall players were dissatisfied with this result. They believed that a red card should be given for such an intentional foul. The referee ignored their complaints and called Muscat aside to give him a few words of admonishment. Muscat thought that this matter was okay, and he was still complaining. He did not expect the referee to also raise his hand to flash a yellow card in front of his eyes!
The Millwall players rushed around the referee again. The booing from the stands also switched their target to the referee.
Tang En who saw this scene from the sidelines, snorted, “They have gotten what they want with a cheap shot and still pretend like it’s nothing, from the manager to the players, to the fans, all of them are sons of b*tches!”
Walker sighed. He was powerless in the face of such a match. Everything was against them.
“Des, how much longer do we have before the end of the first half?” asked Tang En when he heard Walker sigh.
“Nine minutes.” Walker looked at his watch and said, “Tony, the situation is not so bad… At least Bopp didn’t get sent off, and we didn’t lose any more balls.”
Tang En interrupted him, “You’d better not say that before the first half is over. In addition, Bopp will miss the EFL Cup semifinal match due to this yellow card—that is if we can make it to the semifinals. Gunnarsson is also in danger, he also carried a yellow card from the previous game.”
Upon hearing what Twain had said, Walker did not know what to say for a long time, and stood with his mouth open. The situation was worse than he thought.
“Let the entire team regroup. Do not press on, so that Millwall will not fight back. It’s easiest to lose the ball in the midfield right before the end of the game.” Tang En instructed, and Walker got up to convey his intentions.
Now they could only hope that the score would not change before halftime. They could still make a comeback at 0:1. If it were 0:2 in this situation, it would be very difficult to make a comeback.
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The referee broke up the Millwall players buzzing around him like annoying flies. Muscat’s yellow card could not be changed like the score. In fact, they should be glad that the referee only showed the card now, otherwise the center back’s previous actions were enough to get him sent off twice.
The game resumed, and once the Nottingham Forest players took the ball, the hissing in the stands became louder than before. The Millwall fans believed that Eugen Bopp should be sent off right away. They even thought that the entire Nottingham Forest team should be sent off.
The group of fanatical home fans began to verbally attack the Forest players on the field, insulting their families and all their female relatives. They changed their tactic, hoping to provoke the Forest players. Not only that, they were also trying to attack the Forest fans in the visitors’ stands.
The Den appeared to be the scene of a noisy foul language competition. This type of swearing and booing was only suspended when the Millwall players had possession of the ball. As soon as a Forest player touched the ball, the noise would start again. It was like a well-trained symphony orchestra.
Tang En did not take such noises to heart. He had led his team to many away matches, and this was not the first time that he had encountered such a scene. Even though when the noise started, and he felt like a heart attack could be brought on just listening to it, it no longer affected his mood in the end.
Suddenly, a song came from the stands behind the technical area, from far to near, and as it became louder, it was getting increasingly clearer. Not only did Tang En hear it, but even the players on the bench and the members of the coaching team were so shocked that they stood up.
Then this voice spread to the entire stand, the Millwall fans, ruddy from their drinking, sang excitedly with their arms in the air:
“There was a kid named Gavin! He used to like Nottingham Forest! And now he’s lying on the ground, his trampled face was all smashed up! All smashed up! Get lost and go home! All you Nottingham b*stards, that dead boy is your example!! Oh, oh, oh, oh! Gavin, Gavin! All smashed up! Yea, yea, yea, yea! Gavin, Gavin! All smashed up!”
Tang En’s heart suddenly tightened and almost stopped beating.
