Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
No matter how Capello decided to punish Beckham, the news from Nottingham Forest Football Club about Beckham was over. Beckham was still a Real Madrid player and Forest had no right to order another club on how to treat Beckham.
Twain decided not to talk any more about Beckham under any circumstance. He did not want everyone to focus too much on a player who had not even joined yet; it was disrespectful to the current players. He did not want Beckham to establish any enemies in the locker room before he even arrived.
Therefore, he tried to play down the impact of Beckham joining next season within the team to allow the players to focus all their attention on the current competition.
During the Christmas period, Nottingham Forest did well despite an intense competition schedule. With the exception of tying with Aston Villa on December 11th and Liverpool on the 16th, they won all their games. During their final game of the year, they beat Arsenal at home 1:0 and avenged the defeat of the away game from the first half of the season.
At present, the Forest team had accumulated forty-seven points. They were ranked third in the league below Ferguson’s Manchester United and Mourinho’s Chelsea, who had fifty-seven points and fifty-one points, respectively. Manchester United’s rise this season had broken Mourinho’s wishful thinking. After three seasons of nothing, Ferguson planned to rule the English Premier League again.
After the baptism of the World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo, who previously only knew how to dribble the ball on the flank while showing off his fancy footwork, matured a lot. He and Wayne Rooney formed the backbone of Manchester United and were the core figures in Ferguson’s plans for the future.
The other rival, the Chelsea manager, Mourinho, was reluctant to be robbed of his throne by Manchester United, but he also had to deal with the relationship between the club chairman and the locker room, which exhausted the famous Portuguese manager.
Twain’s strategy for the league went well. He did not want to waste his energy competing with Manchester United or Chelsea for the league title this season. He was clear about his limitations. He was content to be able to get back to the third place in the league now.
※※※
Since George Wood’s return, Albertini was back on the bench. However, even if it were not for Wood, he still would not have been able to get through the intense Christmas schedule. His body was not what it used to be.
Now, He put all his energy into teaching Wood how to master the pace of the game and how to get the team to follow his command. He could tell Wood was very interested. The kid liked to direct everything and hated letting others dominate him.
That kind of inclination showed that he was suitable to be the core of the team.
Twain was busy with matters regarding Beckham during that time. The entire club seemed to be busy with it. Albertini did not care, but not because he disliked Beckham and did not want David to join the team. He just had his own business to take care of.
Just a few days after Christmas, he received a call from Galliani.
Ever since he’d left AC Milan, the general manager of the Milanese club had only called him once. This was the second time. Both calls were about the same thing.
When Albertini had announced his retirement at the end of this season last season, Galliani had called to convey President Berlusconi’s compliments and then stated that before his retirement, AC Milan would hold a grand farewell ceremony for him to let him end his career gloriously.
The mild-mannered Albertini thanked the Milanese club for this care and did not mention the way the team treated him when he was expelled from Milan by Galliani.
Galliani had patted his chest to reassure that Albertini’s farewell game would be a football event and Albertini could rest assured that he would arrange everything.
Half a year had passed, and Galliani had called to fulfill his promise.
“Demetrio, I have promised you it will be a football celebration. Now is the time to deliver on that promise,” The Italian baldy, Galliani said over the phone. “Do you still remember Athens on May 28th, 1994?”
When Galliani mentioned it, Albertini recalled the event. It was the final game of the 93-94 season UEFA Champions League. At the time, he had still been AC Milan’s main player. He and his teammates had taken down Barcelona by 4:0, which named the team the “Dream Team” since they won the brilliant championship title.
“Of course I remember,” Albertini said.
“We’ll recreate that day for you.” Galliani laughed. “Barcelona will be your opponent for the farewell match. How do you feel?”
Albertini was not as excited as Galliani had imagined. He was startled when he heard the name. He had thought AC Milan would invite Nottingham Forest. After all, other than AC Milan, he had played there the longest, and he had had his second glorious phase in his career with the team.
Without waiting for Albertini to answer, Galliani continued, “the first half will be played Barcelona’s senior players versus AC Milan’s senior players. We have invited most of the players who had participated in that final. It will be a night of football gentlemen like Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard. All the star players you can think of will come because of your rally. I sent the invites in your name. Like I said, this will be a celebration.”
“You’re right about that,” Albertini said. “Is the date confirmed?”
“The tenth of January.”
Albertini thought about it. There was no league game that day and he really could go. “I’m fine with the date, but, Mr. Galliani, can I invite another person to attend? As a spectator.”
“No problem, anyone can attend,” Galliani, who was in a good mood, agreed wholeheartedly. However, he soon regretted it, because the person that Albertini wanted to invite was not just anyone, but the petty Tony Twain, who had just lashed out at AC Milan for looking down on people half a season ago
“Is there a problem, Mr. Galliani?” Albertini asked when there was no response on the other end of the line.
