"Welcome to Wales! Welcome to Cardiff! " A Sky TV reporter stood in the crowded square with a microphone in his hand. Behind him was the Millennium Stadium, the largest professional football stadium in the United Kingdom and one of the most modern football stadiums in Europe, which was completed and put into use in 1999.
The Middlesbrough fans walked in front of the camera and roared, "The North will win! Middlesbrough will win! "
As soon as they walked over, a group of Nottingham fans wearing red jerseys jumped out and stood in front of the camera. Their faces were flushed and they raised the bottles in their hands high. Then they shouted in unison, "Forest, Forest! We're the champions! "With that, they burped and laughed as they walked toward the entrance of the stadium.
"Welcome to the venue of the 03-04 EFL Cup final, the Millennium Stadium!"
Because the Millennium Stadium was located in the heart of Cardiff, several main roads in the city center were subject to traffic control every time there was a game. Other than the team buses of both teams, no other vehicles were allowed to pass. Therefore, the fans had to walk to the stadium.
Gareth Bale and his father were among the crowd that flocked to the stadium. Because the First Team had advanced to the EFL Cup final, the youth teams of all levels did not train today. His father decided to bring little Bale to see the Forest team's glorious moments. After all, he was now a Forest player, and he should cultivate his feelings for the Forest team. Besides, Tony Twain was the one who gave Bale a chance. Now that Bale was performing well in the youth team, he could play as a left back or left midfielder. He also had a beautiful free kick. He had already been promoted to the U17 team, which greatly boosted his confidence. This was all thanks to Tony Twain.
Since the game was held at home, it would not make sense for him not to come and watch and cheer for Twain.
After more than half a year of training and confidence building, Bale was taller and stronger than before. He often had a smile on his face when he chatted with his father. He was no longer the silent and indifferent person he used to be, with his eyebrows drooping.
As they lined up outside the stadium to check in and enter the stadium, the buses of both teams arrived at the same time.
This caused a commotion among the fans on both sides outside the stadium. Everyone rushed to the side of the team bus they supported, cheering, singing, and applauding loudly to greet the team.
Because the home jerseys of both teams were red, the team bus color of both teams looked similar. The way to distinguish them was to look at the logo of each team, and … the red of the Forest team was darker than the red of Middlesbrough's.
In the deeper red bus, no one saw Tang En's figure. The camera swept over the faces of the players one by one. It did not even let go of the driver, but it still did not find the team's manager.
Where did Tony Twain go?
Actually, Tang En was in the car. It was just that he had gone to the back door to change his clothes. It was not visible from the outside.
He did not expect to be able to arrive at the stadium at the same time as Middlesbrough. This made Tang En very happy. Attacking the opponent's confidence, starting now!
After Tang En changed his clothes, the Forest players in the carriage all looked at the tall man with a comical appearance reverently. Tony Twain, the manager of England's professional football team, had transformed into a "Feng Shui master" wearing a "Taoist robe" and holding a compass! And … looking at his serious expression, who would know that he was an imposter?
Clearly, Tang En had also deceived himself. On the way from the hotel to the stadium, he was silent and did not say a word. He kept hypnotizing himself to make himself believe that he was a Feng Shui master from China! In the eyes of the players, this made him more mysterious and profound. Therefore, it was especially quiet in the carriage.
When the two teams' buses stopped and the doors opened, the camera's lens focused on the doors of the two teams' buses, switching between each other. The first to alight from Middlesbrough's side was their manager, Steve McClaren. He later became the manager of the England national team, and the person who was his assistant manager was Venables. The media commented on the two of them, "The most suitable person to be an assistant manager became a manager, and the most suitable person to be a manager became an assistant manager."
This sentence incisively pointed out McClaren's strengths and abilities. As for Tang En, he knew that he was most suitable for the position of a manager, and the First Team's manager at that.
This was a battle between a manager and an assistant manager.
Following that, the Middlesbrough players alighted one by one, but there was still no movement from Nottingham Forest's side. The dark red bus doors were tightly shut. Looking inside through the window, the Forest players all stood up and looked in the same direction, but did not move.
