Godfather Of Champions

“George Wood dribbles the ball and breaks through! He breaks into the penalty area! Against Samuel’s and César’s defense… He shoots! Oh, but the football hit the goalpost… Wait a minute! Matías Fernández! He shakes off Burdisso’s defense, shoots high in the air sideways and —GOOOOOOOOOAL!!”

The football hit hard into the net. César only just flew to the spot but to no avail…

Fernández, who scored the goal, looked very excited as he ran toward the corner flag. He pulled his jersey and roared. He was finally able to relieve his frustration.

Although it was him who scored the goal, the man who got the most attention was George Wood. The television coverage cut to a close-up of Wood immediately after the goal, which even led some viewers to mistake George Wood was the one to score the goal…

Fernández helped Nottingham Forest to score and take the lead again. But the thrilling part of the goal was not his makeup shot, but that George Wood’s previous consecutive bypasses to shoot at the goal. It was a pity he was unlucky. The football hit the goalpost. Otherwise it would have become one of the memorable goals in his career!” The commentator gave high praise to George Wood.

Even Tony Twain below felt it was a great pity about Wood’s failure to score. Then he remembered that he should applaud Fernández’s shot…

Who was the happiest person to see Wood perform like this? It was not the excited commentator nor Tony Twain who held his head in his hands in disbelief at what he saw. It was not even the Nottingham Forest fans but Albertini, sitting in the box above the pitch.

When Demetrio saw Wood dribble the ball past several people in the midfield, he had already risen from his seat. When Wood shot at the goal at last, he could not help but shout “goal” in advance, but unfortunately … the football hit the goalpost in the end.

But that was not the most important thing. Albertini was very happy he saw a different George Wood from whom he had seen before. It could even be said that he was even more outstanding that the George Wood he had imagined before.

Albertini wanted Wood to become a defensive midfielder who could control the entire team’s pace of offense and defense, just like AC Milan’s Pirlo. But judging by his performance in this game, he was getting closer to the combination of Kaka and Pirlo…

He could use the passes to dispatch the team and also had his own ability to dribble the ball forward to break through at the same time. It was just formidable…

Watching the game with Albertini was his good friend, AC Milan’s iconic figure and retired Paulo Maldini. He laughed when he saw Albertini this excited, “It looks like your feelings for Nottingham Forest run really deep.”

“Other than AC Milan, it’s them.” Albertini continued to clap and said, “After all, I also got the… oh.”

He had wanted to say he had won a Champions League title there, which was something he never dared to think about. Suddenly he realized that the championship title was snatched from this man next to him.

Maldini did not care, “It’s okay. The championship title belonged to the side that played better. I feel sorry instead… that last summer, Galliani did not bring Wood to San Siro.”

Albertini laughed, “He’s going to become Paulo Maldini of Nottingham Forest.”

He finally ended the applause of several minutes and sat down again. The game on the field had also started again.

Maldini shook his head and was not convinced, “Nottingham Forest is not AC Milan.”

Albertini also seemed to think that his good friend had a point. He said, “To put it another way, if Tony continues to stay at Nottingham Forest, then I think George will stay there too.”

“I was thinking… Galliani had set his heart on getting Wood, but he’d never thought of this method—poach Tony Twain along with George Wood together.”

To hear Maldini say so, Albertini laughed, “Don’t you know the personal feud between Tony and Galliani?”

“I heard a little. But I think… This kind of thing is of little importance in some respect. If AC Milan can offer better pay and other conditions than at Nottingham Forest, I think even the unpleasant thing between Tony Twain and Galliani should disappear?”

Albertini continued to laugh and shook his head as well, “You don’t know Tony, Paulo. He is sometimes very emotional. His personal feelings represent everything. In addition, AC Milan cannot give him anything else other than a higher salary. As for him… As far as I can see, he’s not particularly a fan of money.”

Maldini disagreed, “At the very least we can give him a higher transfer budget. I know he not only has no money to buy players at Nottingham Forest, but also needs to sell players to make money for the club. Have you ever seen such a Champions League manager? I would have quit my job long ago if I have to work in that kind of place…”

“Paulo, do you think Galliani and President Berlusconi will allow Tony to buy the players he wants to buy, and not get involved like obedient kids?”

That remark stumped Maldini. He really did not consider the matter while Demetrio was absolutely right… At AC Milan, the real decision on which player to buy could lie with Galliani, the expert negotiator, Braida, or possibly his father Cesare Maldini. There was even a big chance that it could be Berlusconi. But it would not be the manager.

