Godfather Of Champions

“Sun Jihai has saved Nottingham Forest’s goal gates! He seemed to descend from the sky, suddenly appearing in the front of the empty goal and blocked out Shevchenko’s shot! Let us look at the slow replay. After he was passed by Shevchenko, he immediately picked himself up from the floor and chased after him. While we put all our attention on Shevchenko and Edwin van der Sar, no one noticed that he had already found his way back! What terrifying willpower!”

As Motson showered Sun Jihai with all the praises he could. The main character himself was still piled underneath the players.

City Ground was a sea of jubilation. Someone unknowing would surely assume that Nottingham Forest scored a goal.

Shevchenko sat on the ground and helplessly watched as Nottingham Forest’s players celebrated. Such a great opportunity. It was such a great opportunity! Yet, he was still unable to score. It was as if God was pulling a prank on him. It would be impossible for him to perform again as perfectly as he did this time, and yet, he still could not score.

Such an awe-inspiring, world-class forward was hindered from his step forward by a Chinese man.

“Shevchenko must be extremely regretful now. If he hadn’t gone for a chest-high ball and took a ground shot instead, Sun Jihai wouldn’t have been able to stop it even if he’s got wings. But of all… Under that situation, however, he couldn’t have done any better. We still need to come back to praising the tenacity of that Chinese man. No matter the situation, he wouldn’t give up. No, this isn’t just his tenacity, this is Nottingham Forest’s tenacity.”

Outside the field, Mourinho had gotten up from his seat when he saw Shevchenko and Edwin van der Sar going one-on-one against each other. He was already prepared to dash out of the technical area in celebration of the goal. Never did he expect Shevchenko’s shot to fail. Yet, precisely such a situation unfolded.

Seeing Sun Jihai leap up into the air, using a movement that looked like Chinese Kungfu to kick the football out of the end line, Mourinho slammed his fist on the ground.

That damned Tony Twain, damned Nottingham Forest, damned Chinese player! Every single person here was so detestable!

Next to him, Tang En led the members of the managerial team in applauding for Sun Jihai in the field. Sun Jihai was an immensely diligent player. No matter if he played as a starter or a reserve, he always did his best. When Tang En first bought him, it was precisely this point about him that attracted Tang En. In comparison to numerous European players, he was much less volatile. Surely, in a team, it could not all be made up of characteristic people like him, right?

Tang Jing watched this scene from the press box.

Back then, when Forest Team main manager Tony Twain spent four million to buy Sun Jihai from Man City, it sparked excitement in the whole of China for a period; it had been the highest value for a Chinese player. But the good times did not last long. Competing internally within the team, Sun Jihai could not defeat Chimbonda. Most times, he could only appear on the field as a substitute. As such, England’s media believed that Tang En had bought a pig in the poke, that Pierce had cheated him of four million in selling him a Chinese full back who was on the verge of becoming obsolete. Even the domestic media did not look favorably on Sun Jihai’s prospects in Forest Team. The feeling intensified especially after seeing Forest Team’s “magnificent” goals.

Unexpectedly, after Tang En’s “streamlining” earlier during the season, Sun Jihai remained in the team despite many who left because they could no longer keep up. Tang En rarely evaluated the Chinese player in public events, regardless of if it were praises or criticisms. As a result, the media were also unsure of the true thoughts in his heart.

Now that she had seen this, Tang Jing understood it better to some degree.

In the recent few matches, Sun Jihai had been in the starting line-up for almost every match. His all-rounded abilities supplemented the team very well. Instead of having to bring in more players for every position, the team only needed one Sun Jihai.

However, if it was merely for the position of a utility player, Tang Jing believed that Tony had many other better options. Seeing this scene of Sun Jihai saving the ball, her mind suddenly flashed with inspiration – Sun Jihai’s style of not giving up and what Tony had always been advocating fitted very well with each other.

Now it made sense why Tony valued Sun Jihai so greatly.

When it came to choosing players, Tang En did not look so much at the person’s age, nationality, or level of technique. His foremost requirement was if the person was his cup of tea.

And Sun Jihai was right for him.

Every manager had their own preferences. For example, Arsenal’s main manager, Arsène Wenger, favored players who were technically outstanding although their bodies were not strong. Meanwhile, Tony Twain favored players who had strong willpower. It was evident from how he much he valued George Wood. Apparently, George Wood’s mental attributes in the newest game of FM were of the greatest value among all the players.

※※※

Sun Jihai’s flash of brilliance did not only save the team’s goal gates. More importantly, it inspired the team’s morale.

Nottingham Forest did not suffer a blow because of Chelsea’s attack this round. Conversely, the one who suffered the blow was Chelsea.

Just five minutes after Shevchenko’s failed one-on-one, Nottingham Forest scored.

