Tang En held his wine glass and squeezed to the lower left of his fixed seat with Wood.
Everyone could tell that he must have something to talk about since he had dragged Wood here, so no one went up to disturb him. They drank Tang En's wine and chatted casually. Of course, the main topic was still the match that had just ended.
"You've never been here before, right?" Tang En asked Wood after taking his seat.
Wood nodded. "My mother doesn't let me drink."
"Your mother is right." After saying that, Tang En minded his own business and ignored Wood.
Wood was a little embarrassed. He sat there and began to focus on the people around him. Those people would raise their wine glasses to greet him when they saw his line of sight.
Tang En looked up at Wood, who was looking around, and then asked, "Why don't you ask me why I brought you here?"
"Why?" Wood was very obedient and immediately asked. "Why do I have to ask?"
"You're really … Where did the wisdom you had in the match go?"
"Are you still thinking about that?" Wood pointed to the yellow card.
Tang En nodded. "I thought about it even more after the match. If we had lost, it would have been fine. It wouldn't have mattered even if you got ten red cards. Now that we've won, our opponents in the finals, whether it's Barcelona or AC Milan, are very strong. The thought of losing a barrier in our midfield in the finals gives me a headache. "As he spoke, he rubbed his temples.
Wood looked at the manager in front of him who kept rubbing his temples. His lips squirmed a few times before he finally said, "I don't want to either … but there's no other way …"
"Even if you hadn't fouled at that time, they might not have scored, right?" Tang En looked up at him.
"I never believe in 'might not'." This time, Wood's answer was resolute.
Looking at Wood's determined expression, Tang En sighed and leaned against the back of the chair. He spread his hands and said, "Alright, I admit I was too greedy. Not only did I want the team to advance to the finals, but I also wanted it to be a complete team, with no injuries or cards, and to be able to use the strongest lineup to deal with our opponents … "
Wood listened quietly as he fantasized about the impossible.
"George, do you want to play in the finals?" Tang En suddenly changed the topic and asked.
Wood was stunned for a moment before he nodded.
"Really?"
Wood continued to nod.
"Why? I remember you didn't even know or care who Riquelme was in the past. You shouldn't be so passionate about football … "
"Because Mom wants to see me in the finals."
Tang En put down the wine glass by his lips. He raised his head to look at Wood in disbelief.
"She told me before the match today."
"You … bastard …" Tang En cursed in a low voice.
Kenny Burns came over with a bottle of wine. He put it on the table and sat down. "Tony, I think you're running out of wine."
"Thank you." Twain picked up the bottle and poured himself some. Halfway through, he remembered and pointed to Burns as he said to Wood, "I don't think I've introduced him to you. Kenny Burns, the main player in Nottingham Forest's two UEFA Champions League titles and England's Matthew Matthews Award winner. "
Burns gave Wood a small smile.
Wood turned to look at him and nodded. "Hello, sir."
"Don't be so formal, young man. I heard Tony talk about you when you were still in the youth team. He told us that he picked up a kid from the streets who didn't know how to play football. At the time, we all laughed at him. I didn't think that after three years, the kid who didn't know how to play football would become Forest's captain. "
Wood glanced at Tang En, who was drinking alone.
"George, I heard that you've found an agent?" Burns had been talking to Wood recently.
"Yeah."
"How is he?"
"He's fine. He's very serious … "
"I mean … did he help you contact other teams?"
Wood shook his head. "No. Right now, he only cares about my business contracts."
Burns glanced at Tang En and smiled. "Tony is very worried about losing you."
Tang En coughed.
"We're also worried about losing you. Allow me to speak the truth. I'm not at ease with that agent of yours. I heard that he didn't come from a football background. His understanding of football is also very limited. He will only consider some things from the perspective of profit. I hope that when the time comes, you can make your own decision. "
Wood obviously knew what Burns meant by this. "I like it here. My mother likes it too. I don't plan on going anywhere else."
"That's good." Looking at Wood's serious expression, Burns smiled. But … who could say for sure what would happen in the future? He was someone who had been in the professional football scene for decades. Even if he retired, he could still open a bar here and continue to pay attention to the big and small matters in that circle. How many of those who pledged their "loyalty" could actually walk to the end like this? Some were voluntary, some were not. In short, the movement of people only followed one truth — profit.
