Godfather Of Champions

“It’s now eight minutes away from the end of the game. If there are no surprises, the injury stoppage time should be three minutes—the second half went smoothly. That means there are eleven minutes left. If the winner still is still undetermined, then both sides will be dragged into a thirty-minute overtime. For now, Grant had changed only one player, while Tony Twain had changed two players in one breath. The intentions of the two managers could be seen clearly in these substitutions.”

“Grant wants to play overtime and even a penalty shootout. It was reported that Chelsea had also specially practiced the penalty kicks the day before the match. But Tony Twain doesn’t want to give him the chance. He prefers to settle the fight in ninety minutes compared to overtime and penalty shootout.”

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Rafinha now took the ball. He hesitated a little before he did a wall pass with Beckham, and then continued to dribble the ball to plug ahead. At this time, everyone’s physical strength was not good and Rafinha must clench his teeth to persist. The idea of supporting him was “the other side is much better than himself” so Rafinha gnashed his teeth and rushed up.

Ashley Cole felt his job was a lot easier after Lennon left, because Beckham did not have the ability to break through. As a defender, all he had was to hold his position and there would be no problem. To prevent a cross pass? That was a matter for the center back.

Ashley Cole, who saw the Nottingham Forest number 14 charged up with the ball, went up to take him on after a short break. He was not afraid of going head to head alone with Rafinha.

Even the flourishing Cristiano Ronaldo had to think twice about whether to break through in the face of himself.

What more a mere full back from the Brazilian Olympic team?

He was ready to take on the enemy, but Rafinha did not give him a chance to have a face-off with him. He sent the football across to Beckham as he ran.

Ashley Cole froze a little and chose to continue to follow Rafinha to retreat. He feared that Beckham would sent the ball behind him with a straight pass. But Beckham did not plan to pass the ball at all. He did not hesitate to shoot for the goal when he got the ball!

“David Beckham’s long shot—”

Čech once again made a high level save. He flew out and knocked out the football with a single palm!

Nottingham Forest’s offensive was not over yet.

Eastwood appeared at the drop point of the football. As long as he shot it out, the football would fly into the empty goal!

Čech fell to the ground and completely lost his balance. There was nothing he could do about Nottingham Forest’s subsequent attack.

Terry stood forward.

Eastwood’s shot hit Terry on the head, and it flew out of the crossbar!

“Ah—what a pity! If this ball had gone in, Nottingham Forest would almost lock in the win!”

Everyone groaned in the Nottingham Forest’s technical area and substitutes’ bench.

“Freddy used too much force!” Kerslake complained with frustrated, “If he hadn’t volley that shot, but just kicked, Terry wouldn’t have time to react at all.”

He was right. Eastwood seemed to lose the cool of a striker at that moment and chose the most inopportune way to shoot.

In this regard, Twain could only gently shake his head. The continuous serious injuries caused Eastwood to no longer be the way he first was … Good things always belonged to the past.

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Čech climbed up from the ground and clapped his hands with Terry to thank him for his last-minute lift of the siege. Then he started directing the defense in the box. A corner kick was just as dangerous. But maybe it could be a chance too?

Pepe and Piqué saw that Nottingham Forest had received a corner kick and ran into Chelsea’s box at the same time to get ready to compete for the header.

Chelsea prepared to meet the enemy. Even Drogba was back in the box to defend. However, Joe Cole chose to stand near the center circle, waiting for a chance to fight back without knowing if it would come.

George Wood initially wanted to go up and participate in the attack. But after he saw Joe Cole, he changed his mind at the last minute and went over to stand quietly beside Joe Cole.

When Beckham placed the football, the Chelsea fans was behind him and those fanatical fans kept using language and gestures to provoke and insult him as they tried to distract him. But he seemed to turn a deaf ear to it. After he placed the football, he moved back to wait for the referee’s whistle.

