Gareth Bale played all the qualifiers with the belief that he must go to Spain. Wales withstood the pressure of their pursuers in the last two rounds and qualified directly for the UEFA European Championship finals as the second team in the group.
The result set off a huge response in Wales. They finally broke into the UEFA European Championship finals again after 1976. Their result in the UEFA European Championship was the top eight. The Welsh media hoped that this time, under the leadership of Bale and Ramsey, the team could at least match the best result in history.
On the night of the qualification, Bale called Twain. It was very noisy on the other end of the line, but Twain could still hear Bale's hoarse roar, "Boss! We're going to Spain! We're going to Spain! "
There seemed to be someone next to him shouting, "Spain! Spain!! "
Twain knew they were celebrating this rare victory, so he did not disturb them. Besides, with Bale's current condition, he might not listen to anything he said. He simply congratulated and hung up the phone.
Although Wales could advance to the UEFA European Championship finals this time, it was thanks to the expansion of the UEFA European Championship from 16 teams to 24 teams. Nevertheless, the Welsh also had a reason to revel.
Completely different from Wales' national revelry, England was calmer about being able to advance. After all, they were frequent visitors to the UEFA European Championship. If they could not go to Spain, it should be on the headlines of the media. Twain was able to lead the team to advance two rounds in advance, but it was only the first task.
The following UEFA European Championship finals was the real test.
At the end of November, the third-place teams in the six best groups played a two-legged home-and-away play-off to decide the last three teams to advance.
Then in Nyon, Switzerland, the managers of the 24 teams gathered to participate in the draw ceremony organized by UEFA.
Twain had participated in the draw ceremony many times. Even the draw ceremony for the national team was no different. At most, he got to know a few more coaches in the national team. And he himself was still the focus of the media's attention.
Two days before the draw, a list of the UEFA European Championship groups that was said to have been leaked from within UEFA appeared on the Internet. Regardless of the authenticity of the list, it quickly attracted the attention of the media, so the news on the Internet immediately became the voice of the mainstream media.
The reporters who came to interview also used this question to ask Twain, because in this list, England's group situation was not considered good – they were placed in a group full of strong players.
The group of the UEFA European Championship finals had to first determine the seeded teams, dividing all the participating teams into four groups: A, B, D, and D according to their total points in the previous World Cup qualifiers, the previous and the current UEFA European Championship qualifiers by the number of games played. The host and defending champion could directly qualify as a seeded team, and the remaining seeded teams would be from the first group of teams.
In the group list, which was rumored to have been leaked internally, England was placed in Group D as a seeded team, along with Sweden, Germany and Denmark.
It was not surprising that Germany was in the second tier because they did not perform well in the last UEFA European Championship qualifiers organized by Poland and Ukraine. They only managed to qualify for the finals through the play-offs. In the second, Europe's Team, England would have had to had they were that they had was that was not to be. had.
The reporters wanted to hear Twain's thoughts on the leaked version of the group list. They had interviewed the German manager, Sammer, before. Sammer thought the list was fabricated by the reporters and would not comment on it. Then they went to interview the Sweden manager, Roland Andersson. Andersson's answer was the same as Sammer's.
But this was also common sense.
The group draw was a very important thing. Now a "leaked version" had circulated before the draw ceremony began. Which manager dared to comment on it? They did not even know whether it was true or false. How could they comment on the list?
But the reporters knew what kind of person Tony Twain was. His big mouth had been silent for more than a year. It was time to shine.
Twain did not let them down.
He didn't seem to doubt the authenticity of the list, and then he started to comment on his "group opponents" as if it was a matter of fact.
"Germany is a strong team. I know about the feud between England and Germany … England and Sweden's historical results are nothing to brag about. We need to be careful … Denmark is a very tough team. I've played against them in the qualifiers. I didn't expect to meet them again this time. They are a very difficult team to deal with. Just look at our results against them in the qualifiers. One win and one draw, we need to be careful …"
A reporter finally could not hold back. He asked bluntly, "Mr. Twain, aren't you going to express your opinion on the list itself?"
