Godfather Of Champions

25th April, Evening.

Nottingham, Trent Bridge.

A police car with flashing sirens was stopped by the roadside. Policemen in groups of two or three wore yellow reflective vests and walked around, patrolling. The receivers on their shoulders were constantly emitting rustling static sounds.

“Forest! Forest! Nottingham Forest!”

A group of Nottingham Forest fans in red jerseys waved the scarfs in their hands as they walked by, loudly chanting their slogan.

The police kept their eyes on the group of football fans who had just walked past, turning their heads to report the latest update of their assigned areas into the receiver.

“The situation here is good, nothing unusual. Over.”

“Northern Gates of stadium… Normal, over…”

The police officers who finished reporting cast their gaze to the group of fans, following them with their eyes as they walked far, crossing the Trent Bridge, before turning left to finally merge into a stream of countless people just like them. They meandered towards the structure standing on the riverbanks, City Ground.

A helicopter flew over their heads, blowing up a gust of wind.

※※※

“For fans of Nottingham Forest, tonight is like the celebration of a major festival. It’s the UEFA Champions League semi-finals! It’s been a long, long time since they’ve experienced this sensation. City Ground has no empty seats. Perhaps Nottingham Forest Club’s chairman, Evan Doughty, feels somewhat dissatisfied by the stadium’s capacity… In truth, on such an important night, even more fans can only sit in the bar to watch the match because City Ground is unable to take them all in. Arsenal will be experiencing a tenacious fight in here while they face tremendous pressure on the away field… Welcome to round two of the 05-06 UEFA Champions League semi-finals!”

The sounds and noise from outside were cacophonous; fans’ singing and a mess of other noises drifted in from the crack in the door.

Tang En walked to the locker room’s doors and shut them. The noise immediately fell in volume; at the very least, everyone would be able to hear him speak now.

“Everyone. In 90 minutes, our fate for this season will be revealed.” Tang En cleared his throat, so his voice would not sound so scratchy, but to little avail. His voice had long been damaged from these few years of constant yelling.

“This is a match that will decide our destiny.” He leaned down and pressed his hands down on the table, looking at the players before him. Everyone’s faces were serious.

“The semi-finals of the Champions League. I don’t want to talk to you about how important it is. I’m sure you all already know it better than I do. Listen to the sounds outside. Our fans have never looked forward so much to a match as they have today. And, we can give them even more…” Tang En raised his hand and suddenly slammed it down. “Victory!”

He looked at his watch. There was still some time before their appearance in the field. But he had nothing else much to say.

“I wanted to say just that. Take a rest and prepare to get on the field.”

He turned and pulled open the door, the noise from the outside finding its way in again in that instant. After he walked out and closed the door, the locker room resumed its quiet state.

Tang En walked directly towards the dedicated washrooms for them. He was very familiar with the path there. Before leading his first match with the Forest Team, he had hidden in the bathroom alone to calm himself down like this. He told himself that it was no big deal. Even if it were not a game, he was still going to carry on playing.

Now that he had carried on, he had gone on to become even better. He had gotten all the way to the semi-finals of the Champions League. That feeling of nervousness from back then returned. The second round was not the same as the first. This was the final 90 minutes. If they succeeded, they would be made. But, if they failed, there would be no opportunity to make up for it.

The pressure he had been feeling intensified significantly.

In front of his players, he made it seem as if he cared about nothing, that he was well-planned and had had everything prepared for a long time. He did not mind playing that character, but the pressure deep inside his heart also needed some release. Prior to the match, it was sometimes not a bad idea to curse at his opponents in front of the media. But he could not just casually scold his opponent for this match; Wenger and he still had some personal ties.

As a result, Tang En could only get the pressure off his chest by smoking a cigarette in the dedicated washroom.

He took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it up, drawing a deep breath. As he breathed deeply, his heart also calmed.

From the left pane of the glass windows, he could see the field outside brightly lit with lights.

A group of children were currently trying to drag an enormous round banner with the UEFA Champions League logo towards the center circle of the field. The fans were already seated, while reporters were gathered on the two sides of the players’ corridor all the way to nearby the midline. Armed with their cameras, all lenses were aimed at the players’ corridor.

Everyone was anticipating this night and this match.

As one of the main leads, how could it be any other way for Tony Twain?