This was a corner kick positioned on the left side of the goal. With a right-footed player like Beckham to execute, the football would spin inwards. The area close to the front and back points of the goalpost were generally the most dangerous place. It would also be the place where most of the Chelsea and Nottingham Forest players gathered.

Beckham’s shot after he ran up to is did not cross the top of any person’s head. It flew high, bypassed the front goalpost and descended midway to directly spurt toward a point in the back of the goal!

It was actually …

“He directly shot at the goal!”

Čech was going to strike directly to take the ball, but he had just stepped out to find something was wrong. The football was very high, fast and the direction of its trajectory was behind him—the goal!

He immediately hurried to jump, looked up at the football in the air, and then struggled to reach his hands out to touch the football. He no longer expected to directly get the ball. It would be all right providing he could poke out the football.

He failed to touch the football and only caught a gust of the wind.

“Clang!”

A few minutes ago, this noise annoyed the Chelsea fans, but now they thought it was music to their ears!

Beckham’s surprise choice fell short and the football hit above the crossbar to directly bounce out of the end line.

The swearing voices behind him all disappeared with the brittle sound that popped out of this impact. Those extreme Chelsea fans had yet to snap out of their horror when David Beckham had already run far.

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Kerslake was still holding his head in vexation. Grant was still worried about his heart. A new wave of offense from the Forest team was here again. Nottingham Forest was even crazier in the final stages of the game. They could not wait to pick up the trophy for a second time. Who would be willing to wait another thirty minutes and wait for another penalty shootout?

In just a few minutes, Chelsea had to withdraw entirely. A player like Joe Cole, who was still fantasizing about fighting back, also had to go back to defend under Terry’s loud hailing. As the captain, Terry knew exactly what kind of situation this was—if they could not withstand, then they would lose …

When he saw the team entirely retreated in the last few minutes according to his instructions, Grant felt less worried even though his heart had to continue to suffer.

Because Nottingham Forest did not intend to let Chelsea go just like that.

Van der Vaart took a long shot outside the box which was stopped by Čech. The Czech Republic national goalkeeper wanted to throw the ball and launch a counterattack, but Drogba’s ball was intercepted by George Wood who went round to the front to defend. Wood diverted the intercepted football to Ribéry who was in excellent form in this game. Ribéry passed the ball after he forced a breakthrough into the box from the flank. A melee broke out in front of the goal. As a result, no one touched the football. The ball brushed against the goalpost to roll out the end line.

Chelsea drove out another goal ball which was intercepted again. George Wood did a feint. After he created the illusion of passing the ball, he dribbled the ball and plugged in, which stirred the Chelsea rear defensive line into a mess. However, he suddenly diverted the ball.

The target of his pass this time was Bendtner.

Bendtner had his back to the direction of the attack and wanted to turn around to strike the goal.

It did not look like he was going to hand over this offensive opportunity easily, whether it was to Chelsea or his own teammates …

His persistence in the box attracted three Chelsea players, Terry, Carvalho and Makelele.

The three men encircled him. It was almost impossible for him to turn around, never mind shooting at the goal.

“Get the ball out!” Van der Vaart shouted in a hurry outside.

Bendtner gnashed his teeth—F**king Chelsea! There goes my chance!

He saw a red figure in the cracks between the crowd. He could not see the number on the back of the jersey nor the face and did not know who it was. But it was enough to know that it was his teammate.

Bendtner leaned back hard against Terry’s body and acted as if he wanted to forcibly turn around to shoot, so as to attract the Chelsea players to put their focus behind him. He then quickly gave a kick and passed the football out through a crack in the crowd!

“What a beautiful pass!”

Unfortunately, it was a little too late as Eastwood ran and overshot.

The Romani thought Bendtner would make a cross pass so that he could shoot directly. After all, there were a lot of people in the penalty area. A slight delay could cost him the chance to score.

He did not expect Bendtner to do a return pass. He ran over only to discover this point and hurriedly braked. His right foot dragged in the back and barely hooked the football. It was not directly taken away by the Chelsea players.