“Ah, no. There’s no problem at all. As I said earlier, you can invite anyone you want. After all, this is your farewell game. You’re the host of the day, my dear Demetrio.”
※※※
During the training the next day, Albertini told Twain about the game. He obviously did not say that AC Milan did not even consider the Forest team at first. Twain gladly accepted the invitation. He did not express any doubt about the fact that AC Milan invited Barcelona, but not Nottingham Forest.
On one hand, it was in line with the future that he knew, even though the game was a year late. On the other hand, Twain also wanted to take this opportunity to participate in that celebration. It was not common for so many football greats to come together.
Seeing that Twain was looking forward to it, Albertini did not say anything else.
A few days later, the Italian media began to report on the news related to Albertini’s farewell game and introduced the star players that were going to attend, what kind of event it would be, Albertini’s career as a whole, and took great pains to evaluate Albertini as an important player for AC Milan.
If he were that important, why did he leave early? Why did he not stay at that time? Last season, Albertini flourished in the Forest team and eliminated Inter Milan and a number of strong teams, leading the group of young men to advance to the Champions League final. The Italian media lamented. Was it Demetrio Albertini, the one who was dumped by AC Milan due to his age?
※※※
Time passed quickly. The appointed day arrived in a blink of an eye.
Albertini left Nottingham in the morning and travelled to Milan to prepare for the evening’s farewell game and also to meet his old friends. In addition, the Italian Footballers’ Association and the Italian Football Federation wanted to celebrate him. The former wanted to thank him for his contribution in the Italian Footballers’ Association for many years and throw a send-off party for Albertini. The latter wanted to discuss the direction of his development after his retirement.
Before he went abroad, Albertini had previously been the president of the Italian Footballers’ Association. Even though he resigned from the position after he left the country, it allowed him to retain deep connections in the Italian football circle, make many friends and stay popular.
The Italian Football Federation hoped to have better working relationships with the players by hiring Albertini to hold a position in the Federation. They wanted Albertini to be a bridge between the two sides.
Twain tried to persuade Albertini to stay and work with the Forest team after his retirement, starting as an assistant coach. He could both help Twain and accumulate experience as a coach. However, Albertini rejected the offer because he wanted his children to grow up in Italy. Britain was nothing more than a way station. He was still Italian after all.
Twain was unable to persuade him when it came his family. He could only send Albertini off himself.
Albertini returned to Milan and was greeted with flowers and the laughter of his friends. It did not look like a farewell game. It was more like a gathering of old friends who had not been seen each other for years.
Twain flew to Milan in the afternoon, after training ended for the day. He did not have any other plans there. He was just in San Siro as an honored guest invited by Albertini in the VIP box to watch the farewell game.
Shania was in Paris. Otherwise, Twain would make time to see her.
After dinner, Twain quietly went to San Siro alone. Other than texting Albertini when he arrived in Milan, he did not make other contact. Albertini wanted to bring Twain with him, but he refused. Galliani, that old guy, had said something right. The day belonged to Albertini; he was the host of the night.
Twain did not want to appear in the reporters’ lenses.
Due to the recent matter with Beckham, he had been exposed more than enough.
Twain still wore sunglasses at night and blended with the entering fans, intending to stay hidden in the crowd.
But he miscalculated.
Galliani, whose bald head was very obvious under the glare of the light, saw Twain coming and had already extended his hand with a warm smile. “Mr. Twain, why didn’t you let us know when you arrived? If I hadn’t seen you by chance in the surveillance video, I wouldn’t have known you were already here.”
Due to the matter with Albertini, Twain did not like the bald man, but he was the host today and Twain was the guest. He had to show the necessary etiquette.
“Hello, Mr. Galliani. I didn’t know you spoke such fluent English.” Twain was surprised that Galliani spoke English, but he quickly smoothened his face. “I am sure that your club must have done a lot of preparations for Demetrio’s farewell game, and you will certainly be very busy this evening. Since it’s inconvenient for me to bother you, I came on my own.” Twain reached out and the two men shook hands.
“You are the honored guest invited by Demetrio. If we do not take proper care of you, Demetrio would not be happy. He is the host here tonight.” Galliani gestured to San Siro behind him.
Since the host was determined to serve Twain, Twain did not refuse. He followed Galliani to another tunnel that was completely closed off to the general public.
“This leads directly to the box and you will not be disturbed by the media at all. We all know that Mr. Twain must be tired of being harassed by the media lately, right?” Galliani chatted with Twain while he led the way. “By the way, I forgot to congratulate you for the successfully signing on Beckham. This will certainly increase your club’s influence on a global scale greatly, won’t it?”
