On the 17th of November, there was no England match on this day, but a match broadcasted by England's television station would be watched by countless people. The outcome of Russia's away game against Israel would determine the fate of England's qualification.
If Russia won, then both teams would have the same number of matches and Russia would lead by one point. England's final opponent in the group was Croatia, while Russia was the weakest team in the group, Andorra. No matter how he looked at it, Russia would definitely win. In that case, even if England beat Croatia at home, they would not be able to avoid the fate of being eliminated.
That was why Russia's away game against Israel had attracted the attention of all of England.
Tang En also sat in front of the television on time to watch the match. He did not care whether England could advance or not. He had no interest in the fate of the England team. He was only there because there were two players from his team in the starting lineup in Russia. Since the English television stations were going to broadcast it, he decided to observe the performance of the two players at home.
Although Akinfeev was still Edwin van der Sar's substitute at Nottingham Forest and had only played in the EFL Cup, it did not affect his position as the main goalkeeper in Russia. Hiddink had tactfully expressed his dissatisfaction with Tang En placing Russia's number one goalkeeper on the substitutes' bench, but Tang En pretended not to hear it and continued to do things his way. He had originally planned to promote Akinfeev this season. Who would have thought that Edwin van der Sar's form would be so good? Winning the Champions League last season not only did not make him lose his fighting spirit, but it also stimulated his energy and continued his good form into this season. That was because a goalkeeper was a position that valued experience. Since Edwin van der Sar was in good condition, Tang En naturally let the more experienced him take the starting position.
Another member of the Forest team, Arshavin, was the current captain of the Russian national team. He wore the number 10 jersey and was the core figure of the team's offensive organization on the field. In England's away loss to Russia, Arshavin scored a goal himself and assisted his teammates with a goal. His performance throughout the game was very active and gave England's star defensive line a headache.
At Nottingham Forest, Eastwood was luckier than his Russian compatriot Akinfeev because of his constant injuries. He got a lot of opportunities to play, score goals and assist. The England fans have also gradually become familiar with him. As a rookie in the Premier League, his performance so far can be rated at 70 points. It once again proved that Tony Twain had a good eye for people. In fact, it was mainly because Arshavin's technical characteristics were very much in line with Tang En's tactics — speed, side attacks, and insertion from the back. Moreover, Arshavin's playing style was in line with the rhythm and characteristics of the Premier League. He did not show discomfort like Grosso.
With the two Russian players playing in the English Premier League, the English commentator seemed to be very familiar with the game. However, he did not say anything good about Russia. From the start of the game, he had hoped that Israel would win.
Even though the match was between Israel and Russia, the protagonists seemed to be England and Russia.
Before the match, Chelsea's manager, Abramovich, promised that as long as Russia could defeat Israel, he would reward everyone with 100,000 pounds! After Russia's home victory over England, Abramovich went into the Russia locker room after the game and handed out 500,000 pounds to every national player on the spot!
Therefore, in the Mourinho incident and Tang En's foul language incident, the English media was almost one-sided in opposing the Chelsea boss. It was because of the honor of the country.
The Russians were on the move, and so were the English. Before the game, the England team launched a multi-faceted public relations campaign: the national team's players lobbied their Israeli teammates in the club, hoping that they would not go easy on them for the sake of friendship. Crouch and Gerrard's Liverpool teammate, Benayoun, could not play in the game due to injury, which was a blow to the Englishmen. And Chelsea's center-back, the Israeli Benhaim, was also "tempted" by Joe Cole. He revealed, "These days, my England teammates in the locker room have been putting pressure on me. Cole said that as long as I beat Russia, I can choose where I want to go on holiday and he will pay the bill. I don't know if he's joking, but I want to try. I hope Israel gets a good result, because I also want to save money for Mr. Abramovich. " And another Israeli midfielder, Tamir Cohen, was also found to have an England complex. "My father, Avi, used to play for Liverpool. He loves Liverpool and England …"
The English media kept publishing articles urging the UEFA to closely monitor the game. The official partners of the UEFA, some of the big British companies, were also constantly busy, hoping to help Israel defeat Russia.