When he saw that his good friend did not speak, Albertini patted him on the shoulder and said, “Even though there’s not much money at Nottingham Forest, Tony can do what he wants and lives like a king. At AC Milan, he can earn a lot of money, wear the golden crown, look like the king, but he cannot decide on many things. The distinction is decisive. So, don’t think about this impossible thing, Paulo. We all don’t want President Berlusconi to leave his post. Just enjoy watching the game.”

※※※

The game had already progressed another ten minutes while Albertini and Maldini discussed in the box why Twain and Wood could not come to AC Milan.

Mourinho was furious at the goal concede. He left his seat for these ten minutes and stood on the sidelines to supervise and direct the game with a serious face.

He knew how good Nottingham Forest’s counterattack was. He was certain that his players were aware of it too. In that case, what was the problem?

The problem laid with George Wood.

He had not been in the English Premier League for a few year and Wood got better… Mourinho had never seen this outstanding show of dribbling the ball to bypass a few players before in the Premier League. He suddenly plugged in ahead and did an out of character individua breakthrough. He did not pass the ball, resulting in the collapse of Inter Milan’s entire line of defense. Everyone’s attention was on Wood and neglected the other Forest players. And they eventually lost the goal…

Did Inter Milan concede to Nottingham Forest in terms of overall strategy or George Wood’s individual play?

This was really a difficult question to understand.

Therefore, what was Mourinho angry about? Of course, he was furious that he conceded two goals at home! What did it mean to let Tony Twain obtained two away goals? That meant that they were halfway into the top eight!

But what was the use of anger now? The opponent had already scored the goals. His team could only find ways to score a few more goals and minimize their away goal advantage.

However,….. was Inter Milan really confident of scoring more goals with twenty minutes left in the game against Nottingham Forest’s die-hard counterattack style?

※※※

Tony Twain crossed his legs in the technical area. He was enjoying the situation now.

The voices of the Inter Milan fans in the stands behind them became softer. It looked like the Inter Milan fans had been hit hard by Nottingham Forest’s second goal…

The score of 1:2 and the Forest team’s two away goals were like a huge boulder, pressing on the hearts of those people. When they wanted to open their mouths to shout something for the team, they would feel short of breath and tightness in their chests.

What they did not understand the most was why Nottingham Forest suddenly became unrecognizable with a change in the manager. They had not seen it with their previous games. It was reasonable to say that the players’ strength of the current Nottingham Forest team should be not as good as compared to the previous team which they had played against.

How did they break out with such amazing energy when Twain took over?

Could it be possible the man who always liked to provoke a war of words before a game and was derided by the media as a clown, had a mysterious aura?

※※※

The television commentator, who knew Tony Twain well, had already declared that the game had entered a dreary stage.

“Nottingham Forest is in the lead for the away game and even scored two goals. Who can give me a reason that Tony Twain will not defend? And once Nottingham Forest is determined to hold fast, there are not many teams in the world that can breach its goal. Maybe Inter Milan can be one? I do not know. But I’m sure of one thing—Inter Milan must work very, very hard to score goals. Even so, even if they beat Nottingham Forest by 3:2, Tony Twain will also leave Meazza with a smile…”

With such a conundrum placed in front of the Inter Milan supporters, it did not make them feel good. It was no wonder that the voices at the Meazza Stadium became much smaller.

The Inter Milan players launched a fierce attack on the Nottingham Forest goal with fury in their eyes, as if they had collectively taken the same medicine. They attacked wave after wave, each stronger than before.

George Wood did not have a chance to show his offensive talent again. Even Ibišević quickly became the third center back and frequently used his physical superiority to break the siege in front of the goal.

Mourinho brought on Adriano to replace Giuseppe Rossi, which had been inundated by the Nottingham Forest players. Meanwhile, he also repeatedly waved on the sidelines to signal for the team to press on continuously. At this point, he did not care if there were a lot of gaps behind the team, because Nottingham Forest simply could not fight back!

Adriano came on and won some a few chances for the team. However, there were too many people in the Nottingham Forest penalty area…

Inter Milan had also reduced their own offensive space to the lowest level as they besieged the Forest team. It was really not conducive for them to shoot and score goals. As the game wore on, more inter Milan players began to try long shots.

The voices of the Inter Milan fans suddenly grew louder when the game was ten minutes away from injury stoppage time. Although the score was still 1:2, they were not willing to give up. Even if there was little time left, they had to fight until the last minute. Now their highest wish had changed from “a victory” to “an equalizer.”

Even with this wish, Tony Twain did not want them to make it happen. He replaced Fernández with Cohen, who was better defensively, and then used Woodgate to bring off Şahin. He was now playing the 5-4-1 formation with three center backs. It was abundantly clear that they were going to cling fast to defense.

Until the injury stoppage time, Inter Milan still did not break the Nottingham Forest goal. Just when it looked like the game was about to end in this way, a sudden change took place in the game!