After finishing his cigarette, Tony, whose mood had completely calmed, walked out of the washroom. He walked through the narrow tunnels that led toward the home team’s locker rooms.

When he turned the corner, he saw Wenger, who was also standing outside the doors. Hearing footsteps, Wenger turned and caught sight of Tang En.

“What a coincidence.” Tang En took the initiative to greet him.

“Yes, what a coincidence,” Wenger said blandly.

Wenger was not at all nervous, or at least he appeared that way. Tang En believed it could be because Wenger was a veteran general; he had already seen so much, he did not feel any nerves. However, from another perspective, this was also Arsène Wenger’s first time leading a team into the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Bumping into each other like that was quite awkward. Both men were at a loss for what to say because they were opponents. They knew nothing about the destinies awaiting them.

Tang En walked to the doors of the home team’s locker room. He turned to Wenger, who stood before the away team’s locker room door, and said, “I’ll see you after the match.”

“Goodbye,” Wenger said concisely.

Tang En turned the knob and opened the door. His players all looked up at him.

“Everyone, are you ready?” He asked, leaning on the door frame.

※※※

“They’re coming in!” Someone in the stands shouted. Everyone around him shifted their gaze towards the exit of the players’ corridors. Like casting a pebble onto the calm surface of a lake, the actions created a ripple through the entire spectators’ stand.

The players from both teams walked in two files into the stadium amid cacophonous cheers. The ones leading Arsenal and Nottingham Forest were captains Henry and George Wood respectively.

Albertini continued sitting on the substitutes’ bench for the match. As the season neared its conclusion, his body condition were unable to keep up. More often than not, he could only sit on the substitutes’ bench, fielded only when the team needed him.

The condition he had displayed in the match against Inter Milan could not be sustained for long. As he aged, his body began struggling to keep up. Consciously, he started sitting closer to the technical area. During the match, he could overhear the voices of the managerial team discussing their strategies. From this moment on, he had to begin preparing for his own dream of being a manager in the future.

Each time Henry shook hands with Wood before the match, exchanging pennants and guessing for the coin toss, he would feel extremely intrigued; the captain before him was truly too young. Among the top six teams in the Premier League, Wood was the youngest of the captains. While Wenger had been said to value young people highly, Tony Twain was even more so. On the Forest Team, several players appeared more suitable than Wood to be the captain, such as Edwin van der Sar, who was a starter for every match.

In fact, it would not be so astonishing if it was merely about his youth; what was more surprising was that Wood was doing rather well in his position as a captain despite his youth.

“Tails.” The referee had placed the coin in front of Henry, indicating the side facing up.

Flipping the coin, the referee presented it to Wood. Wood nodded.

The coin was tossed up high before falling back onto the grass. The main referee bent over to look while Henry and Wood exchanged glances.

“Tails!” Picking up the coin, the referee pointed to Henry, indicating he had the first choice.

“Kick-off rights.” Without hesitation, Henry chose the more advantageous choice for them.

What was left was hardly a choice. Wood chose the side of the field where his team warmed up to be their half.

Both captains shook hands with the three referees and parted ways after.

At that point, Tang En acknowledged that he had completely disregarded what he was to do if they successfully advanced from the semi-finals. In his eyes, this was the finals.

He adjusted his sitting posture and waited for the referee to blow the whistle signaling the beginning of the first half of the match.

※※※

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second round of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in the 05-06 season. The two teams opposing are Nottingham Forest and Arsenal! This is a civil war in England. I believe the English would hope even more for these two teams to meet in Stade de France (where the finals of this season’s Champions League were to be held). Let me take this opportunity to introduce you to the starting line-up of both teams…”

Kenny Burns sat in the bar, his head looking up at the huge television screen that hung below the ceiling. The whole bar was filled to the brim with people taking the same posture as him.

The Forest Bar had used to be a place Tang En frequented. Everyone here knew what kind of person Forest’s manager was. They were also his most loyal fans. These people idolized not some football star, but a manager instead. Even though Tang En very rarely came back here to drink and chat now due to his work, his spot continued to be reserved only for Tang En’s use; no one else was allowed it.

Today, within the crowded bar, only that seat was empty.

The introduction of Forest’s list of starting players began on television. Just like fans watching it live, the people in the bar started shouting the names one by one. After they got to the last name, Anelka, everyone added in: “… and Tony Twain!”

After the shout, everyone guffawed and raised their beer mugs, drinking heartily.

