Godfather Of Champions

The boring match brought more focus to the temperature and the fans in the stands kept fanning whatever they had in their hands to produce some sort of breeze to take away the summer heat.

The commentator had reminded them no less than a few times that it was 36 degrees Celsius now. Under such a high temperature, time seemed to have slowed down and was about to be solidify…

The rhythm of the match was slow and peppered with mistakes for both sides. Exciting parts of the match were few and far between. This was not what a match between England and Germany should be like.

Compared to the fiery scenes before the match, the difference was massive. Only the most die-hard fan could remain passionate in that situation.

An example would be Fat John and the gang. Fat John took off his shirt and exposed his fats as he led his buddies in their songs and applauses cheering for England. They were located directly under the sun and their sweat on their bare chests glistened under the sunlight, blurring the England flags that were drawn onto their chests.

“In this 36 degrees heat, the players of both sides seem to be still groggy from their afternoon naps. Look at this, Schweinsteiger actually didn’t manage to get a hold of this ball…was the pass too fast? There is nothing wrong with the pass from Toni Kroos.”

Schweinsteiger knew he was at fault too as he turned back to give his teammate from Bayern Munich a thumbs up for the pass.

Sammer observed for a while longer and decided that England’s counterattack did not pose a threat to the German backline. Therefore, he readjusted his tactics, made his team press up more and make use of the width to find Mario Gómez inside the penalty area. At the same time, he asked them to take more long shots to break down England’s defense.

After Germany started to take the initiative, there was some difference in the situation. At the very least, there were more shots for one of the sides.

The Germans started to make some noise again whereas the English appeared to be lethargic.

They were starting to get used to Twain’s way of doing things, but they had hoped to be able to get the better of the Germans not just in terms of the results but also in terms of the play.

“Even if we win, this is rather depressing…”

There were some England fans grumbling in the stands.

Of course, the fans were not the only ones who thought that way.

※※※

“I don’t think we should just wait for them to attack us all the time!” Walcott shouted while defending a corner.

“What are you trying to say Theo?” One of his teammates asked him.

“We should take the initiative and try to attack!” Walcott said while raising his fist.

“Cut the crap Theo. Do what you have to do…” John Terry, the captain, shouted at Walcott who was not in position yet as he pointed at the penalty area.

“Yes, defense. Defend, defend… I got it.” Walcott shook his head and walked away.

Walcott performed admirably in the first match and resigned his two competitors to the bench, strengthening his hold on the position of right winger. However, he was unable to score in the second game, just like the rest of his team. Now, he hoped to prove himself again in the match against Germany and show the manager what he could do.

“Watch your man! Don’t let him lose you!” Terry shouted after putting Walcott in his place.

Walcott did not care about that. He did not have the physique or the height and jumping abilities anyway. He just had to put on a show when defending corners, there was no need for him to really do anything at all.

His mind was filled with thoughts of attacking and he was focused on looking for defensive loopholes within the German team.

To him, this might be a good opportunity. Didn’t Boss always say that the opportunity to attack lies hidden in every defense? Now that Germany have a corner kick, their center-backs will definitely press up in attack as well. Their defense will be weakened and now is the best time for him to make use of his speed!

Walcott looked at Mertesacker and Westermann who were jostling with Terry and the others inside the penalty area. The two of them were 1.98 meters and 1.9 meters tall respectively, much taller than Terry and Taylor. The English defense were in a panic just because they were standing in front of goal. However, Walcott thought that was not a bad thing. At the very least, the Germans would never expect their corner kick to become an opportunity for him.

Who stayed back in defense? Jansen, Rolfes and the goalkeeper.

Rolfes was slow, however, Jansen was a problem. The wingback was also a very fast player. If he wanted to get past him, Walcott might have to go to the other side. Jansen was a left-back and his position was directly against the right winger Walcott. Walcott was not afraid of competing with another person in terms of speed, however, in such a crucial moment, it was best to minimize any potential problems and he did not want to overextend himself either.

