Twain was hurt by Germany's unexpected defeat, but it made the media excited as if they were on steroids.
Originally, after England and Germany defeated their respective opponents with an absolute advantage, everyone felt that the structure of the group had been set. England and Germany were the two strongest teams, and the two teams that advanced were likely to be them. The only suspense was who would be first and who would be second.
As supporters of England and Germany, this was a good thing. But as the media who craved for the world to be in chaos, this was the worst situation. They lamented in their respective positions that the "group of death" did not live up to its name.
Now, there was no longer a situation where it did not live up to its name. The group of death suddenly became worthy of its name and became interesting.
The two teams that had lost in the first round had won, and the two teams that had won before all lost. After two rounds of the group stage, all four teams had accumulated three points. Such a situation was rare in international competitions.
The current situation was that Germany was ranked first in the group because of their goal difference advantage. They scored four goals, conceded two goals, and had a goal difference of two goals. England was ranked second with four goals, conceded three goals, and had a goal difference of one goal. Portugal scored four goals, conceded five goals, and was ranked third with a goal difference of minus one. Last was Wales, who scored one goal, conceded three goals, and had a goal difference of minus two.
In the final round, England and Germany would fight it out, and Portugal would have to fight to the death with Wales. Any team could advance, and any team could be eliminated.
"It's really the 'group of death' with the most death atmosphere in this competition!" In Sky TV's UEFA European Championship special program, the invited guests sighed. "Such a complicated situation to advance is the most of all six groups. We don't need to analyze the situation of these four teams for you at all. You can guess what will happen next just by looking at the score rankings — chaos! "
"Before the second round, the probability of the first and second teams losing at the same time in the group was one in nine. When they saw England lose to Wales at Camp Nou, the Germans were probably already looking forward to the prospect of them advancing ahead of time. Who would have thought that after a wonderful offensive game, the Germans would also lose! "Spain's national television concluded.
"For the England team, Germany's loss is definitely not good news. Although we have a forty year old feud with them. Because Tony Twain's team will be fighting to the death with Germany in the final round. Only by winning against Germany can they ensure their qualification. If they lose or draw, their fate will be in the hands of others. " In a special program on the BBC television station, the experts were giving the England fans an analysis of England's situation that had become grim overnight. "But the England team is without George Wood, and the Germany team is a very strong opponent …"
"The facts have proven one thing — England without George Wood is a second-rate European country. They could not even beat Wales. Without Wood's coordination and defense in the midfield, England simply did not know how to operate. The 4: 2 win over Portugal was just an accident, and we also have to note that Portugal had the upper hand throughout the game. " This was a program on Deutschland 2, and they were using this program to cheer up the worried German fans. "We lost to Portugal because we were unlucky. England's loss to Wales was a complete failure. Although they had twice as many shots as Wales, most of them were wide of the goal. They were all blind long shots … Judging from the state of the team, we are better than England."
"Wales beat England, and Portugal beat Germany. This is the result that we, the neutral fans, hope to see the most. Because the final round of the group stage will be very, very exciting! " China Central Television Channel 5 belonged to the neutral side, but the German fans and English fans accounted for a large proportion of the China fans. They were "gloating" in the program, and there must be a lot of cursing at them on the Internet.
In fact, the media's evaluation was fair and objective. Twain was now under great pressure — he won the first game beautifully and raised the expectations of the English people. In the end, he lost the second game embarrassingly and vexedly, throwing the England fans who were flying in the clouds into the mud. Such a huge psychological gap was unacceptable to many people. The print and online media directed such anger at Twain. Someone had to be responsible for it, right?
Countless tabloids did not care about objective conditions and subjective factors. Anyway, it was the most convenient to blame the loss on the manager. Who asked Twain to leave a handle for them? After the game, he said "I underestimated the opponent" in an interview. This sentence became the biggest reason for many tabloids to attack him.
