Godfather Of Champions

John Motson laughed as he provided his commentary of the match. “Did Queiroz think that Tony Twain would go head to head with him? Didn’t he claim to know Tony Twain better than everyone else? How can he possibly not remember Twain’s most prominent trait? It’s to counter-attack! Counter-attack! Haha!”

Queiroz’s face would definitely look even more unpleasant than it is now if he heard Motson’s mockery of him.

It is not as if he never thought about preventing England’s counter-attacks. It is just that he simply could not dictate the players’ behavior for the entirety of the match. The players have constantly attacked Forest for the past 20 minutes or so, and it was only natural that some of them would start to slack off. Who would have thought that England would make use of that one chance and score from it?

Being a goal down puts Portugal at a great disadvantage. However, Queiroz has no other choice but to get his team to continue with their attacks, because they could not possibly retreat backwards to defend. The word ‘retreat’ does not exist in Portuguese football.

England did not try to get another goal and continue with their offense after taking the lead. Instead, they retreated backwards to defend against Portugal’s attacks. The Portugal football stars all started feeling helpless against England’s compact defense. This is a defense that immobilized the Argentina team that is led by Messi. If it can work against Argentina, it can also work against Portugal. Hence, Twain did not fear Portugal.

“F*ck! Bunch of cowards!” Zé Castro cursed at the back.

Castro has lost the courage to run forward now. It did not matter how much he might long to run to the front and join in the attack. He is no longer able to do that. He has to stay behind and protect the back of the pitch alongside Pepe.

Castro has to take full responsibility for the team being a goal down. He had run forward rashly earlier, and that had led to him being out of position during England’s counter-attack. As a result, he was not able to track back to defend in time. He had finally managed to secure his position as a starting player in the national team, and he certainly did not want to lose his position because of this particular mistake of his.

Pepe heard his partner’s complaints, but he only shrugged his shoulders in response. He felt a sense of security when he was a part of Forest’s compact defense back then, but now… He felt nothing but hatred towards it.

What Pepe hates even more is the fact that England is also able to counter-attack. They would have been somewhat easier to beat if they could only defend well. You are really making things difficult for others, boss…

Pepe is actually a center-back who enjoys moving forward to join in the attack. He had managed to bring the ball forward and score a goal all by himself while playing for the Portugal national team before. But, against England… No, to be more exact, against Tony Twain, Pepe has to relinquish all his desires to move forward and attack. He has to defend with all his might and pay extra attention whenever Twain’s team attacks.

The match reached a stalemate. The Portugal players were not able to break down England’s rigid defense, and England’s infrequent counter-attacks were all quickly stopped by Pepe and Zé Castro.

※※※

Queiroz was certain that the current 1:0 score is all that England wants for the game since they are playing counter-attacking football. Thus, he believed that England would shift their focus onto defense and stop going on the offense as much for the remainder of the match. When England scored a goal against them earlier, he had yelled at his two fullbacks to retreat backwards and focus more on defense. But now, he considered getting his two fullbacks to go on the offense once again after seeing how England’s subsequent counter-attacks had all failed to threaten Portugal’s goalpost.

Portugal’s current offense lacks depth without the support from the fullbacks, and it would never be able to break down England’s defense.

The pressure on the England defense increased immensely when the two Portugal fullbacks rushed forward to join in the offense.

Twain could tell that Portugal had gained the upper hand in the game as he watched from the side of the pitch. Two of their shots had hit the crossbar successively earlier. If things were to go on like this any longer, England might not be able to retain their lead.

He whistled at the players from the side before gesturing for them to go on the counter-attack.

England found another chance to counter-attack on the 36th minute of the match. Gerrard did a long pass to the front of the pitch, and Downing chased after the ball down the flank. Pepe was prepared to deal with England’s attack this time round. He got Castero to guard the space at the back while he ran forward towards the ball.

There was too much force behind Gerrard’s pass. The ball flew straight towards the corner flag. Most players would choose to give up on such a pass by now, and they might raise a thumb at their teammate and praise him for the pass even if they did not mean it, but Downing did none of those. Instead, he charged towards where the ball was going to land at full-speed.

Downing’s actions caused Pepe to be on full alert. He knew that Downing would be directly facing the goalpost if he allowed him to get to the ball…

The two soon met each other on the pitch, and Pepe immediately tried to push Downing towards the corner flag.

Downing was positioned nearer to the ball than Pepe, but with Pepe defending against him at such a close proximity, he did not know if he could control the ball at his feet once it landed. Even if he managed to control the ball, the position that he is in is unfavorable for him to carry out his next action.

The two of them were inching closer and closer to the corner flag. Out of desperation, Downing jumped into the air and headed the ball towards Pepe. The ball was too close to Pepe for him to react. He could not dodge in time and the ball hit him on the body before flying out of bounds. Downing managed to help the team earn a throw-in from a dangerous position. He did not let the opportunity to counter-attack go to waste.