Wasted opportunities would be punished. These words came true for Chelsea.

Taking the chance of Chelsea’s lowered morale, Forest Team initiated a series of fierce attacks. After a series of threatening shots at Čech’s gates, one by Ruud van Nistelrooy finally managed to blast open the 10-fingered gates of Czech’s national goal keeper.

“Ruud van Nistelrooy! This is his seventh goal for Nottingham Forest! From Manchester United to Nottingham Forest, he shows incredible adaptability and has assimilated into the team most quickly! Today, he is the best shooter on the team!”

Losing the ball, Čech could only vent his despair with a mighty pound at the floor. He had saved two straight shots from the opponents but failed to save the third one in the end. Van Nistelrooy had leant on Terry as he stretched out his foot with a jab, kicking the ball into the goal gates. At that time, Čech was still on the floor, yet to get up.

Forest Team’s attacks came at them too fiercely.

Mourinho saw it clearly from outside the field. Now that the team had fallen behind, defending was not going to be of use. The only way was to continue enforcing their attacks and equalizing the scores as quickly as possible.

Ever since Shevchenko entered the team, he had been unable to adapt to the pace of the English Premier and Chelsea’s football. However, as he was a player that had been especially picked out by the boss, Abramovich, Mourinho was forced to use him. On one side of things, Shevchenko’s performed poorly and experienced a low period in his conditions. On the other, Mourinho helped Shevchenko out numerous times before the media, finding reasons to retain him as a starter for every match. Now that Shevchenko lost a one-on-one and was performing poorly, Mourinho finally found an opportunity to change him out.

Swiftly, Mourinho substituted in German national team captain, Ballack, for Shevchenko who was not performing well.

Andriy felt somewhat helpless as he exited the field. He had already done his best, but it was a pity that his luck was poor this time round. If he had scored that goal, everything would be different. Chelsea would not have fallen behind, and he would not have to be taken off…

When he came down, Mourinho even patted his shoulders to comfort him. From the perspective of the outside world, the two appeared to have a very good relationship. But who knew that both Shevchenko and Ballack were not players Mourinho wanted? This characteristic manager did not have a choice when it came to his even more characteristic boss. The Russian tycoon boss of his was fond of super stars and his comrade from the Eastern Europe, Shevchenko. To Mourinho, however, Ballack and Shevchenko were both unplanned recruitments.

If all the transfers were to go according to the Boss’ wishes, Chelsea’s locker room would have turned into a mess long ago, not to mention having any combative ability.

Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Kaka, Casillas, Raúl, Buffon; all these were players Abramovich was interested in. Although it may give off a feeling of being amazing and incredible if one placed all these players into a team, Mourinho only saw it as a disaster.

Everyone said that being the main manager of Chelsea was great because they had money and could buy whoever they wanted. However, only Mourinho knew how tough it was to work under this rich boss. Although he was very rich and could purchase any player he wanted, there were also many times that players he did not want were bought.

Not only did he have to consider his boss’ preferences, he still had to continuously lie in front of the media, making it sound as if Shevchenko and Ballack’s arrival was something he had been anticipating for a long time; a moving transfer. On the surface, he had to maintain Chelsea’s harmonious atmosphere in the locker room and prevent their opponents, who were ferociously eyeing them, from detecting anything out of place. There was nothing more important to a team than being united.

After Shevchenko returned to the substitutes’ bench, he gloomily threw the towel, given by the coach for wiping his sweat, onto the floor. No one knew if he was angry at himself because he failed to score that goal, or because he was changed out.

Mourinho was not in the mood to care about Shevchenko’s feelings.

If they lost this match, everyone’s mood would be bad; no one should expect any good days ahead of them.

While he did not care about Shevchenko, he turned his head towards the manager’s seats of the home team. Tang En was currently sitting down with crossed legs, chatting about something with his assistant manager.

Seeing his carefreeness, Mourinho wanted to gnash his teeth.

There was something that Mourinho would never publicly admit before the media. There were times that he deeply envied this rival of his. In Nottingham Forest, he was the true king. Whatever he said, the club would carry out; whoever he wanted to buy, the club would supply him with funds; whoever he did not want to purchase, the club chairman would also not put pressure on him. In his conflict with players, the club would also surely stand behind the main manger; just look at Anelka’s current situation.

A manager in England having the same absolute authority like a CEO, was gradually becoming a luxury in the face of rapid advancement of modern football and the refinement of division of labor.

Did Mourinho still remember what he said when he first entered Chelsea?

God, other than God, it’s me.

Now, he realized it was wrong. The real situation was:

God, other than God, Abramovich, and then me.

