Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
They had just made a substitution and the team lost possession of the ball. The media and fans would certainly not miss this opportunity to attack Luxemburgo. In their view, Luxemburgo’s substitution was a cowardly act for which he was being punished.
However, Luxemburgo could not think of that. At the moment, standing in the Bernabéu stadium filled with jeers, he was already thinking of another matter.
Real Madrid, once again overtaken, seemed to have lost their motivation to continue playing due to this substitution. They thought they played poorly in this game and that the manager was incompetent. The players on the field could not do anything.
Real Madrid had lost all will to fight.
After their lead, Nottingham Forest played without restrictions for the first time.
Twain looked at this “most successful team of the twentieth century” with their white jerseys moving like the walking dead on the field. They had no fighting spirit, no motivation, and no will to fight to the end. He shook his head and murmured, “It’s really such a pity. It’s pathetic and sad…”
The Real Madrid crest on the outer wall of Santiago Bernabéu Stadium had lost its former colors. The entire huge white building was surrounded by bellows of “F**k off, Luxemburgo.” People did not care about the outcome of the game. They were more concerned with what would happen after the game.
The competition had ended early.
※※※
Twain sat back in the technical area and crossed his legs to watch the show. He was not watching the game. He was watching the historical moment happening in Bernabéu.
Twain believed that Florentino Pérez and his policy of superstars, as well as this star-studded but malformed Real Madrid, had left an indelible mark on the world history of professional football. They were an extreme case of the conclusion between business and football. This representative failure also implied that commercialized football must have a limit. After all, football still had its own characteristics which could not be changed or tarnished. Those characteristics could not be replaced by money, no matter how much.
“To think that I have accidentally become a revolutionary…” Twain muttered. He suddenly felt like laughing. He wanted to laugh loudly and without restraint.
What could be more fulfilling than being able to change history personally?
Kerslake realized that Twain had been muttering to himself, but could not hear clearly. “What are you talking about, Tony?”
“Oh, nothing, David. Nothing…” Twain looked at his watch. Just as he raised his head, he saw the fourth official standing on the sideline with the electronic bulletin board in his hands. “Get ready to celebrate our victory. It’s a foregone conclusion that we’ve qualified!”
After that, he stood up and walked toward the sideline to wait for the celebration on the field.
Behind him, the other Forest players, as well as the coaches from the coaching team, had also stood up one after another. They were ready to dash onto the field.
The jeering in Bernabéu was not for them. Twain suddenly looked at Luxemburgo, who stood at the sidelines, with some sympathy. It really was not easy being the Real Madrid manager.
At the end of the game, the referee finally blew the whistle, which was almost lost in the sound of the boos. Albertini, the Forest player nearest to the referee, raised his fist. Then the players on the sidelines reacted and swarmed in.
Twain was not as anxious as they were. Rather, he slowly walked in with his head held high, as if he were touring his own territory.
The Real Madrid players quickly headed towards the players’ corridor with their heads down. Whether it was targeted at the team or manager, the buzz over the Bernabéu stadium made them uncomfortable.
Their two consecutive defeats in a week were both suffered at home. It was as if it were suddenly the end of the world. Once so proud, the insufferably arrogant Real Madrid superstars had to lower their heads in front of the rejoicing English bumpkins.
There were few people in the world who could conquer Bernabéu, and Twain was now one of them.
Everything that happened on this night would be brought up countless times in the future, not because Nottingham Forest had defeated Real Madrid, but because “the age of superstars” was over.
※※※
At the post-match press conference, Luxemburgo calmly accepted the failure. He thought that it was no surprise that they had lost since his team’s performance was not as good as Nottingham Forest’s. Nottingham Forest had performed very well, and he congratulated them.
Then Twain said to the reporters with a smile, “Does anyone remember what I said at the press conference after the first round of the group stage match between the Forest team and Real Madrid?”
Everyone looked at each other. No one could remember what had happened a few months ago.
“It seems everyone has a short-term memory. I said, ‘The next time we go to Bernabéu, I’ll give everyone a surprise.’ A lot of people laughed. I think most people thought that I was just a sore loser. Does anyone think that I was a sore loser now?”
This time, no one laughed except Twain himself.
※※※
When Nottingham Forest flew back to England on the morning flight the next day, Twain bought a fresh-off-the-press morning paper at the airport in Madrid. Initially, he had no intention of buying a newspaper here. He had no interest in the Spanish newspapers because he could not read Spanish. But the photograph on the front page of the newspaper caught his eye.
It was a photograph of last night’s competition at Bernabéu. Luxemburgo stood expressionless on the sidelines with his arms across his chest. To his side, the big screen on the far side of the grandstand prominently displayed 1:2.
As he scrutinized the photograph beside the newsstand, the team’s Spanish player, Mikel Arteta, came over and looked at the newspaper. He then said to Twain in English, “Luxemburgo resigned.”
Hearing this, Twain turned to look at Arteta and then bought the newspaper with money from his pocket.
Luxemburgo’s dismissal happened more than ten days ahead of the time that he had remembered. But he was no longer surprised by things that did not correspond with his memory.
This was what he had expected.
He only cared about one thing. He found Arteta and handed him the newspaper. “Was the Brazilian dismissed by the executive committee or did he voluntarily resign?”
Arteta read it again and said to Twain, “He resigned on his own, chief.”
The extremely vexed Brazilian manager, who had swung between insisting on his football ideals and pleasing the Real Madrid fans, had finally done something he wanted to do.
After he thanked Arteta, Twain turned and rolled up the newspaper he had just bought to throw it into the bin.
In many other papers, the Spaniards hurled abuse at Luxemburgo. They thought that he had left a stain on Real Madrid’s glorious century-old tradition and caused the noble Real Madrid to become defiled. His departure was to be expected.
Over the course of the next few days, there would certainly be more gossip, such as Ronaldo secretly speaking to Florentino, hoping for a transfer.
However, Twain did not concern himself with such things. He had used to be bothered by what he heard, but now he had nothing to gain from concerning himself with such things.
※※※
Unlike the previous match in El Madrigal, Twain did not look for George Wood to speak alone on the flight back to England. He also ignored Wood’s reticence.
He intended to leave Wood alone for a few days to let him understand some things on his own. It was better than advising Wood on every matter.
However, after he had brought off Wood, his and Wood’s behaviors made the English media speculate anew. So, from the next day after the team’s return to Nottingham, a rumor about discord between George Wood and Tony Twain began to circulate on the press.
“Rumor” was an apt description because there was no certainty that it was true, but there was no denial that it was true. It gave everyone who saw it a message: We’re not going to say anything specific, but you can figure it out.
—George Wood was unhappy about being substituted early and confronted Twain in the locker room.
—Wood may be sold for his disagreement with Twain, who cannot tolerate anyone undermining his authority.
—The Spanish Real Madrid club is very interested in Wood, said Wood’s agent in an interview with our papers.
And so on.
A year ago, Twain would have laughed in the face of such rumors. But now, he could not. Why?
Because George Wood had a restive agent.
Billy Woox had been Wood’s agent for less than a year and had mainly been busy with his endorsements for commercial brands. At present, he had already successfully signed three brand endorsement contracts for Wood. He seemed to be more interested in Wood’s commercial value.
However, Twain was not at ease with an agent who actively approached Wood and won his trust. Perhaps it was due to his prejudice. He always thought that one day, Woox would seize all the opportunities he could grasp to take Wood away from his side.
He could not sit and wait. He must act.
He decided to call Wood’s agent to confirm the veracity of those reports in the newspapers and to suss out the agent’s thinking.