Next, Walcott started to imagine the possible obstacles that he might face. In his view, the most problematic part was the distance for his acceleration. There were many opponents and very little space, that meant that his speed would not be very effective there. The best way was for his teammate to help him. However, Walcott was worried that the speed of the attack would be slowed down if he passed to his teammate and his plan would go down in smokes. In this situation, he was the only one that he could trust.

He had no choice but to dribble past the defending players with his skills then accelerate and speed through the midfield.

Toni Kroos did not go into the penalty area, choosing to wait for an opportunity outside the box instead. He was a pure attacking midfielder and he did not know how to defend. He was also not the type of players who would put himself in danger in order to stop an attack from the opponent. If Walcott was to breakthrough from his side, he would at most extend his leg in a feeble attempt to stop him. After Walcott decided on a path to breakthrough, he shifted a little to the outside and hoped that the ball would successfully reach him.

He would raise his hand to ask for the ball if Joe Hart caught it. There should be no reason why Joe Hart would not give it to him. If the defenders cleared the ball, then it was up to him to make a correct judgement about where the ball was going to be…

When Lahm placed the ball at the corner, there were a group of English fans behind him in the stands. Those fans kept giving Lahm the middle finger and insulted him using vulgarities that he definitely understood. However, Lahm was unmoved, as if it was mere air behind him. He stepped back after placing the ball and waited for the referee’s whistle.

He had to wait for a rather long time as there were some altercations inside the penalty area between the players of both teams.

Mertesacker was 1.98 meters, Westermann was 1.9 meters, Gómez was 1.89 meters and Khedira was also 1.89 meters. There was a suffocating pressure in front of the England goal when these four giants stood around it. Terry, Taylor and Joe Hart felt very anxious. Even Mitchell appeared in front of goal as a makeshift defender.

“Push them out and clear the space!” Joe Hart had already decided to come out to catch the ball or to punch it away. He did not feel safe facing the team with the tallest average height in the competition. He was 1.96 meters and he was still confident that he could compete with the giants of the opposing team.

The referee called Mitchell and Mertesacker to him and warned them not to have any excessive pulling and pushing actions. Both players complained that they had their shirts pulled by the other party.

After waving their complaints away, the referee gave a sign to Lahm with his hand to indicate that he could restart the game.

Lahm’s ball had a slight outer curl which became more obvious once the ball started to reach the goal.

Joe Hart had a lapse in judgement as he only realized that the ball was going a little too far away from him after he came out. He could not guarantee that he would be able to catch the ball and could only change to punching the ball away in mid-air with one hand!

Hart could barely manage to punch the ball with Mitchell and Mertesacker between him and the ball. As for whether the ball could fly far enough or who would be able to get it… He could not care about that then. He had to take care of his own balance——In order to get his hand on the ball which was flying away from him, he had to dive almost horizontally and he would fall on to the ground now that he had lost his balance. If a German player got the ball then…

What he was worried about did not happen as Walcott’s gamble paid off. He got the ball!

A good opportunity!

Walcott gave a cheer in his heart when he got the ball. All he had to do now was to dribble pass…

After Walcott stopped the ball and turned around, the person who appeared in front of him was not Toni Kroos but Rolfes!

Walcott was shocked——When did he come over?!

Faced with an unexpected opponent, Walcott could not react at all and he gave the ball away to the opponent directly just like this…

Oh no…

Walcott turned to tackle for the ball but Rolfes had already positioned himself between him and the ball.

After getting the ball, Rolfes did not waste any time. He knew that it was a crucial moment then as Joe Hart was down on the ground in the penalty area. If they took advantage of the opportunity, they might be able to score…

He passed the ball to Podolski who did not join in the mess inside the penalty area.

The Werder Bremen forward had a pretty good shot on him and now was the time for him to show them what he could do!

Podolski stopped the ball from Rolfes with his right foot in front of him, then raised his left foot and took a long shot!

