Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At half-time Twain praised the team’s overall performance and asked the team to continue playing like that. Mourinho, on the other hand, was not as relaxed; he was concerned about Quaresma’s injury and how to crack Nottingham Forest’s defensive counter-attack tactics. Other than improving their offense, what else was there to do?
Inter Milan was a bit demoralised. Quaresma suffered such a serious injury because the situation was disadvantageous — the news from Comby confirmed that Quaresma would miss all of the games this season and that it was not clear when he would return next season.
But Mourinho’s spun this into a morale boost for the team. He used Quaresma’s broken leg to inspire the players in the team, telling them that they there was no way back and that he would have to roll back to Milan if they did not work hard enough, also that Quaresma’s injury would be pointless.
And like Tony Twain, Mourinho was also a demagogue who was able to spur others. He excelled in these things. Those Inter Milan players who were uninspired were motivated by his words like wolves.
And just like that, they were back on the court. Inter Milan’s attack was clearly strengthened after the start of the second half, and they were taking a siege at the Akinfeev’s goal without thinking about their defense. That being the case, Nottingham Forest was naturally happy to fight back defensively.
But César played well, he consecutively blocked two shots from Nottingham Forest. With him at the back protecting the goal, Inter Milan’s attacking players were relieved.
Twain was furious that the team had missed two chances. He was acutely aware that the second half was different from the first half. In the first half, it was a mess that only alleviated with Quaresma’s injury. There was something ominous about the second half and they could not help but be wary.
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Ibišević was in the thick of the game and had to take on too many defensive tasks, also he was not fast enough to fight back. Twain decided to replace him immediately, loath to delay. What if Inter Milan scored in this period of time?
Since they wanted to counterattack, of course a striker who is speedy would be ideal. One option would be the experienced striker Eastwood and the other the faster Agbonlahor. Eastwood was not slow, but he was certainly not as fast as Agbonlahor. However, he was more capable of grasping opportunities in front of the goal mouth with several ways of shooting methods. The advantage of Agbonlahor was much simpler; that is, speed. He moved like the wind and it was almost a guarantee that he could break through the defensive line easily and face the goalkeeper directly.
But what then, after facing the goalkeeper? Agbonlahor’s shooting was not superb so it was possible to lose in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and César was in good form and might have made some incredible saves. If Agbonlahor repeatedly wasted his opportunities, it would only strengthen Inter Milan’s confidence and reduce Nottingham Forest’s resolve to fight back quickly.
After weighing his options, Twain opted for the slightly slower but technically better pure striker, Eastwood. After calling Eastwood to him, Twain looked at him and laughed, “When I need help, you’re always the first person I think of, Freddy.”
“We need to score goals, Chief.”
“You’re not going to let me down, are you?”
“I was riding Fina this morning as a warm up, Chief.” Fina was Eastwood’s horse. When Fina was younger, Eastwood used to ride it on the road in the eastern suburbs of London as warm-up. Today, it was very sturdy, and Eastwood’s stance in these two seasons was also very outstanding.
“That’s assuring. As you said, go up and score goals.” Twain patted him on the shoulder and handed the work to Don, who was responsible for explaining the general tactics to him.
Don asked Eastwood to move more widely on the pitch, not to be confined to the middle of the road. He also told Eastwood not to think too much about the defence and to focus on scoring instead. To shoot more, no matter where he was, since more shots would mean more chances of scoring.
Eastwood nodded, then the fourth official held up a sign on the sidelines to signal for his substitution. Ibišević walked off the pitch to complete the handover with Eastwood, and both of them were applauded by Forest’s fans. Although there were no goals, Super Ibe was working very hard in defence, and there are several key headers to clear the ball. His selfless character also helped the team’s overall defense.
Eastwood came on, and everyone knew it was Twain’s “offensive signal”. Eastwood was not good at defending, but he was good at scoring goals, and his physicality did not allow him to sprint back and forth from one penalty area to another in the game, let alone physically confront his opponent.
Eastwood ran on the field with his right hand above his head, drawing a circle and eventually pointing to the front. Keep going with the defensive counterattack. All the Forest players could understand it.
Twain made a substitution but Mourinho’s side was still standing put. First of all, he still did not know what effect this adjustment of Twain would bring, so it was better to observe first. Secondly, due to Quaresma’s accidental injury, he lost a replacement for no reason and only had two cards left which he could only use in the most crucial moment.
