Godfather Of Champions

Germany’s unexpected defeat hurt Twain but filled the media with glee and delight.

After the England and Germany teams beat their respective opponents by an absolute margin, everyone felt that the structure of the group had been shaped and that England and Germany were the two strongest teams. The two teams that would advance were more likely to be them. The only suspense was only about which teams would come in first and second.

That was a good thing for the supporters of England and Germany. However, it was the worst situation for the media which wished for the whole world to be in chaos. They all bemoaned the “group of death” did not live up to its name in their respective positions.

All was good now and the reality did live up to the name. The group of death was suddenly not just in name only, but also in reality. The situation became interesting.

Both teams that had lost in the first round had won in the games while the two teams that had previously won had both lost. After two rounds of group stage games, all four teams had accumulated three points, a situation that was rare in international competitions.

The current situation stood as the Germany team ranked first in the group because of its goal difference. They scored four goals and conceded two goals which gave them a goal difference of two. England came in second with four goals and three goal concedes with a goal difference of one which put them in second place. Portugal had scored four goals and conceded five goals. They ranked third in the table with a goal difference of minus one. Wales was in the last place. They scored one goal, conceded three goals and had a goal difference of minus two.

In the final round, England and Germany would be in a neck-to-neck fight, while Portugal and Wales would fight to the death. Any team could advance, and any team could also be eliminated.

“It’s really the deadliest ‘group of death’ in this tournament!” On Sky TV’s UEFA European Football Championship special, the invited guest exclaimed, “Such a complex situation to see which team will advance is the best out of all six groups. You don’t need us to analyze the situation of the four teams. All you have to do is just look at the points table and you can guess for yourself what’s going to happen next – it’s a mess!”

“Before the second round, the probability of the first and second placed teams in the group losing at the same time was one ninth. When the England team lost to Wales at Camp Nou, the German players might have already be looking forward to their prospects of advancement ahead of time. Who would have thought that the Germans had lost after a wonderful match!” It was a summary from the Spanish state television.

“It’s definitely not good news for the England team to have the Germany team lose even though we have a feud with them that is as long as forty years. Because Tony Twain’s team will have to fight Germany to the death in the final round. Only by beating Germany, they can ensure that they will advance. A loss or draw is to leave their fate at the hands of others.” In a special program for BBC television, experts were giving the England fans an analysis of the situation that had become grim for the England team to advance overnight. “But the England team is missing George Wood and the German team is a very strong opponent…”

“One thing has been proven – without George Wood, the England team is second-rate in Europe. They couldn’t even defeat Wales. Without Wood’s management and defense in the midfield, the England team simply didn’t know how to operate. The 4:2 win over Portugal was a fluke and we should also note that Portugal had the upper hand during the whole game.” This was a Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen program. They were using the program to boost the morale of worried German fans. “It was down to bad luck that we lost to Portugal. The England team’s defeat by Wales was a complete failure. They had twice as many shots as Wales, but most of them missed the goal and were all blind shots… In terms of the team’s situation, we are better than England.”

“Wales beat England and Portugal beat Germany. This is the kind of results that we, the neutral fans want to see the most. Because the final round of the group stage games will be very, very exciting!” China Central Television’s channel five belonged to the neutral party, but the Chinese fans who were supporters of the Germany and England teams accounted for a large portion. While they were “rejoicing in other people’s misfortune” in the program, the online criticism against them would certainly be substantial.

In fact, the evaluation of these media outlets could still be considered fair and objective. Twain was now under enormous pressure – the first opening game was won beautifully, raising the English people’s expectations. However, the second-round game ended in an embarrassing defeat, throwing the England fans who were still flying in the clouds into the mud. Such a huge psychological drop was unacceptable to many people. Those print and online media directed such anger toward Twain. Someone should be held responsible shouldn’t he?

Countless tabloids did not care about the objective conditions and subjective factors. Anyway, the reason for the defeat was all attributed to the manager which was the least troublesome. It could not be helped since Twain gave them something which could be used against him. After the game, he once said in an interview, “I had underestimated the opponent.” The remark became the biggest reason many tabloids attacked him with.

“Tony Twain finally pays the price for his arrogance and conceit, but he has dragged the whole of England’s fate to his grave! It’s simply outrageous!”