Twain pretended to be surprised. "Is there a problem with this list?"
"It's said that this is a leaked version …"
Twain's laughter interrupted the reporter. "Whether it's the UEFA Champions League or the UEFA European Championship, when has there not been a 'leaked version' before the game? And we always find that the leaked version is a little similar to the final official version after the draw … "
"Mr. Twain, do you mean that the results of the draw have long been decided by the UEFA?"
The reporters shouted excitedly. They finally heard the voice they wanted to hear the most.
Twain's face was immediately pulled down. He stared at the reporter who asked the question. "I did not say that. If you think that I said it in the report, I maintain the right to sue you for slandering me, Mr. Reporter."
The atmosphere at the scene immediately turned cold.
Twain took the opportunity to get out of the reporters' encirclement and walked into the conference venue.
There, he met his immediate boss, the FA's chief executive, Shaun Barclays.
"There are so many reporters surrounding you. What are they asking?" He glanced warily at the excited reporters at the door. He was worried that Twain was talking nonsense again.
"The leaked version of the draw results. What else could it be?" Twain asked nonchalantly.
"You didn't say anything, did you, Mr. Twain?" Mr. Twain. "Mr. Barclays was obviously nervous.
Twain grinned. "What are you worried about, Mr. Barclays?"
Barclays did not want to say it out loud. He frowned and patted Twain on the shoulder. "Let's go, Mr. Twain. The draw ceremony is about to begin. "
※ ※ ※
Unlike the leaked version, England was not placed in Group D, but in Group C. This made many people even more convinced that the leaked version of the group draw results was fabricated, because there would be more or less similar rumors before every competition, and everyone was used to it.
After all the seeded teams were arranged, the second tier of teams began to draw.
When it was Group C's turn, the guest of the draw, the former Madrid flag player from Spain, Raúl González, raised the ping pong ball in his hand. He pulled out the note placed in the ball and read out the name on it. At the same time, the note in his hand also appeared on the big screen behind him.
"Germany."
There was a burst of boos at the scene.
The camera swept over the positions of the managers and accurately found Tony Twain. However, it found that he put his finger in his mouth and was booing.
If it was not for the fact that everyone was already familiar with Tony Twain's image, they would probably think that he was a passerby who joined in the fun, and not one of the parties involved …
"Mr. Twain!" Barclays, who was sitting next to him, looked at Twain in displeasure.
Twain glanced at him and booed a few more times. His sharp boos could be clearly heard in the television broadcast.
After that, he took his finger out of his mouth and wiped it on his suit without any care for his image. "What's the matter, Mr. Barclays?"
"Watch your image …" Barclays said weakly.
Twain smiled. "Okay, Mr. Barclays."
The uproar caused by the draw lasted for a while before it disappeared. When someone looked back to see what the England manager had to say about the result, they all saw him booing. Who knew if he was booing excitedly or discontentedly … But it did not matter, the media would arrange the lines for him.
It was believed that the senior officials of the UEFA sitting on the podium must have seen this scene. It could not be helped. Who asked Tony Twain to be the focus of the venue at that moment?
The German, Sammer, was a little dissatisfied with the result. He frowned and looked dignified. Perhaps, he was also a little unhappy with Twain's attitude – this Englishman was too frivolous!
The Englishman, who was caressing lightly, was sitting in his seat at this time. He looked at the German football legend, Beckenbauer, with a smile on his face as he walked up to draw the lot.
He was going to draw the third tier team in Group C.
The result of his draw made the excited media somewhat disappointed because it was not the expected Sweden, but Portugal.
Twain laughed below. Portugal's strength was stronger than Sweden. If it was not for their poor performance in this qualifier and their failure to break into the World Cup in Brazil, how could they have been placed in the third tier …
The appearance of a team in the fourth tier made Twain look a little surprised for the first time.
"Wales." The host read the somewhat boring name.
Twain's eyebrows twitched.
He did not expect that he and the little monkey would be reunited again so soon.