He just let the players on the back line pay attention to the offside. One way to deal with defensive counter-attacks was to create an offside, allowing the opposing attacking player to fall into the offside trap frequently, causing the opposing passer to no longer dare to pass the ball straight.
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Nottingham Forest’s counter-attacking quality improved after Eastwood came on. The Romani could control the ball under his feet. He was very well-rounded, could break through and shoot from afar. Such a striker could do what that required several talents to do alone. Forest’s long and straight pass on the counter-attack had a high error rate, but once successful, Eastwood could face César directly.
Eastwood also did not return to defend, but instead just stood in front of the field and waited for the opportunity. If his teammates made a mistake in passing the ball, he would snatch the ball, but he would let go otherwise and continue to wait for the next chance. He believed in the midfield’s ability to intercept and there would not be a lack of chances for him.
The Forest players in the midfield also had great confidence in Eastwood’s ability so they did not worry that their passes would not reach anyone. They just had to send the ball forward.
After Wood intercepted a pass from Inter Milan, he passed the ball to Şahin, who continued to pass it straight. This time they succeeded! Samuel had some big direct cuts, but he let the football slip past his feet! Eastwood ran out from behind Andreu and went offside, sloping to catch the ball.
“Freddy Eastwood! A beautiful pass that was not offside!”
But this was not a death sentence for Inter Milan because there was still some distance between the route of the pass and Eastwood. As long as César’s timely strike blocking the line and angle, coupled with his continued magical play, then it was not impossible to save the team at a time.
Julio César made his choice. He ran out of the goal to get as close as possible to Eastwood to block his shot. At the same time, he recalled some of Eastwood’s technical features. As a striker, he preferred to shoot hard instead of shooting cleverly. That’s good, blocking the angle, no matter how much strength, unless he shot past the goalkeeper, he would not score.
Şahin passed the ball straight, Eastwood slotted in, and if he wanted to shoot, he needed to adjust his direction after receiving the ball, which was advantageous for Inter Milan’s defense.
César slowed down a little because he thought he could grab the ball in front of Eastwood, and once he got out he would not be able to use his hands, which would greatly limit his play. He intended to let Nottingham Forest’s No.11 get the ball first and then block his shot.
“Eastwood was about to reach the ball and now he is right outside the penalty area and César has blocked his angle of the shot. Will he pass the Brazilian goalkeeper?”
“Pass him!” There was a tsunami of mountain calls in the stands, and they all wanted to see Eastwood dribble pass César, send the football beautifully into the empty goalmouth, and admire the desperate expression on the faces of the chasing Inter Milan players. As long as the goal was scored, Inter Milan needed to score at least two goals to secure promotion.
But Eastwood made an action that no one thought he could. Once he received the ball, the Gypsy was facing sideways towards César, he lifted right foot calf…
The football chipped over the top of César, who had already dropped his centre of gravity and prepared to pounce on the ball, and flew straight to the empty door behind him!
“Chip shot! Beautiful! Beautiful!”
César would have been prepared for Eastwood’s strong shot, but he did not think the other side would actually do a chip shot. When he jumped from the ground to pounce on the ball he had already been too late as he could only be half-kneeling on the ground, turning his head shockingly to look at the ball that was still in the air.
Eastwood, who had completed the chip shot, ran to the other side and was ready to celebrate the goal with open arms. He knew that the ball could not be stopped by anyone, not even the crossbar posts.
César watched the football fall into the net, and finally fell to the ground on one side, a chill was sent into his heart. The graceful arc seemed to make all the sounds disappear and stopped time, but when the football fell into the goal, the city pitch comes alive like an erupting volcano.
“Wonderful shot! A kick of surprise. César is in good shape, but Eastwood, who hasn’t been on the pitch for long, was in better shape than he is! The goal, from passing to running to the last shot, had a clear and easy path. Eastwood’s as he is during regular trainings — you don’t see any extra movement when he shoots. Neat! ”
“Ahha! Don’t think that I can only shoot hard shots!” Eastwood, after the goal, flew on the pitch with open arms and gloated.
“You’re still chewing gum? Aren’t you afraid of swallowing that thing!” Teammates flocked to him.
“Hey, if you don’t pat me on the head, I won’t!”