But he had lost the immediacy and covert opportunity to shoot at the first instance in this way. The best chance to score was gone. So, what could he do next? Should he protect the ball and wait for his teammates’ support? That meant that he had to turn his back to the goal …

Eastwood was not willing to do that.

Bendtner acted independently because he was a striker and the striker’s job was to score goals. Therefore, Eastwood would act independently too. He played averagely in this game, and he wanted to prove his contribution to the team with a goal.

When I was still a cripple helping my father sell used cars at home and a down-and-out player who occasionally played in an amateur league, did I ever had such a dream? To play in the final of the European clubs’ top level tournament? But now this is not a dream. I scored a goal in last year’s Champions League final, which was the goal that locked in the victory. I can do it again this year!

After Eastwood made up his mind to act alone, he completely ignore his teammates’ positions. At this juncture, he only had eyes and attention for the opposing defensive players. With his back to the goal, he felt the pressure from behind which should be from Ashley Cole.

Terry had already given up on Bendtner and turned around to pounce on him.

There was no time to hesitate here. In case he was surrounded, a pass would become the only option.

The idea of a dive in the box was not something that crossed Eastwood’s mind. Some strikers would choose to do so in times of crisis, in hopes that the referee would award a penalty shot to them. But this foolish thought only flashed across his mind before it was immediately tossed out. He was not that kind of person, and he knew the chief would not allow him to do that.

To throw away the opportunity grasped in hand, and then to count on the subjective judgment of the unreliable referee, this practice was no different from being a fool. As long as the opportunity was in his own hands, he could not discard it even if there was only 0.001 percent!

Stepping the football under his feet, Eastwood felt the pressure coming from behind him. He judged the distance between him and the other person, while he observed Terry’s extended feet.

These men clearly do not want to act too bold outside the box and rush to make a move. Unless I shoot, they will continue to encircle me while they wait for backup. Once one more player comes to defend, I will be out of luck. Their chance to make a move to intercept will only show up once I shoot …

Once he made up his mind, Eastwood slightly adjusted his stance to let himself face Ashley Cole and Terry sideways and not with his back toward Ashley Cole and face Terry like he did just now. Following which, he made to look like he was going to swing his leg to shoot, prompting Terry to make a move to intercept on the right side.

But in fact, Eastwood did not swing his leg. He just moved a little. Upon seeing Terry move, he immediately jabbed the football behind himself with his foot. Even though he could only turn around at a narrow angle, this was the only gap and the only chance to shoot …

The Chelsea defenders wanted to push Eastwood close to the end line so that even if he was allowed to shoot, it would not be threat.

After he jabbed the football behind him, Eastwood leaned against Ashley Cole to turn around on the spot. He had just turned around and saw the football under his feet. Although he was now very close to the end line, he still did not hesitate to poke the football toward the end line while half of his body made use of the momentum to zip out from the encirclement!

A Cruyff Turn!

Although his body had not completely shook off the Chelsea defenders’ entanglement, Eastwood could not wait for that to happen. He did not adjust the football at all and directly swung his left leg in a very narrow angle to vigorously blast the goal!

Like an artillery shell, the football flew past Ashley Cole.

Čech was convinced he had sealed off all the shot angles and he anchored himself as he waited for Eastwood to shoot. He had just saw the football rolled out of the crowd when he saw a leg whipped out and the football swooped over!

So fast!

That was Čech’s only thought. Before he could see the striker, he saw the football fly over. In the circumstances where the distance was very close, the other party made use of the strength and footwork of a long shot. The football instantly glided over the top of his head, which this ball would fly straight out of the end line nine out of ten times…

Eastwood had no idea where Čech was or whether the goal had a small gap at all before he shot. He completed this difficult shot with the instinct of a striker. What did he need to do next?

Pray?

No!

The opportunity is still in my hands. Who do I pray to?

“Clang!” It was the sound of the football striking the goalpost again. Only this time it did not popped out of the end line.