"Tony Twain's arrogance has finally caused him to pay the price, but he has also dragged the fate of the entire England down with him! This is simply a scandal! "
"… I really can't understand this England team. It's like a different team from the team that beat Portugal 4: 2. What is the reason for this? "
"Simply underestimating the opponent can't explain the reason for the loss. I think England has a major tactical flaw. Facts have proven that it's not enough to rely on defense and counterattack! He deluded himself into bringing Nottingham Forest's tactics to the England team, but found that it was not suitable … "
"I think the loss in this game fully shows the importance of George Wood. Twain's insistence on bringing Wood to Spain is certainly reasonable, but if we go home after the group stage, then what's the point of bringing him? Now there's only one game left. What can he do? "
"Tony Twain is headstrong and self-opinionated. If we choose to continue to trust him, the whole of English football will suffer one day!"
…
There were too many such attacks. It was rare for the reporters who interviewed the England team not to have a conflict with Tony Twain. This time, they finally seized the opportunity to take revenge.
Therefore, they attacked Twain, and the fans felt that it would be more difficult for England to advance. Therefore, before the game against Germany, the expectations of the fans and the censure of the media gathered from all directions in the city of Valencia, forming a huge invisible pressure that shrouded the entire England team.
Twain clearly also noticed the pressure, so he once again did something that went against the media — he canceled the regular press conference. Unless it was before the game, the media could not dig out any valuable news from him. The fifteen minutes of public filming time every day was nothing but warm-ups and more warm-ups. He also asked the security guards of the hotel where he stayed to clear the reporters who lingered nearby. Reporters without permission were not allowed to enter the hotel lobby.
Such an open confrontation with the media obviously made the media even more dissatisfied, and there was no telling how many more words they had to scold him.
The England team could also feel the tense atmosphere. After the game against Portugal, there was no lack of laughter during training. There were also many games arranged during training to let everyone relax. But after the game against Wales, these games were all canceled. Everyone could clearly feel the increase in training. Although the boss still had a smile on his face, everyone knew that it was just for them to see. In terms of pressure, no one here would be more stressed than the boss.
There were only three days between the second round of the group stage and the final round, which added to the tense atmosphere. What could three days change?
※ ※ ※
After losing to Wales, England's good luck seemed to have run out overnight.
On the second day after they arrived in Valencia, less than ten minutes into training, it was still during the free time for the media to film. During the warm-up, David Bentley was suddenly injured.
At that time, the scene was chaotic, and the reporters desperately wanted to squeeze in, wanting to take pictures of Bentley's injury. And the security guards at the scene were busy blocking the reporters under Twain's loud reprimand. While Twain guarded against the reporters, he also had to see what kind of injury Bentley had. The scene was very noisy, and his head was almost dizzy.
"What's going on?" Twain squeezed into the crowd with difficulty and saw the national team's team doctor, Derek Wright, doing a preliminary examination on Bentley.
"Thigh muscle strain," Wright replied. "It's a relapse of an old injury."
Twain frowned. This was not an injury that could be cured in a day or two.
Bentley, sitting on the ground, also looked depressed. He had not played in the starting lineup in this UEFA European Championship. He had wanted to fight for a chance in the next game. Now that his thigh muscle was strained, he would almost certainly not be able to play in the last game of the group stage. And after the game against Germany, would England still have a game?
Twain casually pointed to two players and said, "You guys help David off."
Wright followed Bentley to the sidelines, sat him on the ground, and massaged his thigh.
The reporters outside the field were still clamoring, wanting to come in for interviews and filming. They even clashed with the security guards. They even used vulgarities.
Twain felt upset when he heard such sounds. He turned and walked in front of the group of reporters, pointing to the watch on his wrist and said, "It's time, the free filming time is over! Please go back, ladies and gentlemen! "Then he said to the security guards," Throw them all out! "
"Mr. Twain! Is Bentley injured? "
"Mr. Twain, is Bentley's injury serious?"
"Mr. Tony Twain … Is he likely to miss the game against Germany?"
"Will Bentley's injury affect the team's morale?"