“Hahahaha-”
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Unlike the Nottingham Forest players who were basking in their excitement, the Inter Milan players were extremely frustrated. Nevermind that they could not score against Nottingham Forest despite the siege, but to have Nottingham Forest score against them? How were they to continue the game now? Now they had to make sure they did not lose the ball again and scored at least two more goals to qualify. Even if they end with 1:1 draw,they would be eliminated because of the lack of away goals.
Mourinho, as manager, stood rooted and was a little helpless. Technically, the loss started with Samuel’s shoveling error, but he could not blame anyone. Because of how he played, Nottingham Forest’s goal was going to come sooner or later. He had hoped to score before the other side, thus changing the stance of his play and taking the initiative of the game in his own hands.
Now it was all gone!
Was he really going to lost to Tony Twain?
Mourinho clenched his fist, he was not satisfied. Why was it so difficult to win a game from him!
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Mourinho then replaced Cambiasso with Adriano and Mario Balotelli replaced Samuel, who made the mistake. He seemed to be doing an all-in like a madman. Twain, on the other hand, substituted Şahin with Woodgate, so the technique was re-stousteing, five full and three center backs as defense. As the game passed, his odds of winning increased. As long as Inter Milan did not score two goals in the last minute, Forest would advance even if they accidentally scored a goal. He really went all out with the exploiting…
In the final moments of the game, Forest gave Inter Milan three free-kicks in a row on the edge of the penalty area due to their exaggerated defense moves. This made Twain very nervous. He could no longer sit as he stood from the coach’s seat to step up to the side of the field, nervously watching the game.
He knew Balotelli was a free-kick ersty, and the division from Mihajlovic was not to be underestimated. He did not want to make himself the victim of a genius boy rising; he was more willing to be the devil who killed this genius boy.
Balotelli’s first free-kick hit the post and flew out of bounds, leaving the Forest fans in the stands in a cold sweat. Mourinho was as nervous as he was on the sidelines, staring at Balotelli while grit his teeth. What he was probably wanting to see the most at this moment was Balotelli’s “two goals to fame” drama.
The second free kick, Balotelli kicked the ball against the wall. The sly Nottingham Forest player took full advantage of the opportunity, being knocked to the ground by the football’s smouldering, as Eastwood, groaning in pain on the ground, was unwilling to get up.
Inter Milan wanted to continue their attack, but was hasty as they kicked the football at the feet of forest players. Barnes kicked the football into the stands with a big kick as the team doctor entered the field, wanting to drag the time.
Mourinho quipped on the pitch, “I bet if Barnes did not kick the ball out and decided to take the ball back for a counter-attack, Eastwood would jump up and take part in the attack.”
He was not wrong at all. Nottingham Forest just did not have much sportsmanship.Eastwood’s affair took five minutes and it did not take long after for Inter Milan to get another free-kick after the match resumed.
There were still three minutes to go before the additional injury time, and eight minutes left, even if the injury stoppage time was five minutes. To score two goals in eight minutes was not easy for Inter Milan’s players. Not to mention their opponents, Nottingham Forests, excelled in defense.
This third free-kick was a testament to how anxious inter Milan’s players are at the moment. Balotelli kicked the ball straight into the air, being 108,000 miles away from the goalmouth.
The six-minute injury lay-off did not bring good luck to Inter, who were frantically besieging Forest’s goal and even goalkeeper Julio César rushed up to play as a kicker in the corner. It did not help.
City’s stadium was instantly covered in loud cheers when the referee blew the final whistle. They finally got the revenge for the previous season and using the best way to eliminate Inter Milan.
At the end of the game, Nottingham Forest fans sang self-made songs in the stands to mock Mourinho,
“You’ll never win Tony! You’ll never win Tony! What a poor man! If Tony appears in your dreams, it would be a nightmare for you! If you open your eyes, Tony would appear in front of your eyes to smile at you, to smile at you! ”
In the midst of the noise, Mourinho came over to shake hands with Twain.
“Did you step on dog sh*t today?” He asked.
“Why do you ask?”
“You had such good luck.”
Twain laughed. “As long as I win, the reason doesn’t matter.” Twain did not care if his luck was good. “I only care about the results.”
In fact, when Mourinho was in Chelsea, he had been a little shameless, but when Tony Twain, such an extremely shameless person came into the picture, he lost. Hence, it was normal facing Twain with a consecutive loss record.
