Godfather Of Champions

As the players from both teams stood near the center circle waiting for the second half to begin, Twain changed four players in one go. Four players clad in Nottingham Forest’s yellow away jerseys stood on the sidelines, waiting in line to get on the field.

Kompany replaced the older Ayala, Akinfeev substituted van der Sar, Lennon swapped out David Beckham, and George Wood replaced Sun Jihai.

Beckham’s exit made the fans unhappy with Twain and they booed him constantly.

“They’re not booing at you, David.” When Beckham walked off to shake Twain’s hand, Twain laughed, “The boos are for me. They are complaining that I’ve brought you off too early.”

“I understand, boss.”

“Well, dry yourself.” He personally handed over a towel himself.

Wood took over the captain’s armband from Beckham. He tied it himself, and then ran onto the field. He did not give his opinion on how they should play in the first half during the halftime interval. But Twain knew this kid must have bottled up a lot of energy inside.

During the halftime interval, Twain instructed the team to step up their long shots and still play offense in the middle. Apart from the players’ fear of injury and the referee’s whistle, they were unable to break the goal in the first half partly due to Twain’s instruction to the team to attack from the middle. But he did not change that in the second half. In addition to this being a hard-to-get opportunity to train the players, Twain did not think that they could not breach the goal by attacking from the middle with Nottingham Forest’s ability.

In fact, even if the main players did not make noise during the halftime interval, Twain also had a way to reverse the situation in the second half. Hence, he specially kept the substitutes for the second half. These players usually played less, and very eager to prove themselves, which in some cases were more powerful than the main players. Twain had planned from the start to let them play in the second half to teach the heads of the Chinese Football Association a lesson.

That was right. He did not plan to listen to Allan in the first place and to give face to the Chinese Football Association. The Chinese Football Association’s reputation had nothing to do with him. At that time, he did not directly refuse Allan only because he did not want to quarrel with him. His hot-headedness and outspoken personality did not mean that he would not resort to petty tricks.

※※※

While the China Olympic team’s players and most of the fans were still oblivious from the dream of the first half, van der Vaart’s long shot that struck the goal post had sounded the alarm.

In the fifth minute of the second half, less than a minute after van der Vaart’s long shot hit the post, Ribéry suddenly cut inside after he dribbled the ball in the wing. He kicked the ball in a straight line just before the China Olympic team thought he was going to do a long shot. Plugging in from the side, Eastwood turned to shoot at the goal after he received the ball, which rolled past the goalkeeper who was unable to react in time and hit the net.

Nottingham Forest reversed the score.

So far, it was still in line with the result that Xie Yalong and Allan knew.

However, a bad feeling about this emerged in Allan’s mind.

In the eleventh minute, Li Weifeng whose defensive action was still rough, pushed down Lennon who had intended to break through in front of the penalty area, the referee blew the whistle and ruled that it was his foul, which gave the Forest team a free kick twenty-seven meters from the goal.

Gareth Bale stepped forward to execute this free kick and the football drew a beautiful arc to fly straight toward a dead corner!

Nottingham Forest completed the reversal of the game in six minutes.

After this goal, Twain substituted the players again. Bale, who scored the goal was replaced by Baines, van der Vaart was replaced by Petrov and Ribéry moved to the middle to be the playmaker in the midfield.

Following which, Petrov who just came on the field, brutally broke through the wing. After he relied on his speed to break past the China Olympic team’s defenders marking him, he sent out the ball. Van Nistelrooy suppressed Li Weifeng to head the football into the goal.

In the blink of an eye, the score had changed from 1:2 to 4:2.

While sitting on the podium, Xie Yalong’s smile on his face was long gone. His face was now infinitely close to Ningbo’s weather today.

Allan sat in next to Evan Doughty and was one person down from Xie Yalong. He could feel the emotional upheaval that took place in the Chinese Football Association President’s mind at this moment. Because he was also a little annoyed.

Tony Twain made a fool out of him!

※※※

Generally speaking, it was acceptable for the hosts for this score to be kept until the end of the game. After all, they had scored two goals against the European Champion and the other party only scored four goals. But Twain had no intention of giving up. He continued to bring on the driven players to attack the already battered and disheartened China Olympic team.

Bendtner came onto replace van Nistelrooy and Arshavin replaced Eastwood. Rafinha was replaced by Chimbonda and Wes Morgan replaced Piqué. The China Olympic team simply could not threaten Nottingham Forest’s defense now. Most of their faltering attacks were stopped by George Wood, who defended against them with ease.

Nottingham Forest scored two more goals in the final minutes of the game. Bendtner grabbed the ball in the penalty area to score a goal. Then he used his strong physique and followed up with a header shot to the goal.

By the time the Forest team scored their fifth goal, half of the fans had already started cheering and applauding the Forest players for each performance.

In contrast to this situation, Xie Yalong’s face was gloomy with tightly pursed lips, looking as ugly as could be.

The players of the China Olympic team still strove at the beginning. But toward the end, they realized that the difference in the strength between the two sides was just too big, so they just gave up trying. Their attacks were completely disorganized, and they struggled with the defense.