But don't forget, the game was really played between Israel and Russia.
The Israeli manager, Kashtan, said in an interview before the game, "I don't care what the English and Russians say. I just want my team to do well. "
Obviously, he was a little unhappy that the real protagonist had become a supporting role.
But his words reassured England.
Sure enough, ten minutes into the game, the Israelis took the lead on their home ground. The British commentator was as excited as if the England team had scored a goal, constantly shouting the name of the player who scored.
Tang En shrugged his shoulders.
In the 60th minute, Russia finally equalized the score. The television immediately fell silent. After a while, the commentator's voice reappeared, and it could be heard that the commentator was very depressed.
What would happen if Russia and Israel tied? England had to beat Croatia to ensure their qualification. If Russia lost to Israel, the England team's days would be better. They only needed to tie with Croatia to qualify.
A tie would qualify …
Twain looked away from the television screen. He thought of many things in the past …
※ ※ ※
On the television, thousands of miles away in the Ramat Gan National Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, the game continued. After Russia equalized the score, they stepped up their offensive. They also could not pin their hopes of qualifying on Croatia, who had advanced in the last round, to play up their sportsmanship. Only by defeating Israel in an away game could they be considered to have the fate of qualifying firmly in their own hands.
The Israelis, on the other hand, seemed to be somewhat satisfied with the result of forcing a tie with Russia. They did not attack fiercely and gradually retreated, intending to defend this point. The English commentator was so anxious that he shouted, "They can't defend if they start defending so early! Conservatism usually doesn't end well! "
Unfortunately, the Israelis could not hear his shouts. They still retreated into the penalty area to deal with the Russians, as if they did not want to win the game. Twain had already begun to imagine that there would be a lot of drunk English fans scolding the Israelis for having no sportsmanship at this time …
Who knew that the game would suddenly change at the last moment. In the 92nd minute, the score was still 1: 1. The English commentator had given up. He listlessly began to introduce the situation that England faced in this situation to the audience — "We have to beat Croatia at home in the last game. That way, even if Russia and Andorra tie in basketball, it will not affect our qualification … Yes, that's it …"
Before he finished speaking, he saw the Israelis suddenly raise their arms and shout.
"What? This is … Omer Golan!! "The commentator, who saw the replay, also roared excitedly," Omer Golan! Golan, I love you! He created a miracle! This is the goal in the last minute! The Israelis' killer move! Final kill — the Russians are done for! The Israelis beat Russia at home! They did not let down the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play! They are the pride of professional football! "
The commentator was just short of shouting, "At this moment, they are possessed by God."
Seeing the commentator's excitement, Twain felt a little sour. He did not want to see such a comedic scene again. He raised his hand and turned off the television.
Shania heard the loud roar coming from the television upstairs. She walked down curiously, but saw the dark screen.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing." Twain shrugged. "I'm watching a movie that is said to be comparable to 'Leap over the Lunatic Asylum.' But after watching a little, I felt very disappointed. There was no leap at all. It was completely 'Lunatic Asylum,' so I turned it off."
Shania looked at Twain and felt even more strange. "Aren't you watching a football game?"
"Yes, the game is over."
"What's the result?"
"The English won." Twain said unhappily.
Shania thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "So, Israel defeated Russia? England has hope of qualifying, but why do I feel that you are not happy at all? "
Twain stood in the living room and looked up at Shania on the stairs. He spread his hands and waved. "The Football Association will not give me a salary. Why should I be happy for their victory?"
Shania only thought that there was a very deep conflict between Twain and the Football Association, so she did not continue to ask. In fact, she did not know that she was unhappy because Twain had never been an England fan, nor was he an Englishman. Naturally, there was no need to get involved in other people's affairs.
※ ※ ※
The next day, almost all the newspapers that Tang En could see in the market spent a lot of space on the front page reporting on the match that had happened the day before. Omer Golan seemed to have become the hero of England overnight. There were even people who seriously suggested that the owners and coaches of the English Premier League clubs should buy this hero. Twain found it funny every time he saw similar remarks. In fact, most of the time, he did take many of the remarks of the English media as a joke.
