After Des Walker left, Wood closed the door. The first thing he said to Twain was, "I hope you can let me play in the match against Germany tomorrow."
Twain was not surprised to hear him say that. It was as if he had already expected it.
"That's impossible, George," Twain replied expressionlessly. "Your injury hasn't healed yet."
"No, my injury is completely healed." To prove that he was not lying, Wood even did a high-legged run in front of Twain.
"Your words don't count, George."
"It's my body. Why don't my words count?" Wood retorted.
"I only trust doctors." Twain crossed his legs as he walked on the chair. His tone was a little indifferent.
Wood was not as calm as Twain. He took a step forward and walked in front of Twain. "You asked me to wait for three matches. If we can't even advance out of the group stage, what's the point of waiting for three matches? I can't wait anymore. I don't want to wait anymore. "
Twain motioned for Wood to sit down and talk. He was not used to talking to others with his head raised.
"Do you not trust your teammates that much?" Twain looked at the somewhat impatient Wood.
These words put Wood in a bind. He definitely could not say, "Yes, I don't trust them." He could only shake his head and say, "No, I trust them." This way, he was in no position to ask to play again.
Wood fell into silence. He understood the meaning behind Twain's question, so he was unwilling to give an answer.
Twain decided to strike while the iron was hot. He persuaded Wood to withdraw his intention to play in the match against Germany.
"George, your foot injury has not fully recovered. I know this very well. The medical team and I have been tracking your injury every day. So, I will definitely not let you play in the match against Germany. It will be a very intense match. If you get injured again, I can't guarantee what will happen after that. For the sake of your career, I won't let you play. "
"Even if the group can't advance?" Wood asked.
Twain said calmly, "Yes. Even if the group can't advance, I won't let you take the risk."
Wood's face was overcast. His expression was like the summer weather. After changing back and forth a few times, he finally stood up and left.
Tang En sat alone in his room in a daze.
He now felt that he was really good at pretending to be a saint … The last sentence was definitely not what he meant, or it could be said that when he said it, his heart was not firm. Results or a player's future, which is more important? Such a multiple-choice question would never appear in Tang En's mind. When he was at his peak, he would say, "I want both."
Maybe the situation isn't that bad … Twain thought to himself.
Even without George Wood, it was not as if England did not have the ability to fight against Germany.
Walker pushed the door open and entered. He saw Tang En sitting on the sofa, lost in thought.
"Tony?"
"Is it dinnertime already?" Twain asked as he came back to his senses.
"No. I'm just here to see you and ask how the discussion with George went. "Walker sat down beside Tang En.
"He wanted to play in the match against Germany, but I rejected him," Tang En said casually.
"Did you struggle with your thoughts?" Walker asked with a smile.
"No." Tang En told a small lie.
Walker hesitated for a moment and asked, "Tony, how confident are we in winning the match against Germany?"
Tang En glanced at his assistant and said, "This is not something we have a certain level of confidence in, Des. This is something we have to win, or else we have to die. "
※ ※ ※
Three days was really too short. Moreover, there was also the half-day journey from Barcelona to Valencia. In reality, there were only two days left for Tang En to prepare for the Germany match.
Before most people could react, the war between the United Kingdom and Germany was already imminent.
George Wood and Bentley were absent due to injuries, and the prospect of losing to Wales to advance was worrying … These were actually just the icing on the cake for this match. Even if both teams won both matches and advanced ahead of time, this match was still destined to be the focus of the world. Tony Twain might not care about the outcome of this match, but England's fans could not ignore it.
The feud between England and Germany's football was one of the most famous feuds in the world. The history of their rivalry spanned more than a hundred years. In the first 50 years, England had an overwhelming advantage, while in the latter 50 years, Germany became the eternal nightmare of England's fans.
The first time the two teams met was on April 20, 1908. At that time, the arrogant "originator of football" taught the football rookie Germany a lesson with a score of 5: 1. Although they won the game, England took advantage of it and pretended to say that it was "unbearable" to let Germany score a goal. A year later, the two sides fought again. England slaughtered Germany with a score of 9: 0, setting a record for the largest score difference in the history of England and Germany's rivalry.
The Germany team at that time was not the awe-inspiring "King of Europe" that won the UEFA European Championship three times and the World Cup three times. In the first 12 matches between the two teams, England achieved an undefeated record of ten wins and two draws. It could be said that this was the chaotic period of German football. Losing to a "world strong team" like England was not surprising.