Now, even though the Middlesbrough players were still filing out, the television cameras were firmly fixed on Forest's team bus. Everyone had a question: Tony Twain was not in the bus, so what were the players doing?
What were they doing? Of course, they were waiting for someone to alight first.
In the bus, Tang En said to the players who were looking at him, "Alright, guys. When you get off the bus, no matter what you see or hear, don't show any surprise. Everything is normal. Got it? This is no different from going to the changing room in the City Ground stadium. "
"Understood." The players replied with a taut face.
Looking at their expressions, Tang En nodded in satisfaction. Then he said to the driver, "Please open the door."
As Forest's delay in coming out raised suspicions, more and more people gathered outside their bus. Even the Middlesbrough players craned their necks to look in their direction. The match had yet to begin, but Forest had inadvertently stolen all the limelight.
Just when everyone was watching, the door of the Forest team's team bus finally opened slowly. Everyone craned their necks, hoping to see what the Forest team looked like after the delay. They did not expect the first person to make the appearance to cause an uproar.
Tang En, dressed in the traditional Chinese attire, walked down with a compass in his hand. He immediately attracted the attention of everyone present!
He became the true focal point. The fans, reporters, television cameras … all were attracted to him and were firmly focused on him.
As for him? The silent crowd in front of him did not affect him at all. It was as if he did not see these people or the cameras. He walked along the segregated passageway toward the stadium as if there was no one else around. He was unhurried and calm. If not for his neither Chinese nor Western attire, he would really have the demeanor of a master.
The players following behind him were as serious as he was. Clearly, they were all intimidated by Tang En's appearance. None of them dared to make any jokes, laugh loudly, listen to music, or text on their phones at this time. They obediently followed behind the manager, and the whole team walked to the passageway that led directly to the players' locker room under the watchful eyes of countless people.
McClaren was stunned by Tang En's appearance. He stood there for a long time and did not react. Was this still a football match? Did the English Football Association stipulate that coaches could wear such attire into the stadium?
In the midst of the uproar, Gareth Bale laughed. His father looked at him quizzically. He pointed to Tang En walking at the front of the team and said, "Mr. Tang En is very interesting! I've never seen a manager like him. I think it must be very exciting to walk behind him like this! So many people are watching them. " He pointed to the Forest First Team players again, then turned to his father and said, "Dad, I really want to be among them now. I think it must be very interesting to play football with him. Have you heard? They even took the subway to the game and then met football hooligans! "
His son said excitedly in front of him, as if he was completely unafraid of those football hooligans. The father lovingly scratched his son and said, "When you continue to work hard in the youth team, I think this day will come soon, Gareth."
When the father and son looked up again, Tang En and his team had already walked into the passageway. Apart from the media, ordinary fans had no idea what would happen inside. But there were still many people gathered there and did not disperse. They were all looking forward to the media to bring back something that interested them and broadcast it on the evening news.
But maybe they were going to be disappointed. The television station's camera could only follow to the door of the locker room and then film inside from outside. They had no right to enter the locker room to film.
After the Forest team entered the locker room, they locked the door. Then no one else knew what would happen inside, or what was happening. Why was Tang En wearing such attire? Was it just to be funny? To reduce the pressure on the players? But looking at his players, they were more serious and nervous than usual …
What was that in his hand? Was it a compass? But there was no such complicated compass … It was engraved with square characters and strange symbols … Could this be the "mysterious gift from the East" that Pierce Brosnan mentioned in the article?
He was going to use this thing to break the spell of the south locker room?!
McClaren, who was leading the team to the locker room, suddenly felt his eyebrows twitch. He stopped and turned to look outside the passageway, where a large number of fans and media had gathered. They should have all dispersed at this time, either entering the stadium or going to the bar to watch the game.
"What's wrong, Steve?" McClaren's assistant, Middlesbrough's assistant manager, Harrison, saw him stop and turned to ask.
"Uh, nothing. Let's go … "McClaren shook his head.
Maybe I'm thinking too much?
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