However, it was understandable that the English people were so excited because Israel beat Russia. Although Croatia lost to Macedonia, there was still a three-point gap between the second-placed England and Croatia. In addition, the outcome of the match between the two teams was in Croatia's favor, so it was announced that Croatia would advance.
In this way, England only needed to draw with Croatia at the new Wembley Stadium to advance to the UEFA European Championship finals as second in the group. That way, even if Russia beat Andorra and the two teams had the same points, England would still be ranked ahead of Russia according to the results of the two teams.
Now it was the Russians' turn to panic.
Twain watched the drama coldly. He was an outsider. England not being able to participate in the UEFA European Championship was no loss to him. The England national footballers in his team could still get a happy holiday next summer.
Before the game, England organized a friendly match against Austria. Before the game, the media said sourly, "If Russia beats Israel, then this friendly match is likely to be the closest England will get to the UEFA European Championship." Yes, the closest geographically …
The friendly match was played on the 16th. After the friendly match, the England team flew back to England and disbanded. All the players watched the game at home.
McClaren's luck was unbelievable. He had one foot on the cliff, but after the game, he was back on the ground and temporarily safe.
Now the pressure was on Russia. England only needed to draw to advance. The English media was in jubilation, as if they had already advanced.
When Twain saw this scene, he really wanted to remind them that a draw to advance was the world's most terrible curse and the sweetest trap. He could also give these British people an example of China's football. Of course, these conceited British people would not listen, because the level of China's football was completely different from the level of England's football. But in Twain's eyes, apart from the strength of the team itself, there were many things in English football that were completely the same as China football, such as the media and the Football Association.
Of course, now Twain could not be bothered to do that kind of strenuous and unrewarding thing.
There were also media outlets who came to interview Tang En. Many people in the English football circle had come out to be interviewed over the past few days. They talked about how wonderful the England team's prospects were. They said that a draw meant that they would advance, and that Croatia would definitely not do their best. They also said that England and Croatia were on good terms.
Even the Frenchman, Wenger, came out to say that he was optimistic about England's victory, and to prove that he was not just perfunctory, he also analyzed the reasons for England's victory in detail from a tactical level. This strengthened the confidence of many English fans and media that a better future was coming.
When asked about Twain, Twain said, "If we say the opposite at this time, will we become the public enemy?" Then, without waiting for the stunned reporters to recover, he raised two fingers and said, "England can at least score two goals!"
He did not say the rest, and the reporters could use their own imagination. What did it mean to score two goals on their own home ground? The game was basically won! Everyone left Wilford with good intentions.
On the last day before the game on the 20th, Twain could not help but express his concerns in his column. He tactfully said how terrible the idea of "a draw to advance" was. This was the same as Wenger, but Wenger later said that he had confidence in England, while Twain said that he thought the English people were so optimistic that they might capsize in the gutter, not to mention that Croatia was not considered a "gutter."
If that was all he said, his remarks might still be very popular. But then he said that a draw was not impossible, but England's midfield lacked a good defensive midfielder. If McClaren really wanted to defend, relying on those big-name star players would not work. Hargreaves had been injured in pre-game training and could not play in important games. England basically had no defensive midfielder at all. Did he want to hope for a draw with such a lineup? Did he really think that Croatia's forward line, which had scored 25 goals, was just for show?
Therefore, he thought that since McClaren did not intend to call in George Wood, then if he still wanted to defend, it would be a dead end. As for good luck, "When the Israelis beat Russia, McClaren used up all his good luck."
When he said that, it gave people the idea that he was taking the opportunity to avenge a personal grudge and promote his own players. Naturally, it was not flattering. There were already voices saying that it was inappropriate for Twain to pour cold water at this time and that he was discouraging the players. Twain could not be bothered to argue with those ignorant people. After he expressed his opinion, he shut his mouth and quietly waited for the fate that belonged to England and McClaren to come.
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