Godfather Of Champions

Just like before, George Wood was in charge of defending, being a “bodyguard on the field.” Along with Wood’s rapid growth, Albertini could afford to put less energy into defending. He was already 34 years old; he was not, like in the past, capable of both retreating to defend and advancing to attack. He had aged, and his physical fitness was not like before. However, the experience he had accumulated as well as his stability and calmness made him extremely suitable to take on the role of a midfield playmaker.

Tang En was fond of Albertini’s middle and long passes. Before Arteta, Forest’s offense was mainly activated by his mastered pass and its hidden genius, tearing apart the defensive lines of their opponents.

However, in this match, Inter Milan were being extra cautious against Albertini; as former opponents, they naturally understood Albertini’s strengths. Furthermore, Inter Milan’s current manager was Mancini.

Albertini’s “old friend.”

Back then, when Mancini was making his mark as a young manager in his time with Lazio, Albertini had once played a season of football under his charge. However, their relationship was not good. In truth, their cooperation started off very well in the beginning but rapidly deteriorated. The deterioration in their relationship was not due to issues about positionings on the field or problems of that nature. Rather, it was because Albertini felt Mancini lacked respect towards him.

Albertini was a straightforward person. He had had intense fallouts with numerous managers, but not with Tang En. Why? In their interactions during this half season, he felt that Tang En was a sincere person. Albertini was the same way, so he liked people who treated him sincerely. Tang En happened to fit nicely into his aesthetic sense.

Returning to the match, despite Albertini’s feelings about Mancini’s lack of respect towards him, Mancini was clearly, at least on the field, paying attention to the former vice-captain of AC Milan; it could be observed from just the first 10 minutes of the match.

Esteban Cambiasso was responsible for marking Albertini, but this was only on the surface. In truth, Mancini had requested for any nearest Inter Milan player to press Albertini at the first instance he gained possession of the ball, preventing him opportunities to establish control over the match pace. As a main manager who had once coached Albertini, Mancini knew all too well that no matter the strength of Inter Milan, they would only be led by the noses should they allow Albertini to take hold of the pacing of the match.

But, as a manager who played a refined-style, Mancini was not as shameless as Tony Twain. Unlike Tony, he did not have a player under him like George Wood, a midfield meat shredder. As a result, the pressure he tried putting on Albertini was still not nearly enough.

Ten minutes passed. After Albertini received the ball, Cambiasso tried to move forward to defend, but George Wood ran over in an untimely manner. He swept in between Cambiasso and Albertini, forcing the Argentine to slow down and give way to him. Getting slowed down in that manner immediately allowed Albertini to lift his foot for a shot, sending the football out.

It was a 35-meter long pass aimed at Franck Ribéry.

The infuriated Cambiasso glared at Wood, who had suddenly appeared in front of him, and turned to run back for defense. After the pass, Albertini also moved forward to follow-up with the attack. Meanwhile, George Wood, who had been providing protection to Albertini at the back, stopped in the backfield, awaiting the next offensive maneuver by the opponents.

As Albertini moved forward, he suddenly stopped and looked back to wink at Wood, thanking him for his soundless protection.

Wood maintained an impassive face and gave no response. We’re in the middle of a match, shouldn’t we be a little more serious?

Albertini was already used to the boy’s expressions, so he simply turned to continue moving forward without feeling odd.

Ribéry’s ball was kicked out of the sidelines by Zanetti, who returned in time to defend, buying some time for the rest of Inter Milan’s players to come back for the defense.

As Inter Milan’s captain loudly called for his teammates to return, Nottingham Forest’s captain waved his hands for his team to press forward.

“George!” Albertini waved at Wood, “Come forward!”

Turning left and right, Wood watched as the fullbacks ran past him, and hesitated.

“Come forward!” Albertini waved his hands again and shouted.

Although what Tang En appreciated in Wood was his ability to defend, Albertini hoped, being his teacher on the field, for Wood to become more rounded, like he was in his younger days.

Defense is not the only thing you are capable of, George.

Despite his brief hesitation, Wood still ran up. In truth, he was at a loss for what he should do after moving forward. When he was in the backfield, he felt like a fish in water; he had a clear mind and was sure about what his mission was, what he had to do. But, once he got past the halfway line and was faced with the opponent’s defensive formation and their goal, his brain would become somewhat inadequate. He was lacking experience in that aspect and had no idea how he should manage it. Perhaps what he needed to accumulate more experience in this area was to take greater initiative in moving forward during training and in matches.

But, Albertini did not plan on giving Wood a chance to slowly adapt to it. This was the pace of professional football; if he could not catch up, he would be eliminated!