※※※

After Ballack got on the field, Chelsea played with only a single forward, Drogba alone. Mourinho wanted to clash in the midfield with Tang En. He could tell; they would only be able to deal a blow to Nottingham Forest’s arrogance if they controlled the midfield.

Without George Wood’s crazed pressing and sprinting around the midfield, this was Chelsea’s opportunity. They could make use of their own numerical advantage and take back the midfield.

Once they had total control over the midfield, Chelsea could attack in any way they desired.

After Ballack was subbed in, Mourinho further used Joe Cole to change out Makelele, leaving only Essien to defend alone. This substitution gave a clear signal to Chelsea’s players – Mourinho was going to take a gamble.

With the match already at this point with only over 20 minutes before its end, he did not want to wait until the final 10 minutes before taking a gamble and going all out.

Of course, Tang En would not choose to defend because he led by a goal. If Wood was around, he could have been able to do that…

Now, the best solution was to continue going on the attack and clashing directly with Chelsea, using their own offence in substitute of their defense.

※※※

With such an open match, how could a score of 2:1 be enough?

In the 73rd minute of the match, Chelsea returned an eye for an eye, creating chaos in Forest’s penalty zone with a corner kick. Following, Drogba scored a goal that levelled the score.

This goal allowed Mourinho the chance to vent his emotions; he ran outside to the celebrating players and launched into a human pyramid.

Everyone had gotten used to the two managers doing things that were out of line, so the commentator, Motson, did not make a big fuss out of it, only loudly laughing before his microphone.

Chelsea evened the scores with 17 minutes left in the match.

Would the match end in this manner?

Clearly not. Tang En would not agree to it. It began with their lead and a winning situation. Now that it turned into a draw, how was he going to take it lying down?

Mourinho would also be unwilling. When he came here, he did not imagine himself to only leave with a single point. A draw was a failure to him, because he would still have failed to break the awkward record of failing to win Nottingham Forest.

In the final minutes, Tang En swapped out Rafael van der Vaart for Arteta to continue enforcing their attack. Mourinho had not used his final substitution quota yet. Similarly, Tang En still had one more substitution left. This was an ace in case of contingencies and for dragging out time if they took the lead in the last moments.

Time passed as the end of the match drew closer. On the field, the two sides battling did not seem to realize its passing, continuing their attacks on each other in the hopes of scoring a goal again.

This time, Chelsea who had been led by Nottingham Forest twice, finally turned the tables.

“Michael Essien! A beautiful wall-pass and one-two combination in front of the penalty zone! He rushes in and shoots! It’s a goal! This all happened too quickly, Edwin van der Sar and the rear defenders of Forest were unable to react in time!”

Drogba gave Essien a tight pull from his back, dragging him onto the ground. The two black men rolled together on the ground and were quickly drowned by even more Blues.

Mourinho jumped up to clap for this goal. In the 80th minute, a turn of the tables!

Tang En had a gloomy face but did not express any anger at losing a goal in the last minute. However, everyone could tell that he was obviously bottling his emotions.

At the last minute? No, there were still 10 more minutes!

While Chelsea’s people were madly celebrating, Tang En stood up from the manager’s seat.

Surprisingly this time, he did not roar loudly or wave agitatedly with his hands and arms. He only crossed his arms at the side lines with a grim face. Tang En knew that his team did not need his reminders; all his players knew what happened was terrible.

They had taken the lead twice and had the upper hand, but both times had the score equalized by their stubborn opponents. Now that all their thoughts were on taking the third lead of the game, their sly opponents took the chance to launch a sneak attack and took over instead! Could Nottingham Forest accept such a failure on their own grounds? Would they end their record of never losing to Chelsea in this way?

There were still 10 minutes. Other than attacking, they did not have any other choice. Even if this meant they could lose a ball from another sneak attack by their opponents.

Tang En was right. Forest Team’s players were well-aware of their own situation. They had also seen the overcast expression on their Head’s face. Letting their opponents get off easy would only mean being hard on themselves.

“The match is getting close to the end. Nottingham Forest persists in their attacks. Their attacks are extremely crazed. Chelsea have no choice but to retreat for defense. Mourinho has called up Lassana Diarra from the substitutes’ bench. He is getting ready to substitute in the French defending midfielder in the last minutes to strengthen their defense.”

With Mourinho fortifying their defense, Tang En naturally enforced their offense. As Mourinho called upon Diarra, Tang En called up Bendtner.

Both parties substituted their players at the same time. There were still six minutes before injury stoppage time.

“High balls? I don’t think it’s a good idea. The air defense of Chelsea’s defensive line is not weak…” Mark Lawrenson once again expressed his doubts regarding Tang En’s substitution.

“High balls may be the only method at such a point?” Motson said. “The first time these two teams met in the English Premier League, on this very field, wasn’t it Bendtner who scored the goal? Maybe Tony believes this Denmark lad could bring himself some luck.”