Seeing this scene, Twain shook his head and said, “This is all they’ve got, and the FA actually gave them the goal to reach the final four of the Olympic men’s soccer…”

“Are they crazy?” Dunn asked.

“Not crazy, this is their usual stance. If you were to hear the FA say we have to keep our feet on the ground and do something practical for Chinese football one day, you can call the mental hospital and ask them to send a car to the FA to get those people.”

Dunn was amused by Twain’s words.

But Twain glanced at him and said, “Is that funny? Don’t you think it’s sad and indignant to have encountered such a thing? But the Chinese fans have lost their energy for anger and swearing. They can only express their emotions in a sarcastic manner. You see…” He pointed to the stands and muttered, “how almost all of them are starting to boo the China Olympic team now. That’s how they express their emotions. They are forced to the extent that they see no hope at all. Who would want to use this extreme way to vent? To boo the team that wears their own country flag on the chest… It’s sad and pathetic.”

Dunn stopped laughing and was silent. His understanding and feelings about Chinese football were lagged behind this “British man” next to him. But he could imagine what Twain’s former attitude towards Chinese football was. Perhaps he cried, laughed, cursed and hoped too. But now, he coolly recounted other people’s own affairs here.

It was so sad and pathetic.

And so lamentable!

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The commercial match ended with Nottingham Forest’s 6:2 victory over the China Olympic team. After the game, all the Forest players walked hand in hand toward the stands to thank the fans, which was their tradition and what Twain asked them to do.

Initially, these players thought that since they had slaughtered the home team without giving any face, those who booed them in the first half would boo at them even louder. But to their surprise and what touched them was the Chinese fans stood up in the stands to applaud the Nottingham Forest players who had played to their best during the match.

“To be honest, they understand the game very well…” Sun Jihai muttered when he thanked the fans with his teammates.

The people on the other team felt bad. Xie Yalong stood on the podium and clapped out of courtesy. Some eager fans already rushed out a new placard and raised it up in the stands below the podium to show to the officials on the podium.

“Xie Yalong is a stupid c**t! The FA is a stupid c**t!”

This slogan captured what all the fans in the stadium wanted to say.

※※※

The post-match press conference was lively. Because Nottingham Forest was the first team to beat the host team to a pulp since China had commercial football matches, this game set the records for the highest score for a single game and net goal difference for a foreign team over a Chinese team.

In accordance with the traditional thinking of the Chinese people, guests who came to visit the host, must pay mind to the host’s face. It was okay to win but it looked better for everyone to score less goals…

But Tony Twain and his Nottingham Forest team did not believe in this.

Twain’s first remark astonished the Chinese reporters present, “I was not satisfied with the team’s performance in the first half. We should have scored a few more goals. But I’m fairly satisfied with the current overall score. We showed the strength of a European champion in the second half.”

Twain knew some of the Chinese media would feel displeased, but he had his own way to shut them up.

“Before the game, there were some media which were concerned that the Forest team would not give its best to play in the commercial game, making the game less thrilling to watch. But now I think everyone can put their minds at ease. We’re a professional team and we upheld our work ethic. I’m very happy to give the Chinese fans such a wonderful game!” He smiled and opened his arms, looking very proud. “After the game, the Chinese fans gave my team a standing ovation and I was deeply moved by that. It also showed that we have won the recognition and appreciation of the fans with practical actions! The Chinese fans are…” He gave a thumbs-up and spoke in authentic Mandarin, “Awesome!”

His words and conduct rendered the media which were ready to make trouble, completely speechless.

Only Tang Jing was laughing below. That’s Tony Twain for you. You don’t know if you should love him or hate him… But whether you like him or not, he’s true to himself in front of you. Those whose hearts can’t take it; he may just be the death of you.

I would have fought him before when I was younger. But now when I see him, I can only smile when I see him. I really don’t get worked up by him anymore because he’s not directing it at me at all… Maybe he’s directing it at the world?

The puppet, Mr. Dujković had nothing to say as this match had nothing to do with him. But he had to stepped out after the game to accept everyone’s rebuke. The salary given by the Chinese Football Association was really not easy to earn. . . . . . “They played very well, and we tried our best. But the difference in the strength is too wide and we are powerless…” He rubbed his temples as he feebly answered the reporters’ questions, as if he was muttering to himself.

Twain glanced at him and did not think that this old man was pathetic.

If I were him, how could I endure such humiliation? I would have yelled at the Football Association long ago, and then got up to walk away. You can go find whoever is willing to play along. I’m not going to do as you say!

※※※

At the end of their last assignment in China, the players were given a break that night. They were free to go out and do what they like before 11:30 P.M..

While Tony Twain was invited by Allan to his room once again. There were some things that they had to make clear.

Unlike the last time, the club chairman, Evan Doughty was present in the room this time.

“The atmosphere doesn’t feel quite right.” He did not rush in. Instead, he clung to the door frame, looked inside at the two men and asked tentatively.