Unwilling to be driven out like this, the reporters threw their questions at Tang En one after another. Tang En ignored them. He directly turned around and walked back to the training ground. He shouted to the dumbfounded players who were somewhat at a loss, "Continue training!"
The reporters finally dispersed, and the training ground regained its calm. Bentley's injury did not affect the quality of the team's training. The amount of training that should be done was not reduced at all, and the players' attention was also focused on training. After all, injuries were a very common thing, not to mention that Bentley was not a main player. Even if he was injured and could not make it to the game against Germany, it would not have a big impact on the team's strength.
It was just that Twain's brows furrowed more and more.
George Wood walked to the sidelines to rest after completing his own training program. He sat next to Bentley.
"Hey, George …" Bentley was a little depressed. There was an ice pack on his thigh, which was filled with ice cubes. "I'm really f * cking unlucky …"
Wood glanced at his thigh. "It's just a muscle strain. It'll be fine soon." He comforted his teammate at Nottingham Forest.
"No matter how fast it is, I won't be able to play in the game against Germany …" Bentley rubbed his strained right thigh. If it was a left thigh strain, it would be better. He could grit his teeth and persevere. He would not be able to do anything if his right thigh was strained. "When the time comes, let's cheer them on from the substitutes' bench."
Unexpectedly, Wood shook his head and said, "No, I want to play in the game."
Bentley thought he had heard wrong. He turned to look at Wood, his eyes widening. "If I remember correctly, the doctors said you'll miss all three games of the group stage …"
"I feel fine."
Bentley stared at Wood's right big toe and asked, "Does it hurt?"
Wood shook his head and said, "No, not at all."
Bentley looked at Tony Twain who was standing in the distance and said, "I don't think the boss will let you play."
"If we can't win against Germany, he will."
"Are you joking with your career, George?"
"I'm serious." Wood finished his break and walked back to the field to continue his individual training.
Bentley looked at his back and curled his lips.
"You haven't even trained with us before. How can we let you play? Don't be delusional, George … "He muttered.
※ ※ ※
"We've just lost to Wales and David Bentley is injured. England is having a bad year. It's really worrying … "BBC5's UEFA European Championship report was broadcasting the news they had just received. The television showed the chaotic scene on the training ground. If one listened carefully, they could even hear Tony Twain's voice — — "What the f * ck is going on … Damn it, get them out! Stop filming! "
"Although Tony Twain canceled the regular press conference, Derek Wright accepted our interview. He told us that Bentley has a muscle strain on his right thigh and will miss the game against Germany … As far as we know, this is not the first time Bentley has a muscle strain on his right thigh. With George Wood absent due to injury, Bentley is also on the injured list. Looks like luck is not on our side … "
The mood of the England fans could only be described as gloomy and gloomy. Could it be that the "strongest England team in history" could not even advance out of the group stage?
※ ※ ※
"It's not like the main force is injured. Look at the arguments of the media … That's why I hate the media. They always send you ice cubes when you need charcoal to warm up, and dry bread when you need water to quench your thirst — — in short, they only add to the mess. " Twain was very dissatisfied with the media's exaggerated exaggeration of Bentley's injury to create a tense atmosphere. These English tabloids were too annoying!
"It can't be helped, Tony. After we lost to Wales, pessimism prevailed … The slightest accident will be infinitely magnified. " Walker put down the English newspapers. Almost all of them were reports that made people feel bad.
As the two men chatted, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
The person who pushed the door open was George Wood. This surprised both Twain and Walker a little.
Wood also did not expect there to be someone else in Twain's room. He glanced at the assistant manager, Des Walker, and stood at the door without saying a word.
Walker knew that Wood must have something to say to Twain, but he did not want outsiders to be present. It must be a conversation that only belonged to the two of them.
"Then … I'll take my leave first." Walker stood up tactfully and planned to leave.
"Goodbye, Des. Call me when it's time for dinner. "Twain waved at him.
"Goodbye, Mr. Walker." Wood watched Walker leave from the door.
"Goodbye, George."
After Walker left, Twain said, "Close the door, George. Is there anything you need from me? "
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