The England defenders did not press forward during the throw-in. Joe Mattock was the only defender who went up to the front of the pitch to throw the ball. The other three defenders had all remained at the back of the pitch. Michael Johnson also stayed at the back to help with the defense. England wanted to ensure that they had an ample number of players at the back at all times so as to deal with Portugal’s counter-attacks.

Besides the four players who are involved in the team’s defense, every other England player had rushed to the front to join in the offense. Rooney and Mitchell were both positioned inside the penalty box, whereas Gerrard stood alone at a corner and waited for a chance to shoot at the goal from afar. Walcott ran towards the middle of the pitch, and he planned to either shoot at the goal himself or organize a second attack on Portugal’s goal.

Downing was the player who went up to Mattock to receive the throw-in.

Pepe, who stands at 1.86m tall, is Portugal’s tallest defender. He naturally went to defend against England’s tallest player Mitchell.

Mitchell shook off Pepe’s hand that was on his body. “I’d fall to the ground right now if you continue to grab my shirt, Pepe!”

Pepe was not enraged by Mitchell’s words. He grinned and put his hand back on Mitchell’s body. “Be careful not to pick up a yellow card for diving.”

Pepe was well aware that he did not have an advantage in terms of height over other players. Thus, he needs to make use of a bit of brute force while defending to make up for his flaws, or else he would not be fit to play as a center-back. Mitchell was a player that he could not be any more familiar with. He knew that he must never let his former teammate get to the ball. Mitchell, who stands at 2.01m tall, is not like the other giants in the game who are poor at jumping into the air and heading the ball. He is good at both aspects.

Miguel Veloso retreated backwards towards the goalpost and stood next to Mitchell. Mitchell was now sandwiched between both Veloso and Pepe. Veloso and Pepe both play for AC Milan right now, and they are able to coordinate with each other well without the use of words.

Mattock surveyed the situation on the pitch. The only player whom he could pass the ball to was Downing, but Downing was heavily marked by their opponents. Even if Downing managed to receive the ball, he would likely not be able to turn his body around, and the ball would most probably get passed back to him. If that happens, what should he do next? Should he carry the ball forward by himself? Or should he pass the ball? Where should he pass the ball to?

He had to think through all his options ahead of time. He did not want to be in a situation whereby he is at a loss after throwing the ball. He lifted his head to look at the penalty box. Mitchell was the player that stood out the most. He was simply much taller than everyone else on the pitch.

Mattock came up with a plan. He tossed the ball over to Downing and made a gesture for the latter to pass the ball back to him.

Downing knew what he had to do next even without Mattock’s gesture. Vitorino Antunes has been slamming his body into him all this time, and he was certain that he would not be able to control the ball under such circumstances. He did not wait for the ball to land. He kicked the ball over to Mattock while it was still in mid-air.

Mattock stopped the ball with his feet as Downing helped to hold Antunes back. Mattock then took a step back so as to keep a distance between him and Antunes before crossing the ball into the middle of the penalty box without hesitation.

It is a very simple tactic.

But, it is very effective when Mitchell is in the penalty box.

Pepe grabbed Mitchell’s shirt with all his might after seeing the ball fly towards the goalpost. Mitchell tussled and tried to break free from both Pepe and Veloso.

The goalkeeper, Patrício, did not just stand there and do nothing either. He was trying to time his jump and grab the ball before Mitchell gets to it.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. When Pepe and Mitchell jumped into the air, the ball was already right above the goalpost.

Patrício was a little too slow with his jump. Pepe and Mitchell had already leaped into the air by then, and all he could do was to pray that Pepe is able to stop Mitchell, or that Mitchell misses the shot due to Pepe’s interference.

Unfortunately, he was let down.

Mitchell had jumped much higher than Pepe did. No other player was higher than him now, and the ball was right before his eyes. There is no better chance than this! There is no one who can stop him! Not even Pepe!

“Aaron Mitchell heads the ball! The ball has gone in! A brilliant goal! Well done!” John Motson cheered once again.

The England fans at the stands began singing the song ‘God Save the King’ at the top of their voices to cheer for their team.

“England leads Portugal 2:0 on the 37th minute of the match! Nobody could have expected this! Portugal has 67% possession and they have been dominating the game so far, but it is England who lead by two goals!”

Mitchell flung his arms out wide and ran over to the corner flag to hug Joe Mattock and his other teammates after scoring the goal.

The Portugal players, on the other hand, look like they had just been struck by lightning and they stood rooted to the ground. They could not believe that they were trailing by two goals before the end of the first half since they were the team who has been dominating possession in the game so far…

What is happening?

Based on the flow of the game and the statistics of the match so far, we should be the ones with the lead in the match right now…

Where has it gone wrong?

Where exactly has it gone wrong?

One of the Portugal players shifted his gaze onto his manager, Carlos Queiroz.