Due to the expansion of the UEFA European Championship, the group stage was increased from four groups to six. As a result, the possibility of a "strong confrontation" in the previous group stage was much lower. Therefore, England became a veritable "Group of Death" in this group.
It was not much different from the previous "leaked version." At the very least, England and Germany were indeed placed together.
As soon as the lot-drawing ceremony ended, the media surrounded Tang En again.
Harvey saw that he was about to be squeezed out by the swarm of reporters and hurriedly reminded Twain in his ear, "Don't talk nonsense, Mr. Twain!"
"I'm not a child …" Twain muttered in dissatisfaction as he faced the media.
Twain knew that England and Germany had always disliked each other in football. At this time, modesty would not win him a good impression.
"… We're not afraid of Germany. 'Group of Death'? I'm not worried. This is the UEFA European Championship. The teams that can come are all strong teams. I don't think there's anything bad about being placed with teams like Germany, Portugal, and Wales … Our goal is to win the championship. There has never been a champion who can meet weak teams all the way … "
His words were very shocking, especially when he publicly said that his team's goal was to "win the championship." There was a burst of discussion among the reporters.
There was already an eye-catching title for tomorrow — "England's Sword Aimed at the Championship, Tony Twain Personally Admits."
However, the reporters still had questions for the results of the draw. "Mr. Twain, the leaked version before the draw had the results of the draw. England also happens to be in the same group as Germany, may I ask …"
Tang En knew what the reporter was going to ask. He immediately straightened his face and said, "Isn't that normal? There are only six groups. As a second-tier team, the probability of Germany being placed in Group C is one in six. I think it's normal. There's nothing wrong here. "
The reporters were relentless, wanting to hear more explosive content from his mouth. Tang En was not willing to be used as a tool by others. Towards such questions, he would always reply with a Taiji Shou Shou, evading the question and not answering it directly.
The reporters blocked Tang En for a while. Seeing that they could not get the answer they wanted, they could only give up and let him go.
However, just the phrase "Our goal is to win the championship" was enough to attract attention. Yes, England had always been regarded as a strong team in Europe. However, there were probably many people who looked down on them. Many people thought that the "strong team" had to be in "double quotation marks". It was more like a pseudo-strong team. Moreover, the results of the group draw had just come out. There was still half a year before the start of the UEFA European Championship. Tang En shouted the slogan "Our goal is to win the championship" so carelessly without considering the changes that might happen in the next six months. What if the core players were not in form? What if the main players were troubled by injuries and could not participate in the competition? He was making enemies for himself by doing this …
However, that was Tang En's own troubles. The media only needed to attract attention.
※ ※ ※
The next day, the major sports media began to hype up Tang En's big mouth. Tang En's large photo with the phrase "Our goal is to win the championship" was indeed very shocking.
"If someone else said this, perhaps everyone would just treat it as a joke. But when he said it … no one could laugh."
Those who knew and were familiar with Tony Twain would definitely have such a thought when they saw this headline.
The England fans were also very happy that they could have such a confident manager. Perhaps it would no longer be a dream to lift the Delaunay Cup in the capital of England in next year's UEFA European Championship.
Tang En was in the limelight, but Shaun Harvey was having a headache.
Just as Tang En's declaration of winning the championship appeared in the major newspapers, he also received a call from the president of the UEFA, Michel Platini.
The content of the call was very simple. Platini reminded Harvey as a personal friend to watch Tony Twain's mouth. The UEFA was not deaf and knew what he said in the interview with the reporters yesterday before the draw ceremony. He did not want to hear this person question the impartiality of the UEFA in the future.
The new chief executive of the Football Association was different from the previous ones. He was trying to find ways to repair the relationship between the English Football Association and the UEFA because the UEFA always targeted England and did not lack those messy policies in the past few years.
He naturally did not want Tang En's big mouth to affect his "friendship" with Platini and damage the relationship between the Football Association and the UEFA.
A few months ago, he was still proudly expressing how successful his control over Tang En was in Denmark. Now he realized how troublesome it was to have such an unruly manager.
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