Even though he thought of so many messy things, Burns would not break the "ideals" of young people.
Burns and Wood's conversation ended. He patted Wood's shoulder, got up and walked back. There were still more customers for him to entertain. The Forest Bar was really full tonight.
Only after Burns left did Tang En put down his wine glass.
"George, I don't care what you think … But, I owe you a favor."
Wood did not understand, and Tang En did not intend to explain. That's right, he really owed Wood a favor. Wood had sacrificed himself to make Tang En successful. On May 17th, when he led the team into the Stade de France in Paris, he would become the youngest manager to appear in the finals of the UEFA Champions League since its inception. Regardless of whether Forest was able to win the championship, his name would already be engraved in history.
And who was the biggest contributor behind this? At that time, he would only be able to sit in the stands.
"I'll give you a chance to make up for this regret."
Wood shook his head. "The semi-finals are already over …"
"That's right, it's already over. But it's only this season that's over. Next season, the season after that, and the season after that, we still have a chance. This is definitely … "Tang En stretched out his index finger and shook it in front of Wood." It's definitely not our only chance. Look at them … "He pointed to the jubilant fans.
"They will remember this night as one of their best memories. And we will bring them more nights like this in the future. George, you know that Demetrio will be retiring at the end of next season, right? "
Wood nodded.
"He said he would retire at the end of this season."
Hearing Tang En say so, Wood was a little surprised. He clearly did not know the inside story.
"He didn't tell you? Well … I can understand. I persuaded him to stay, but I don't have a suitable reason. He's not in good shape right now. You've also seen that he played in very few games in the second half of this season. Later, I brought you up. I told him that I hoped he would stay for another year and nurture you into an all-rounder in the midfield, a midfielder who is as good as Demetrio in both offense and defense. He agreed. "
Tang En stretched out his index finger again. "You only have one year, George. I don't want to search the world for a midfield core for Forest after a year. Your mother said she hopes to see you appear in the Champions League finals. I hope so too. "
Wood listened quietly and did not say anything.
Having said that, Tang En raised his hand to look at his watch. "Let's go back."
Wood got up.
"Not back to the hotel. Go home. Back to your home. Spend time with your mother. "Tang En waved his hand. "Get your things from the locker room tomorrow afternoon during training."
"Okay. Aren't you going back? "
"Me? My nightlife has just begun! "Tang En winked at him.
Wood picked up the juice and drank it clean. "Goodbye, Boss."
"Right, George. Did I tell you that your performance in the game was simply perfect? "
Wood shook his head. "I thought you'd criticize me."
"That's just to scare you." Tang En made a face at him. "Perfect. I give your performance ten out of ten. I can't ask you to do better. Go back and tell your mother that although you won't appear in the Champions League finals, you're the team's hero. She'll be proud of you. "
"Mm." Wood nodded and turned to squeeze out of the crowd.
Seeing that he was about to leave, the fans in the bar shouted, "Goodbye, George!"
"I'll ask you for your autograph when we go to the training ground tomorrow. Damn it, I didn't know you'd be here today."
"George! Come on! Come on! "
After the door was closed, Wood left the noisy bar and the usual atmosphere was quickly restored. Everyone was excitedly discussing the game that had just ended, or talking about topics that had nothing to do with the game.
Burns sat next to Tang En again. "I didn't think you'd bring the team's captain to the bar. How many managers would do that? "
"Mm. It was just a spur of the moment idea."
"Because of Wood's yellow card?"
"I'm still brooding over it. But after a few drinks, all my worries are gone. So what if we don't have Wood? Whether the opponent is AC Milan or Barcelona, we'll play the same. If our opponents think that Nottingham Forest is vulnerable without Wood, I can't wait for them to think so. "
"You've already done well enough, Tony. Regardless of whether we can win the championship in the end, you've already done well enough. "
Tang En pointed at Burns and said, "Is that a consolation?"
"No." Burns shook his head. "I take it as a compliment."
The two men looked at each other and smiled.