Burns raised his cup in a toast to everyone. The charisma that only Brian Clough had had was now reflected in Tony Twain.

The racket gradually eased. Everyone looked up at the television, waiting for the match to begin.

A clear whistle emitted from within the television, sounding in every corner of the city.

The match was beginning!

※※※

“Right off the bat, Arsenal has opted to take the initiative of an attacking stance. It’s a necessary move for them. If they want a ticket to the finals, Arsenal, who have lost a goal on their home field, needs to go on the offensive in this match. They need to score and upset the advantage that Forest has. Only in that way would the match return to Wenger’s control… however, the team they are faced with is the third-best team in defense in the current season of the English Premier League.”

“I don’t really agree with what you’re saying. The Premier League and Champions League are not quite the same things. Being able to defend well in the EPL does not mean they can do the same in the Champions League.”

Arsenal’s Henry dribbled the ball in an attack and quickly got trapped in a two-player encirclement. Tang En had asked the team to use a pincer defense against Henry, taking extra caution protecting their fronts and backs; when defending, they needed to make sure there was depth in their defense. They must not allow him to break through easily. Henry himself was no stranger to such defense against him. After all, they had played against Forest for almost two seasons.

After attracting the attention of two defending Forest players, Henry passed the ball outwards.

Following, Fàbregas received the pass. At the same time, George Wood also came forward to press him. Without killing the ball and observing, the Spaniard champion directly passed the ball to Reyes upon seeing Wood run over.

Reyes then passed center. He kicked a low pass, attempting to create confusion in front of Forest’s goal. But Pepe kicked the ball out of the sidelines first.

Wood waved to his teammates in front of him, indicating for them to return to participate in the defense.

Something that had recently delighted Tang En was George Wood becoming more and more initiative in telling others his thoughts. For example, those actions during a match would be a rare occurrence a season ago.

If he wished for his teammates to return for defense or go on the attack, he would now use his own methods to inform them rather than keeping his silence and not speaking a word.

Donning the Captain’s armband had truly made him grow a lot.

Wood could tell that the initial stages of the match might need defense, so he got everyone to return to help.

His actions were correct. After kicking off, Arsenal had indeed intended to use the time in that period to launch ferocious attacks. They hoped to break the stalemate as early as possible.

Three minutes, five minutes… Arsenal surrounded Forest’s penalty area in a continuous streak of attacks. Forest could only depend on a tight defense to put a halt to their offense.

However, no one on the spectators’ stand felt dissatisfaction about that. Forest’s fans had long gotten used to this style of football from Tang En. To them, it did not matter how they kicked so long as they could win.

Forest’s players were also used to it; first, defend, and then attack. Many times, this was Nottingham Forest’s basic strategy.

Henry forcefully broke through into the penalty area, igniting a storm of turbulence. Amid the mess, his shot landed on Piqué’s body, changing direction. It flew straight towards the corner, the far corner of the goal! But Edwin van der Sar was blocking the corner closer to them instead. Was it already hopeless?

Arsenal’s fans watching this scene before their televisions were all too ready to begin celebrating and cheering in advance. In this instance, a streak of shadow dashed out. With a stretch of his leg, he kicked the football out!

“George Wood resolves the danger; he saved Forest! Arsenal’s attacks are too ferocious, Nottingham Forest is beginning to stumble!”

Piqué patted Wood, still feeling some trepidation in his heart from the shot earlier, thanking him for his save.

Tang En, sitting outside the field, looked towards the away team manager’s seat. Like him, Wenger was seated and seemed impassive.

Arsenal put in a lot of effort for this match; they must score. That was why Wenger discarded the idea of a defensive counterattack, changing to make use of Arsenal’s greatest strength to deal with Forest.

Such an Arsenal was, in fact, the scariest. At first, they had tried changing strategies, playing defensively as Forest did. They were thinking of depending on it to advance to the finals, but they were taking it too lightly. They should just stick with whatever they were meant to be.

On the contrary, Tang En was not afraid of Arsenal attacking. In the previous round, he had to try so hard to force them to attack because Arsenal did not want to. Now that Arsenal took the initiative to go on the offense, Forest could play defensive counterattacking more comfortably.

Faced with Arsenal’s tidal wave of attacks, Tang En decided against making a move, continuing to observe instead.

He had seen many such scenes. It was no big deal.