Albertini received the ball from his teammate, Leighton Baines. He had just turned when he saw Cambiasso rushing towards him.

“Don’t let him shoot or pass!” Zanetti called out from behind.

The people in the stadium must still be familiar with the shooting of that youth who wore jersey number four for AC Milan. A long shot! Banana kick!

Right before Cambiasso, Albertini raised his foot.

In this stadium, would they again see that familiar downward arc?

Cambiasso leapt up selflessly, stretching out his body to block the shot.

But Albertini passed the ball horizontally to George Wood, who had run up instead!

George Wood was momentarily stunned. In the meantime, Inter Milan’s defensive players were already rushing forward. They were rather close to the penalty area, so the one coming forward to defend was center back, Materazzi!

Wood’s brain went completely blank. He was utterly unprepared. He was a defensive player; seeing the opponent’s rear defender come up, he knew exactly what it meant.

If the defensive midfielder who was originally responsible for defense rushed forward only to have his ball intercepted, it would turn out to be a fatal counterattack; what was to be Forest’s opportunity would, in an instant, morph into Inter Milan’s chance.

Manager Tony did not say anything in the match regarding Wood moving forward to take part in the offense. He only told him to oversee the defense, and especially to stay in the backfield when it was a set piece. Now that Albertini had arbitrarily gone against Tang En’s instructions, getting Wood to move forward for the attack, whose responsibility would it be if it caused a problem?

Wood did not want Albertini to take up that responsibility for him. In that case, he could not allow the football to be taken away from under his foot. As he watched Materazzi dash forward ferociously, Wood subconsciously nudged the ball gently to the outside.

Materazzi watched as the ball rolled past his feet; he was helpless to stop it. He figured he might as well go with the momentum and knock number 13 down. After all, they needed to halt their attack no matter what they needed to resort to.

Keeping in mind the idea of “the ball passing, but not the player,” Materazzi joined both hands in front of his chest and slammed into George Wood.

What was the result of that? Before Materazzi fell on his back, he did not see Wood sprawling onto the ground with his four limbs up. Instead, Wood’s body only wavered slightly before steadying again.

He looked at Wood incredulously as he fell, even neglecting to put up his hands to protect his head. Who was Materazzi? After being purposely slammed into by Wood, how many were able to come off as if nothing had happened? Materazzi could not believe such a thing could happen, but there was someone like that before his eyes right now!

Materazzi had fallen. The obstacle before Wood was gone too. Looking at the football that was still spinning under his foot, Wood thought about nothing as he stepped forward and pulled back his leg.

After watching Wood knock against Materazzi, Tang En’s eyes shone as he leaned forward, seemingly expecting something. But, following that, he saw Wood use all his might to shoot at the goal, only to kick the ball towards the spectators’ stand behind it instead. Tang En sat back abruptly in his seat.

“Ah. That damn ‘terminator!”

Earlier, the hearts of Inter Milan’s fans had been about to leap out of their throats. Fortunately, Wood’s ridiculous high shot on the goal in a situation without defenders prevented their hearts from really jumping out. But, they became even more resolved in their loathing towards Wood; they believed that Wood must have knocked down Materazzi in front of their goal.

However, that was quite ridiculous. Anyone with discerning eyes could tell which of the two took the initiative in their exchange.

Wood was still fretting over his terrible shooting when Albertini came up with a smile and patted his shoulder.

“Beautiful job, George!”

“But, the ball…”

“No, I’m not talking about your shot. I’m talking about your performance before it…” Albertini looked at Materazzi, who was being helped up from the ground by his teammates, and could not help eventually bursting into laughter.

“If you were playing in AC Milan, this performance alone would have been enough for you to gain everyone’s welcome in San Siro.” He winked at Wood.

“But, I just want to stay in Forest…”

Albertini patted his shoulders, silently asking him not to say any more. “You did beautifully. Go back and defend now.”

Wood obediently ran back. Albertini did not follow to return to defend. He only looked at Wood’s back in a stupor.

…I only want to stay in Forest…

…I only want to stay in Milan…

The promises made in their youths, how could they make them count?

Lowering his head, he ran back.

“Demetrio Albertini has a grasp of Nottingham Forest’s match pace. His faked shot-turned-pass threw Inter Milan’s defensive line into major chaos. Even George Wood, who wouldn’t usually come forward easily, gained an opportunity to shoot at the goal because of him. What a pity; if he himself had taken the shot, even Júlio César would have been helpless against it. The 34-year-old him shows no sign of aging at all; his performance is as brilliant as before. It makes one reminisce, looking at him appearing in this stadium…” said Italy’s commentator from ESPN with a sigh.