“… I really don’t understand such an England team. It was a completely different team from the one which had the 4:2 win over Portugal. What is the reason for it?”

“Merely underestimating the opponent can’t explain the loss. I think England has a major tactical flaw. It goes to show that it’s not possible to just rely on defensive counterattacks alone! He labored under the delusion that he could use the Nottingham Forest team’s tactics on the England team, only to find that it was incompatible…”

“I think the loss of this game speaks volumes about George Wood’s importance. It makes sense for Twain to insist on taking Wood to Spain. But if we have to go home after competing in the group stage, then what’s the point of taking him there? With the last game left, is there anything he still can do?”

“Tony Twain is obstinate and self-opinionated. If we choose to continue to trust him, one day the whole of English football world will suffer!

…

There were too many such attacks. The reporters who interviewed the England team rarely did not have a contradiction with Tony Twain. This time they finally seized the opportunity to take revenge and wipe out the grudge.

Therefore, they attacked Twain and the fans increasingly felt that it would be difficult for the England to advance. As a result, before the game against Germany, the expectations of the fans and the blame from the media gathered from all directions overhead in the city of Valencia, forming a huge invisible pressure which hung over the England team.

Twain was apparently aware of the pressure, so he set himself against the media once again – he canceled a regular press conference. The media could forget about digging any valuable news from him until before the game. The fifteen minutes of public filming every day consisted of nothing else but warmup exercises and more warmup exercises. He also asked the security guards at the hotel they were staying at to clear away those reporters who were wandering nearby. The reporters who were not granted permission were not allowed to enter the lobby.

Such an open hostility with the media had clearly made the media even more dissatisfied. The abuse of him had increased exponentially as well.

The tension was also felt within the England team. After the game with Portugal had ended, there was no shortage of cheers and laughter during training. The training also arranged for a lot of fun games to help everyone relax. But after the game against Wales, all of these games were cancelled. Everyone could clearly feel the increase in the amount of training. Although the boss still had a smile on his face, everyone was aware that it was just there for show. When it came to stress, no one here was more stressed than the boss.

Tensions were heightened in just three days between the second and last rounds of the group stage. What could be changed in three days?

※※※

After the loss to Wales, England’s good fortune seemed to run out overnight.

The day after they arrived in Valencia, they had begun training for less than ten minutes, which was still during the period when the media was free to shoot when David Bentley was suddenly injured in the warmup.

The scene at the time was chaotic. The reporters scrambled to get inside to try and get pictures of Bentley’s injury. Security guards at the scene were busy intercepting those reporters under Twain’s loud rebuke. While Twain was guarding against the reporters, he also wanted to see how Bentley was actually injured. The scene was so noisy that it almost made his head dizzy.

“What’s going on?” Twain squeezed into the crowd after much difficulty and saw Derek Wright, the national team’s team doctor giving Bentley a preliminary examination.

“He has pulled the muscle in his thigh muscle.” Wright replied, “It’s probably a relapse of an old injury.”

Twain frowned. It was not the kind of injury which could be healed in a day or two.

Bentley, sitting on the ground, also looked dejected. He had yet to make his debut at the UEFA European Football Championship this time. He had wanted to get a chance in the upcoming game. Now that he had pulled a muscle in his thigh, he was almost certain to miss the final game of the group stage. And would England still be able to play after the game against Germany?

Twain casually pointed to two players and said, “You two take David by the arm and assist him off.”

Wright followed Bentley and walked to the sidelines, where he had him sit on the ground and massaged his thigh.

The reporters outside the venue were still clamoring and wanted to come in for an interview and to film. They even clashed with the security guards. Obscenities were used as well.

Twain was upset and distracted when he heard such noise. He turned around and walked toward the group of reporters. He pointed his finger at the watch on his wrist and said, “Time is up, the free shooting period is over! Please go back, ladies and gentlemen!” Then he said to the security guards, “Get them all out of here!”

“Mr. Twain! Is Bentley hurt?”

“Mr. Twain, is Bentley’s injury serious?”

“Mr. Tony Twain… Will he perhaps be absent from the match against Germany?”

“If Bentley is injured, will it affect the morale of the team?”