“Ah, Tony, Tony. What should I say about you?” Allan shook his head and sighed. There were times when he really could not get angry with this manager. During the game, he was so angry that he could not wait to look for Twain to question him in person what he was doing. But seeing him like this now, all the yelling he was prepared to do had vanished.

Twain quickly laughed, “It’s ok. I know why you’re looking for me. Actually, Allan, don’t blame me for lying to you. If I had refused in the first place, then the itinerary and various activities you had arranged these days would be affected. Isn’t that the case when you calmly think about it?”

Allan did not need to think calmly to know for sure that it would be like this. When the team’s most important two departments had a conflict face-to-face, it was inevitable that it would affect things. If everyone was fighting, perhaps many of the scheduled activities would have to be cancelled.

In order to come to China, he studied the many examples of European teams which came to China to make money these last few years. For example, in the summer of 2005, Real Madrid visited China for the second time. Originally, all the players were scheduled to go on China’s national television to record a program with the Real Madrid fans selected from all over the country. But due to a direct clash between Real Madrid’s commercial and athletics departments, this trip was forced to be canceled because the athletics department strongly objected to the exhausted team participating in the television show. The end result was Real Madrid missed the live recording of the show, leaving a very bad image in the minds of the fans across China.

With Real Madrid’s deep-rooted position in football and vast wealth, they did not take this little effect to heart. But Nottingham Forest, which had just stepped into the Chinese market, could not be careless.

“I’m not an impulsive person. I had thought about it. So, I promised you at that time because I did not want to influence your other plans. But I really couldn’t promise this matter. It offended my bottom line. I don’t know what your thoughts are, Allan. But for someone like me who cares about honor, a matter like this is like asking me to sell out the team. I couldn’t do that, and my players could not agree. You weren’t in the locker room at halftime. Everyone thought we played badly in the first half and they did not want to end the game like that…” He gave a shrug and did not continue to speak.

Allan stood there and did not know what to say.

When he saw that he did not speak, Twain continued, “Allan, you know this team. The whole world probably knows what kind of team Nottingham Forest is. I don’t blame you at all and I did not mean to deliberately go against you. But the Chinese Football Association’s request was too much. I could not accept. It’s their fault. None of us did anything wrong. They didn’t follow the rules of football. So, they had to pay the price and lie in the bed they made. I know better than you do about an organization like the Chinese Football Association. They have become accustomed to manipulating the games and leagues domestically. And now they think they can manipulate us?”

“But Tony. We are going to open a football school in China. This definitely can’t get around the Chinese Football Association. You’re now…” Allan finally had the ability to think, and he spoke harshly.

Twain smiled very happily, “Are you worried that by doing this, I have angered the FA? No, it won’t. Allan. You don’t know enough about this organization. The only person who was enraged by me was the president. Rest assured, his term is ending soon. By the end of this year… it’s not yet known what will happen when the next one comes along. It’s too early to say what’s going to happen.” He winked and added, “The presidents of the Chinese Football Association are transferred from the other institutions to dredge up enough achievements for a few years before they are promoted. They don’t care about how Chinese football is.”

Evan clicked his tongue in astonishment at the side. This kind of thing was really new to him.

Hearing Twain say so, Allan slightly softened his tone. “This is unbelievable.”

“Ha, if you dig deeper into this organization, you’ll find more incredible things. Some things will make you feel like it shouldn’t happen on Earth at all.”

But Allan soon discovered a new problem, “Wait a minute. If they change another leader, does it mean that all my previous efforts have gone to waste?”

“The bigger picture of the agreement negotiated with the organization should not be affected. As long as the relationship is not at an impasse, it will not block the other minor areas for us.” Twain thought about it before saying.

Evan, who had been watching, put his hands together and smiled, “Okay, Allan, this matter has been settled. I did say that Tony must have his thoughts. To tell you the truth, I think the suggestion put forth by the Chinese Football Association is silly, but fortunately Tony did not follow suit.”

Allan feigned anger, “So after all this and it’s my own issue?”

“Ahem…” Evan hurriedly coughed to cover, “This trip to China was perfect, Allan. There were some people who thought the Chinese commercial football games were over, but we have hyped it up this time. I’ve heard that Chelsea is already considering a formal visit to China… These are the best affirmations for you.”

Twain chimed in next to him, “Yes, that’s right. You’re the best I’ve ever seen with this area.”

“You only deal with the managers, Tony.” Allan was not angry. He said to Twain, “Anyway, what you did today made me lose ‘mianzi.’ Yes, ‘mianzi.’”

After spending some time in China, he could understand what “face” meant.

Twain pretended not to understand even though he could, “What’s that?” Noodles?”

“Don’t act silly, Tony.”

“Well, ok, to make up for your ‘mianzi’, I’ve decided to treat you to noodles.” Twain raised his hands in surrender.

“Spaghetti? I’m so sick of it…”

“No, Japanese ramen!”

The second stop of the Nottingham Forest’s East Asia gold rush project was Tokyo, Japan.