But what really turned the confrontation between the two sides into a "war" was the 1966 World Cup final in England. At Wembley Stadium, England defeated Germany with a controversial goal of 4: 2 and won the World Cup for the first and only time in history. Geoff Hurst, who scored the controversial goal in the final and also completed a hat-trick, became Britain's "national hero." As for Germany's legendary striker, Uwe Seeler, he almost collapsed when he exited the field. He hung his head and walked off the field. As a result, the scene was captured by a cameraman. The English media used it to mock "the Germans have suffered another defeat."
This game hurt the Germans very much. Until today, more than 50 years later, the Germans would still complain that if it were not for the referee's misjudgment, the gold stars on the Germany team emblem would have been four.
Until this year, England still had a huge psychological advantage when facing the Germany team. The Germans had never defeated England in an official game.
But two years later, the situation changed 180 degrees. In Hannover, Germany, "Kaiser" Beckenbauer's low shot broke Germany's fate of not being able to win against England. It was as if that layer of window paper had been pierced through. From then on, for more than 40 years, England had never won against Germany even once in a major competition … Regardless of whether the process was tragic or stirring, the loser in the end would always be England.
In the 1970 World Cup quarterfinals, England was leading 2: 0. Under the leadership of Beckenbauer, Germany scored three goals in a row and finally eliminated England.
In 1972, England's holy land of football, Wembley Stadium, was also declared lost to the Germans. Beckenbauer led his teammates to a 3: 1 victory over England and won a victory in the UEFA European Championship qualifiers. Later, the British gave the title of "Emperor of Football" to that German.
In the 1990 World Cup quarterfinals, Germany eliminated England in a penalty shootout. Nottingham Forest's legend, Stuart Pearce, missed a crucial goal. England's current assistant manager, Des Walker, also played in that game.
In the 1996 UEFA European Championship, which was held at England's doorstep, the English people thought that they could rely on their advantage as the hosts to pick up the Delaunay Trophy that they had never touched before. Unfortunately, they met Germany again. The Germans tenaciously dragged the proud hosts into a penalty shootout. The English people had a complete mental breakdown and were eventually eliminated.
…
Losing to Germany consecutively was unacceptable to the proud British people. Therefore, even if it was a friendly match, there would definitely be dazzling sparks when England and Germany met.
John Terry, England's main center back and former captain, once said that there had never been such a thing as a "friendly match" between England and Germany.
And in England, the classic quotes about football were mostly related to Germany. For example, in the 1966 World Cup, the famous British commentator Kennett Wolstenholme's commentary became a classic to describe Germany's style of football: "They thought it was all over, but the Germans stood up again!"
After England was eliminated by Germany in the 1990 World Cup, Lineker also said helplessly, "Football is a game of 22 people, but in the end, the Germans always win."
Even if England won, it would not necessarily be a beautiful memory. For example, in 1938, England defeated Germany by 6: 3 in a friendly match held in Berlin, but the England players were forced to "salute" before the match. This made the entire British people feel that they had been greatly insulted, and the victory in the match was called a "humiliating victory."
After entering the new century, both England and Germany had their share of victories and defeats, and there was even a classic 5: 1 victory over Germany. But overall, the English people always appeared to be lacking in confidence when facing the Germans. In the last match before the demolition of Wembley Stadium, Germany's Dietmar Hamann humiliated the England team in this memorable match.
If Twain were to talk about the difference between the two teams, he would say that England was like a beautiful porcelain vase, dazzling under the lights, dazzling and impossible to put down. On the other hand, the German team was a black and ordinary rock. Whether it was using the porcelain vase to smash the rock, or using the rock to smash the porcelain vase, the one who would be unlucky in the end would always be the porcelain vase.
But now, Twain had to complete this impossible task — to use the porcelain vase to have a life-and-death battle with the rock, and the one who would come out unscathed in the end must be the porcelain vase.
※ ※ ※
"We can lose to anyone, but not to the Germans!" There was such a sentence on the banner carried by the England fans who entered the stadium, and this was also the voice of all Englishmen. This game attracted the attention of the entire island nation, and even the Queen of England asked, "Can we beat Germany?"
This sentence also became the headline of many media outlets, and The Times replied below, "Yes, we can!"