Galliani mocked Nottingham Forest as a “small rural team” without batting an eyelid.
As the kind of dark person who liked nothing better than to think of others as imaginary foes, Twain could discern this kind of implied meaning. He chuckled. “Not at all. We are a small team; there is nothing more to it. Even if we buy eleven Beckhams, we still can’t be compared to giants like AC Milan. I can recite the glorious history of AC Milan…”
“Ah, it’s amazing. Don’t tell me Mr. Twain is a fan of AC Milan?” Galliani asked with a fake smile.
“No, I’m just used to learning every detail of each opponent.” Twain stopped and said seriously, “that way, when I meet them on the field, I can easily defeat them.”
The word “easily” provoked Galliani, causing his eyebrows to twitch, and he looked at Twain with an unfriendly expression in his eyes. Twain did not avoid his eyes and met Galliani’s gaze.
The uncomfortable moment lasted only a few short seconds before the two men laughed.
“I understand why the Forest team has been able to achieve such excellent results under your leadership, Mr. Twain. You are a brilliant manager.”
“Haha, thank you for the compliment.”
“But I wonder if Mr. Twain will be interested in changing the environment in the future?”
Galliani’s question put Twain on guard and he smiled. “Who can say what is going to happen in the future? But to be honest, I don’t like being controlled by other people.”
That was as good as a rejection. Everyone knew who AC Milan belonged to. It was not Arrigo Sacchi, not Fabio Capello, and not Carlo Ancelotti. It was not even Galliani’s AC Milan. AC Milan was just Berlusconi’s. The style of English football clubs did not apply to the Italian teams.
If Twain wanted to maximize his power at AC Milan, he was bound to emerge bloody and battered because there was a tougher man above him: Berlusconi.
“What a pity.” Galliani shrugged.
“I don’t think it’s a pity. Not all managers are suited to a powerhouse club with connections like AC Milan. If I came to coach this team, I’ll constantly be abused by the media for ‘losing the dignity of the powerhouse clubs,’ won’t I?” Twain burst into laughter.
During their conversation, the two men reached the entrance of the box. Galliani opened the door for Twain. There was no one in the box.
“Your room, Mr. Twain.”
“Mr. Galliani, thank you for leading the way.” The two men spoke cordially for a while before Galliani left. He had more guests that he needed to look after.
The box was not big, but there were still a few seats left after Twain sat down. Perhaps there would be more people coming. Twain did not think these few seats would remain empty during the game. With the popularity Demetrio had in the Italian football world, there would be a lot of people coming to support him this evening.
Of course, it could not be ruled that other people would take this opportunity to make friends with the big shots, establish contacts, and build networks of connections.
None of these had anything to do with Twain. He just came to watch the game and root for Albertini.
This small box was part of the top floor of San Siro’s grandstand. It was a little far from the central part and naturally further away from the important VIPs.
Twain believed that the most important places were left for the important people, such as Berlusconi, Leonardo Araújo, Galliani and other club executives, as well as AC Milan’s VIP guests. He did not get an invitation to enter that box. Apparently, AC Milan was still a little reluctant that Albertini invited him. After all, the two sides did verbally spar through the media half a season ago.
Twain did not care. Even if he had been allowed to sit with Galliani and Berlusconi, he did not want to.
Twain focused his attention on the football field. He usually preferred to watch the game in the stands like a fan. He felt closer to the feverish atmosphere.
The players had yet to make an appearance, but the fans took their seats in droves. A number of giant flags with Albertini’s face fluttered in the stands, along with the faces of other Milanese star players who had been retired for years. Red fireworks, the symbol of the Italian Football Federation, were even lit in a few corners. Twain could not help laughing as he took in the familiar sight.
Ignoring the story of Albertini being betrayed by his dearest, this was quite like a festival.
The television set in the box was showing a special program broadcasted by the Italian television for Albertini’s farewell game. It was currently showing the part where they looked back on Albertini’s brilliant career.
Twain looked up at the television. He had watched all these scenes before he joined this world, but now he was watching it live and it still felt good.
The only pity was before his transfer, when he watched the show online, the show host spoke Italian and there were no Chinese subtitles. He could not understand anything except the images.
This time, it was still an Italian program, and he still could not understand anything.
The door behind him was pushed open and the sound from the hallway came in. None of these interrupted Twain, who was not interested in the people who entered. He did not have any friends in Italy. It would be the same no matter who came in, so he continued to look up at the television screen.
The door was soon shut again.
There was no other sound in the box except for the Italian language that came out of the television.
At this moment, a nice-sounding female voice suddenly rang in Twain’s ear, “Would you like me to translate for you, sir?”
Twain was startled, and was even more surprised when he looked clearly at the woman who whispered in his ear.
“Clarice!”