Even though he did not have much run up, the speed of the ball was not slow at all. This was the power of a German footballer.

The ball found a way through to goal amidst the crowd. John Terry extended his foot out in an attempt to block it, but he missed. Gómez was still in front of goal and when he saw the ball flying straight towards him, he hurriedly ducked in shock and fell backwards. It was not easy for him to do this action within a second with that 1.89 meters frame of his…

Nobody, including Joe Hart who was getting up from the ground, touch the ball and it flew straight into the net.

“What a beautiful goal! World class ball from Podolski!! We’re leading 1:0!”

“England had finally conceded a goal… Mistake from Joe Hart! This was a very careless punch!”

The commentators from both countries had totally different reactions. It was the same for the fans from both countries in the stands. The German fans got to their feet and cheered with their arms in the air. The England fans had their heads in their hands as they could not believe what they were seeing.

In the minds of many England fans, the question was getting more prominent, however, the question mark at the end was slowly straightening to become an exclamation mark.

The German team is still so strong?

※※※

Twain looked down and cursed when he saw the ball fly into the goal. Des Walker was a little agitated beside him and he waved his arms in anger, blaming Joe Hart for coming out so carelessly.

Sammer leapt up with both feet off the ground when the ball flew into the goal. One could tell the excitement that he was feeling. To be able to take the lead in such an important match, it meant that they were that much closer to moving into the knockout stage.

A concentrated defense cannot defend against set-pieces… Twain was in a very bad situation now. If he allowed the score to remain like this, England would lose the match and they would be gifting the chance to get past the group stages to others. That was not Twain’s style.

He could only choose to let his team push up and find an equalizer as soon as possible. Otherwise, the situation would only get worse for England as time passed.

30 minutes had passed in the first half and England had only 15 minutes left. They would be in trouble if they could not equalize in the first half…

※※※

Joe Hart was in a daze in front of goal. He did not expect to cost his team a goal by making a mistake in coming out for the ball.

Another person who was in a daze was Walcott. Even though nobody blamed him, he could not shake the feeling that the goal they conceded was because he lost the ball. He was overconfident and did not expect Rolfes to extend beyond the midfield when he was not paying attention——The Germans decided to be bold for once and it paid off.

Walcott appeared to be distracted in the match after that and Twain kept shaking his head at the sideline.

Twain had already asked his team to attack appropriately but there was little effect. The glare of the sun and the heat prevented England from performing to their usual standards. Walcott’s side was almost totally ineffective because of his loss of form. The Germans was able to defend easily as England could only attack via Chris Cohen and attacking from only one flank was too one-dimensional. The German center-backs were all very tall and they made light work of high balls.

At the end of the first half, England still did not manage to equalize. The situation was gradually becoming worse for them.

If the manager had no intentions of making any substitutions during half-time, the substitutes would usually make use of the half-time break to do their warm-ups. However, when George Wood was going to go warm-up, he was stopped by Des Walker.

“Go to the changing room with them George,” Walker said.

Wood’s heart skipped a beat and he asked, “Will I be coming on in the second half?”

Walker’s reply disappointed him, “No, you’ve not recovered yet, there’s no need for you to warm-up,” Walker said while shaking his head.

Wood looked down and entered the players’ tunnel with the others unhappily.

The heat from the direct sunlight made them a little faint and the coolness of the tunnel gave them a boost.

A wall apart, the English players could clearly hear the laughter of the Germans. Even though they did not know why they were laughing, they England players had the same thought when they heard it——They were unhappy, very unhappy.

“Damn it! I’ll show them in the second half!” Wayne Rooney, who had almost no contributions at all in the first half, said while giving the wall a kick.

“Don’t waste your energy on the wall,” a cold voice came from behind him.

Rooney turned and saw the cold and unfeeling face of Tony Twain. The other players saw the expression on the face of their boss too. Looks like Boss was very angry…