"It's been three years, Tony. You've done well. You're still young. If you want to, you can stay in this profession for 30 years. Don't be too impatient. Take it slow. "
Tang En looked at the ceiling. 30 years … That was a long time. He had never thought so far into the future. To him, the "future" was tomorrow. Next year was already considered far away.
"Mm." He nodded. "You're right, Kenny. Compared to old men like Ferguson and Wenger, I'm still young. "
Indeed, the 37-year-old Tony Twain was still very young for a manager in the industry.
※ ※ ※
The next day, all the major media outlets reported on the highly anticipated game. Nottingham Forest was on the headlines of all the sports media. The experience of returning to the Champions League finals after 26 years, as well as the rocket-like speed at which they rose through the ranks every year, made people even more interested. It also shrouded the young manager, Tang En, with a layer of legendary colors.
When the team resumed training in the afternoon, there were countless reporters outside Wilford. Most of them were non-English reporters. This team had already attracted the attention of the whole of Europe.
Of course, most of the media was still focused on George Wood's yellow card and the impact his absence would have on the team. Tang En avoided all questions of this nature. He did not want to exaggerate Wood's role in the team, even if Wood really had that big of a role.
There were also some media outlets that took a different route. Hyping up the topic of Wood's absence would get them rejected in interviews, so they simply turned their attention to the final penalty shootout.
In fact, before this, Edwin van der Sar was not considered a goalkeeper famous for his ability to save penalties. The factors that made him a world-class goalkeeper were his height of 1.97 meters and excellent reflexes, agility, and the ability to block one-on-one shots. These were all performances in mobile battles. On the contrary, in a game like the penalty shootout, he had no lack of painful memories.
In the 95-96 Champions League final, Ajax lost to Juventus 2: 4 on penalties. That was his first taste of the nightmare of penalties. Following that, in the 1996 European Championship, the Netherlands, who had advanced to the quarter-finals with difficulty, was eliminated by France on penalties. In the 1998 World Cup semi-finals, the Netherlands once again fell on the penalty spot. This time, the Brazilian goalkeeper, Taffarel, who was good at saving penalties, shone brilliantly. Of course, the most painful memory came from the 2000 European Championship. In the game held at home, the Netherlands lost to Italy. The reason for the loss was still the penalty shootout. Toldo became a god in the battle, and Edwin van der Sar could only be dejected. With these experiences, it was not difficult to understand the surprise when Edwin van der Sar saved Gilberto Silva's penalty at the crucial moment.
According to the photos taken by the photographers at the end, people found that Edwin van der Sar would flip his socks before every penalty shot, and then take out a small piece of paper, look at it twice, and then stuff it back.
Some media outlets pointed out that this was actually the secret to Forest's final victory, and their speculation was quickly confirmed. After the end of training, Edwin van der Sar revealed the contents of the paper in an interview with the reporters. The results surprised many media outlets. They did not expect Nottingham Forest to be so well-prepared for the semi-finals.
Of course, as Twain's research, Wenger naturally paid attention to the news. When he saw Edwin van der Sar say that it was Twain's idea, what else could he do other than shake his head and smile bitterly?
The mysterious little piece of paper became famous in the world from this battle. Later, in the World Cup finals, the German team used this trick to deal with Argentina's penalty shooters. After the game, Germany's main goalkeeper, Lehmann, admitted that he was inspired by this match. Of course, this was a story for another time.
The UEFA Champions League final was on the evening of May 17, and the final round of the English Premier League was on May 7. This way, Forest would have as long as 10 days to prepare. They would not have to be distracted by the league tournament or other domestic cup competitions, and could focus on preparing for the match. This might be good news for Twain's team.
A day later, Forest's opponent for the final was fresh. Barcelona played 0: 0 with AC Milan at home. They relied on an away goal in the first leg to eliminate AC Milan with a total score of 1: 0 and advance to the final.
Everything was no different from what Twain remembered. Barcelona advanced to the final. This team, known as the "Dream Team II," was the hottest representative of offensive football in the football world today. Everywhere they went, they would be cheered by the fans because they symbolized the most beautiful art of football.
But Twain did not care about what art it was. To him, no matter how beautiful the match was, it was not as worthwhile as winning the championship. He was going to make the proud Barcelona people suffer in Paris! (To be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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