The Sun was more emotional, they told their readers that more than 60 years ago, the current Queen was still a child at that time, and she had already led the British people to a great victory, and the opponent was the Nazi Germany. And now, it was time for the people to fight back. "We will definitely win this war!"
Unlike the English people who were united against the enemy, the German side's reaction was slightly calmer. It had always been like this. It had always been the English people who were more obsessed with the Anglo-German feud, while the Germans would use more subtle means to express their emotions. For example, before the game, Germany's TV 1 brought up Hurst's controversial goal to talk about. After high-tech restoration and analysis, it was finally proved that the goal did not cross the line as a whole, so it could not be counted as a goal. Among the highlights of the World Cup history broadcast by Germany's TV 2, there were scenes of the Brazilians picking up the Rimet Gold Cup for the third time, and there were also scenes of Beckenbauer fighting with his shoulder wrapped in bandages. The only thing missing was Hurst's controversial goal. In addition, they also ranked Maradona's goal to bypass five England players as second. Which one was first? Of course it was Maradona's Hand of God in the same game! That scene was played over and over again five times, so much so that some viewers thought there was something wrong with their TV …
Four hours before the game, the fans from both sides had already gathered outside the Nuevo Mestalla stadium in Valencia, waiting to enter. The fans from both sides had a bad reputation among the police around the world, so this game almost took up all the police force in the city of Valencia. At the same time, for this special group stage game, the Valencia municipal government also specially issued a temporary "alcohol ban" — within a radius of 15 kilometers near the Nuevo Mestalla stadium, the sale of all alcoholic beverages was prohibited from four hours before the game to four hours after the game.
The England fans and the German fans would go to the Nuevo Mestalla stadium from different roads, and then enter from completely opposite entrances. In the stands, the stands between the two teams of fans would be vacated and guarded by heavily armed riot police, all to prevent the two teams of fans from meeting and causing a conflict before entering the stadium.
"This is World Cup final-level security." The British media sighed when they saw the scene.
Nevertheless, the fans from both sides still created sparks wherever they could see each other.
The Germans made a "Germany beat England 3: 0" gesture to the British BBC camera, and the English responded with a 5: 1 gesture. In September 2001, England once beat Germany 5: 1 in the World Cup qualifiers in Japan and South Korea, and it was also at Germany's home ground. Michael Owen, who completed a hat-trick in that game, also became the European Footballer of the Year that year.
The German fans gave the England fans the middle finger in the distance and shouted in unison, "You don't have George Wood, you're second-rate in Europe!! Even Wales can kill you! "
The England fans sang a sarcastic cheer song for the Germans, "Mr. Sammer, who are you kidding? Matthias (Matthias Sammer, the Germany manager) only has a 'little pig' … We'll kick you back to Berlin, and Tony Twain and his children will say, 'Thank you, Germany!' Future Sir George, the UEFA European Championship is in your hands … "
Looking at the tit-for-tat between them, it was as if there were no strong teams such as Spain, Italy, and France participating in this UEFA European Championship, and it was just a one-on-one match between England and Germany.
When the buses of both teams appeared in the field of view of the fans, the atmosphere at the scene, which had been silent for a while, became feverish again. The England and Germany fans were chanting the names of their teams and stars to cheer them on. Even the high temperature of 36 degrees could not make them quiet for a while.
"England! England! God bless the Queen, the Queen bless England! " The England fans raised the "St. George" flag with a red cross on a white background and waved it at the red bus.
"Forward, St. George! Forward, England!! "
"Fight to the death, never surrender, we are the invincible England fleet!"
"F * ck the Germans! F * ck their asses! "
"Oh oh oh —!! England will win! "
The crazy roars of the fans penetrated the closed windows, and even the vulgarities could be heard clearly.
The England players were not surprised by this. In fact, they themselves were almost as crazy as the fans outside … After all, this was a game between England and Germany. This was a decisive battle that did not require any mobilization. Every England player should understand the meaning of this game and this opponent.
Twain whistled at the sexy female fan who blew kisses at him outside, "This time we're under unprecedented pressure. But it doesn't matter, this is the game I've been dreaming of. A century of grudges, a life-and-death situation, a bloody road of stepping on the bodies of our enemies … It makes my blood boil! I believe the Germans must be thinking the same, ha! "
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