“Then I’ll sincerely wish him the best of luck…” From Lawrenson’s tone of voice, there wasn’t at all any hint of his “sincere wishes”.

※※※

True to expectations, Nottingham Forest began playing concise long balls after Bendtner entered the field. Both Albertini and Arteta’s long passes were strong. Added to that the two flanks passing to the center, everyone was searching for the heads of Bendtner and van Nistelrooy.

Although van Nistelrooy was 1.88 meters tall, he was not a center-forward who relied on headers. Most of the time, Bendtner was the key individual in Forest’s final attacks. Whether it was to head the ball in a direct attack at the goal or to ferry it across to teammates, it depended on his height of 1.9 meters and outstanding heading skills.

Upon seeing Bendtner sent out, Chelsea also fortified their range of defense against balls from the air.

Putting in a center-forward who was 1.9 meters, their intentions were much too obvious.

Mourinho stood at the side lines and shouted at the players to watch out for high balls.

In competing for a header with Bendtner, Terry succeeded in heading the ball out. He suddenly felt that Bendtner beside him was only so-so. He could not even box out the position, not to mention competing for the header.

Terry’s attempt to resolve the danger was not a true resolution. He had only kicked the ball out of the danger zone, that was all. The football very quickly landed under Forest Team’s possession. Anyway, the match was about to end soon. The entire area outside of the penalty zone was filled with Forest’s members, so Chelsea’s players had gotten used to it. They just had to refocus and defend again.

Ashley Young received the ball on the right wing. As he held the ball, only one thought surfaced in the minds of Chelsea’s players – it must be another high ball.

Since Bendtner got on the field, Ashley Young had already passed five straight balls, without any change, to the front of their goal via their air space. The boy liked to assist and was a champion in the Premier League when it came to passing center, but did he not know how to change a method? Defending against such balls was not in the least challenging…

Ashley Young glanced at the penalty zone. Ashley Cole came forward to defend against him. He bumped the ball and made a move to pass to the center. Naturally, Ashley Cole jumped up to block his pass route. Even a fool knew he was going to pass high again…

Ashley Young smiled when he saw Cole leap up on conditioned reflex. Only a fool would think I’m trying for a high pass!

Young suddenly pulled the ball back in to him, passing by Cole who had leapt up.

“What an idiotic defense!” Mourinho scolded angrily when he saw this scene from outside the field. “Who taught him that!”

“Ashley Young suddenly broke through Cole’s defense. He enters the penalty zone diagonally. This move of his completely surpassed the expectations of Chelsea’s rear defenders. Carvalho rushes over to make up for the gap…”

Seeing the chaos in front of Chelsea’s goal, Young gleefully waited for Carvalho to rush up to him before he passed the ball out.

Was it a high ball?

No! A ground ball!

Terry was originally holding onto Bendtner, ready to stop him from jumping to head the ball. Because of that, he was pulling downwards. Unexpectedly, Ashley Young passed a ground ball instead. At the same time, Bendtner went along with his pulling force and fell downwards…

Was he trying to get a penalty shot?

Of course not! This was a sliding shot!

A tall individual had the advantage in headers when they jumped; similarly, they had an advantage when their height translated into a greater length of their body when laying on the ground.

Terry understood what Bendtner wanted to do, so he quickly dropped into a slide tackle as well. At that time, he did not have the time to care if it was going to be a foul. Tackling him had the risk of fouling, but if he did not, it would almost certainly be a scored goal if Bendtner’s slide made contact with the ball!

But he was still half a step behind…

“Nicklas Bendtner – YES! IT’s a GOOOOOOOOAL! Čech tries to make a save, but it’s too far! He’s helpless! The match has just entered injury stoppage time, and Nottingham Forest has equalized the scores again! Indeed, for a match between the two of them, we cannot know the results until the very final minute!”

“The final second.” Mark Lawrenson added in helplessly. Of course, he hoped that they would not know the results until the very final minute. That way, he would still have a few minutes to look forward to.

But things did not go as they had hoped. Nottingham Forest, who had equalized the score, was unable to threaten Chelsea’s goal again with their attacks. Both teams were unwilling, but they could only accept the result of a draw with the score of 3:3.

“The match has ended. Chelsea has fought Nottingham Forest to a draw in City Ground. Looking at the faces of the managers, they are evidently displeased with this result.”

The two main managers walked to each other and carried out the post-match formalities of shaking hands.

“Let me be clear first. I’m extremely dissatisfied with this draw. We could have won.” Tang En said, looking straight at Mourinho.

“I am absolutely regretful that it wasn’t a loss for you.” Mourinho retorted with a dark face.

Saying their pieces, the two departed in different directions.