※※※

After Ibrahimović received the ball, Adriano and Quaresma, as well as his other teammates in better positions, raised their hands to ask him for the ball. But he did not pass. He chose to force a breakthrough and cut inside.

Just moments after he crossed the line of the penalty area, he was tripped by Tiago!

Meanwhile, a shrill booing rang out at the Meazza Stadium.

Everyone nervously turned to look at the referee. One gesture from him at this moment might just determine the fate of both teams…

“He points to the penalty spot!! My God! Inter Milan has a narrow escape!!”

The Inter Milan players might have just complained that Ibrahimović acted alone again at the crucial moment, but now they were all cheering the Swede and embracing him.

Whereas Tiago, who had been indicating to the referee starting from just now to show that he did not foul, and that Ibrahimović did a dive, was angry. He rushed up to hold the referee’s hand and tell him that it was a dive!

It was not only Tiago who was angry. The rest of the Forest players were also angry. They rushed to the referee and surrounded him.

No one could understand why the referee would make such a decision. Putting aside whether Ibrahimović dived, no one could determine such a matter without a slow-motion replay. After all, it happened so fast. But they all clearly saw that the physical contact between Tiago and Ibrahimović was outside the penalty area…

Even if Tiago had fouled, it should be a free kick, not a penalty kick!

The players were furious on the pitch, while Twain held back the fourth official to express his displeasure, “How can this f**king be a penalty kick?”

“Please mind your language, Mr. Twain.”

“Then please get the referee to pay attention to his eyes! A last-minute penalty kick! He’s got some balls!!”

Dunn saw that Twain was getting more agitated the more he rebuked. For fear that the fourth official was going to tell on him to the referee and then be directly kicked out of the game, he hurriedly gave Kerslake a look and the two men rushed up to drag Twain against his will back to the technical area.

Twain was still scolding, “He’s got some balls! Takes special guts! His balls are exceptionally big!”

“This is a pretty controversial penalty. One must know that it takes courage to give the trailing team a penalty kick nearing the end of the game…It takes guts. The referee must have some hard evidence but let’s take a look at the slow-motion replay… Oh no, it’s outside the penalty area! This is a miscalculation!”

What was the point of the commentator saying that? Once the referee decided on a penalty, he would not change it easily.

He stood at the penalty spot with a serious face and waved his hands to disperse the Forest players who surrounded him. The Inter Milan fans were already shouting slogans in praise in the stands.

Twain snorted, “Forget it! Even if they were to equalize, we still have two away goals!” He decided not to argue with the fourth official. Otherwise the gains would not make up for the losses if he were to argue till he was forced to be in the grandstand… No, there was basically no “gain” at all. It would all be “lost.”

The Forest players on the pitch saw that no matter how they begged, the referee would not change his penalty decision. Not only that, Tiago who fouled and Woodgate, who protested the loudest, were given the yellow cards respectively.

They could only choose to accept the result and withdraw from the penalty area.

Mourinho was delighted that his team was lucky enough to get a penalty kick in the final minute. But he did not show it too much. He and Twain had the same idea at this time—even if they scored the goal, they would only equalize the score. The fact that Nottingham Forest already had two away goals could not be changed like this penalty kick.

Ibrahimović himself carried out the penalty kick. Amidst the Nottingham Forest fans’ boos and the Inter Milan fans’ cheers, he equalized the score at 2:2.

The Inter Milan players embraced excitedly to celebrate the new lease of life after the goal. The Nottingham Forest players were still holding the referee back, wanting to say whether the penalty kick should have been awarded. But this time their tone was much better with no worries about getting a yellow card. Because it was no longer possible to change the score.

Everyone at Inter Milan were celebrating, with the exception of Mourinho.

Twain found Mourinho looking at his side, so he spread out his hands and shrugged at his other man to deliberately taunt the other side. Sure enough, Mourinho soon averted his eyes.

When Twain saw Mourinho like this, he also forgot that the other team had just used the penalty kick to equalize the score. He just grinned.

In any case, he maintained his personal unbeaten record against Mourinho. As long as the record was kept, he could remain strong against Mourinho. If Mourinho wanted to reverse the situation, he would be knocked over by him, and never be allowed to bring about the reversal.

The game ended in a raucous environment, with Nottingham Forest still complaining about the referee’s last-minute “bold penalty” as they left the Meazza Stadium, while the Inter Milan fans expressed concern about the fate of the team’s second leg.

As for the reporters? After finishing the interviews in the mixed zone, they all hurried to the scene of the post-match press conference, looking forward to a good show there—it was Mourinho’s first face-to-face press conference with Tony Twain since Mourinho left England. It would simply be outrageous if there were no explosive content!