Queiroz did not behave like he did previously when England scored a goal against them. He acted with more poise and did not kick the mineral bottle this time round. All he did was stand rooted by the side of the pitch. Just like his players, he too, was thinking about where it went wrong for his team…

Pepe has an inkling as to what went wrong for his team – he was not young any more. Two years ago, he would have been able to interfere with Mitchell’s shot by making use of his outstanding physical attributes to make up for the difference in height between him and Mitchell. But now, all he could do was to raise his head and watch as Mitchell heads the ball into the back of the net…

“F*ck!” Pepe clenched his fists. He longed to hit something to vent his frustration, but there was nothing next to him besides the goalpost.

※※※

The Portugal players looked distraught as they stood on the pitch. Twain, on the other hand, could not stop laughing as he sat at his seat at the dugout. “Haha! Did they think that we’d be happy with a 1:0 score because we are playing counter-attacking football? How childish! Who said that teams who play counter-attacking football cannot score a lot of goals? I’d prove it to you today!”

Most people like to jump to conclusions about how a match had progressed based on the score. Whenever they see a score of 1:0, they would think that the match must have been extremely boring and full of inactivity in which both teams did nothing but defend against each other. Whenever they see scores such as 4:3 or 6:0 however, they would think that it was an intense and wonderful match in which both teams constantly went at each other.

However, reality is brutal. A team is able to – or at the very least has a high possibility of being able to, score a lot of goals even if they play counter-attacking football. The team who dominates possession in the game is never always the team who has the lead in the game.

“Make the score 3:0! Or 4:0! I don’t want any of you to give up on any chance to score a goal! I want this match to be the match that ends Portugal’s journey in the Euro Cup! Aha!”

Twain clenched his fists and spun around once. He could not hide his excitement after seeing how easily his team had taken a two-goal lead over Portugal.

※※※

The manager of the German national football team was taken aback by how easily England had taken a two-goal lead over a decent Portugal side. He was of the opinion that it would be a fierce battle between the two teams since they were both evenly matched, but he did not expect Twain’s team to come out victorious without as much as a scratch on them. The result took both him and his coaching staff by surprise. It looks like they have to re-evaluate Tony Twain’s abilities as a manager…

The Germans were not the only ones who went to watch the match. The French, Italian, Dutch and the Spanish were also there to see how the match between England and Portugal would unfold, and every single one of them was given a rough wake-up call by Tony Twain.

They were all thinking about the same question in their minds: if it was our team on the pitch right now, would we be able to triumph over England’s counter-attacking football?

How can a team break down a rigid defense and deal with a lightning quick counter-attack at the same time? This is a universally difficult problem.

The Italians were not as worried about having to face England. After all, they are also a team that frequently plays counter-attacking football. They were certain that England would end up becoming just like Portugal if they were to go against them.

The England players returned to their locker room with a two-goal lead in the match. The Portugal players, on the other hand, seemed dejected as they walked off the pitch. Anyone who saw how the Portugal players look like right now would think that the match has ended in advance, and that there was nothing to look forward to in the second half.

An Italian ‘intelligence officer’ stood to his feet and stretched before putting away his camcorder. He decided to leave the premises early since there would not be many transportation options to choose from when it gets late. Coming to watch the match today was nothing more than a routine for him due to his job. He did not think that either England or Portugal would face Italy early in the competition. The earliest that Italy would face either team would be in the finals.

Can either England or Portugal make their way to the finals? England needs to think about how they are going to advance to the next round without George Wood first. As for Portugal… Look at how they are playing against an England side that does not even have George Wood in the team! Does Italy even need to worry about such a team?

※※※

Carlos Queiroz should have blown his top after seeing how his team had inexplicably gone behind by two goals at the end of the first half. However, throwing a temper is not his style. His style is to think about where it went wrong for his team and to come up with ways to deal with it in the second half calmly.

He figured out where it went wrong for his team in the first half.

“I think we were too optimistic in the first half. We underestimated our opponents. We kept pressing forward, and that led to a lot of space at the back that England could exploit. The first goal was the key to our downfall, because it completely disrupted our entire plan up till then.” The composed Queiroz analyzed what went wrong for his despondent players. He admitted that he had made an error, although he subsequently also dragged the entire team down with him…

“But, I have no intentions of playing defensive in the second half! Never!” Queiroz could not help but raise his voice as he recalled the look of happiness on Twain’s face after England scored a goal. The glee upon Twain’s face was just like a blade, and it stabbed him on his heart. Queiroz truly hates that man, and anything that makes Twain happy would make him unhappy.

“Do you all think that the match is over? It’s far from over! The England team might think that the match has ended in advance and they might be celebrating in their locker room right now! This is our chance…” He leaned forward and stared at his players, before speaking slowly, “We underestimated our opponents in the first half. But they are the ones who are going to underestimate us in the second half.”