Čech lifted his head, and his sight followed the football from start to finish. Even if his body could not keep up, he could still follow with his eyes. He saw the football struck the edge of the crossbar and slammed upward. When it bounced up on the net, it hit the net…

When he raised his head too far behind, Čech lost his balance and fell on his back to the ground. His eyes were still staring at the football fallen inside the goal!

“Eastwooooooooooo—gooooooooal!!! Freddy Eastwood! Freddy Eastwood!! This is the fatal shot! A fatal shot! Absolutely beautiful!!”

When Eastwood, who lost his balance and fell straight out of the end line after the shot, saw the football enter the goal, he tried to jump up but found that he was long exhausted. He could only lie on the ground. He raised his hands high and clenched into fists, pointing to the raining night sky. His face had a fierce expression due to excessive excitement.

“Eight-nine minutes!! This is a goal that almost locked in the victory! Does Chelsea still have a chance? Is there still a chance?”

“Even if they want to equalize again, this time Nottingham Forest will never say yes!”

The excited Nottingham Forest players collectively raced to outside Chelsea’s goal. Instead of pressing up, they laid on ground with Eastwood and pointed their fists at the sky.

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“I did not f**king replace him, wow haha … That’s so f**king brilliant!” Twain laughed heartily and yelled on the sidelines, completely without the reserve that a manager generally had.

“Freddy, you’re my lucky treasure! You’re the champion striker! As long as you score, the title is ours!”

Kerslake was excited at the time and completely forgot that he had suggested earlier to Twain that he should replace Eastwood, who was physically tired and did not perform well.

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“Eastwood is really a striker with the ability to decide the outcome of the game! In last year’s Champions League final, it was his last-minute goal that helped the team lock in the victory to wipe out AC Milan’s confidence to fight back. And now, once again, his single shot sealed the fate as they are about to enter the injury stoppage time!”

“Who could have imagined that such a striker was playing in an amateur competition four years ago and helping his father sell used cars for a living?”

“Nottingham Forest is really a miraculous team! With players like that and such a team, they always amaze us!”

“The first defending champion since the restructuring of the UEFA Champions League … is about to be born!!”

“They will go down in history, and they will continue to create legends. In these two seasons since the start of the 07-08 season, European football has only one color and only one name. It’s red and it belongs to Nottingham Forest!”

The commentators for the live broadcast of game were going insane. They banged on the tables and stomped their feet as they tried their best to raise their volume and spoke fast to show their passion.

The last-minute fatal shot literally impassioned all the people watching this game instantly!

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Did anyone else still care about the Chelsea team?

The Chelsea players on the field stood rooted to the ground when the football bounced into the goal. They were unable to accept such an outcome at all. How could… How could we let the opponent score at the last minute? Is it our defense that’s not doing well enough? No! No…

Grant sat in the technical area, or it was more appropriate to say that he was “slumped” in his seat in the technical area. He felt as if he had no bones in his entire body at this moment. His face was ashen as if he had lost his life.

To spoil the ship for a ha’penny worth of tar…

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“During Brian Clough’s most brilliant period, he led Nottingham Forest to win a domestic league title and two Champions League titles. Similarly, a defending champion, Tony Twain still has the opportunity and time to surpass his predecessor because he has now caught up with his legendary predecessor. Now he can start shaping a new hero and a new legend in the history of Nottingham Forest Football Club!”

“Don’t be happy too soon, the game is not over yet! There are still at least three minutes left … A football is round!”

“Remember what that guy Tony Twain said before in last year’s Champions League final? His football is triangular! Ha ha!”

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“We got the whole world in our hands; we are Nottingham Forest! We’re the f**king greatest team in the world! Oh, oh, oh–We’re the champions! Nottingham Forest is the champion!”

The Nottingham Forest fans did not care such crap about “the football is round.” They could not wait to start declaring their claim on the title.

For a moment, the loud song rippled across the stands in the Luzhniki stadium, piercing the layers of fog, straight beyond the clouds!