Unwilling to be kicked out like this, the reporters threw their questions at Twain in succession, but Twain did not pay attention to them. He immediately turned around and walked back to the training ground. He shouted to those stupefied players who were somewhat at a loss, “Continue training!”

The reporters eventually dispersed, and calm was restored inside the training ground. Bentley’s injury did not affect the quality of the team’s training nor shorten the time for training. The players’ attention was also concentrated on the training. After all, an injury was a very common thing, not to mention Bentley was not the main player. Even if he could not make it in time to the game against the Germany team, it would not greatly affect the strength of the team.

It was just that the crease in Twain’s frown was getting deeper.

George Wood finished his own training session and went to the sidelines to take a break. He sat next to Bentley.

“Hey, George…” Bentley was a little down. He had an ice pack full of ice on his thigh. “I’m really f**king unlucky…”

Wood glanced at his thigh and said, “It’s just a muscle strain, and it will soon be fine.” He comforted his Nottingham Forest teammate.

“No matter how soon it will be, I still can’t play in the game against Germany any more…” Bentley kneaded his injured right thigh. It would have been better If it had been a muscle strain on his left thigh. He could still grit his teeth and persist. He could not do anything with his right thigh strain. “When the time comes, let’s cheer them on the substitutes’ bench.”

Wood shook his head and said, “No, I want to play.”

Bentley thought he had misheard. He turned his head to look at Wood with his eyes wide open. “If I’m not mistaken, the doctors said you will miss all of the three group games…”

“I feel like there’s nothing wrong.”

Bentley stared at Wood’s right toe and asked, “Does it hurt?”

Wood shook his head and replied, “No, not at all.”

Bentley looked again at Tony Twain who was standing in the distance as he said, “I don’t think the boss will let you play.”

“If we can’t beat Germany, he will.”

“Are you going to risk your career, George?”

“I’m serious.” Wood had finished his break and walked back to the field to continue his individual training.

Bentley looked at his back view and pursed his lips.

“You haven’t trained with us. How can he allow you to play? Don’t be delusional, George…” He muttered.

※※※

“They had just lost to Wales and now David Bentley is injured as well. The England team is having unlucky year…” BBC 5 station’s UEFA European Football Championship coverage was just broadcasting the news they had just received. The chaotic scene on the training ground was aired on the television. If one listened carefully, Tony Twain’s voice could be heard –”What the hell is going on… Damn it, get them out of here! Stop shooting!”

“Although Tony Twain canceled the regular press conference, Derek Wright gave us an interview. He has informed us that Bentley has a right thigh muscle strain and will miss the match against Germany… As far as we know, this is not the first time Bentley has a right thigh muscle strain. Amid the situation whereby George Wood is out due to his injury, Bentley is also on the list of injured players. It looks like luck is not on our side…”

It was probably appropriate to use bleak and dismal to describe the feelings of the English fans. Could this “history’s strongest England team ever” even make it out of the group stage?

※※※

“It’s not even a main player who’s hurt. Take a look at the media’s rhetoric … this is why I hate the media. They always send ice when you need charcoal to warm up, and when you need water to quench your thirst, they deliver dry bread instead – in any case, they only add to the mess.” Twain was unhappy with the media’s hype about Bentley’s injury creating a tense mood. This bunch of English tabloids were so annoying!”

“Can’t be helped, Tony. After we lost to Wales, pessimism prevailed… Any tiny mishap will be overblown indefinitely.” Walker put down the local English newspapers, which was almost covered entirely with disheartening reports.

The two men were talking when there was a knock at the door.

“Please come in.”

The person who pushed the door open was George Wood. This surprised both Twain and Walker.

Wood did not expect that there was someone else in Twain’s office. He glanced at the assistant manager, Des Walker and stood at the door without speaking.

Walker knew Wood must have something to say to Twain, but he did not want an outsider to be there. It must be a conversation between the two of them.

“Well… I’ll my leave first.” Walker tactfully stood up and decided to leave.

“Goodbye, Des. Call me later for dinner.” Twain waved his hand at him.

“Goodbye, Mr. Walker.” Wood watched Walker leave at the door.

“Goodbye, George.”

After Walker left, Twain said, “Close the door, George. What can I do you for?”

Wood obediently closed the door. But he still stood at the door as he said to Twain, “I hope you will allow me to play….in tomorrow’s game against Germany.”