Godfather Of Champions

Twain’s antics at the airport made him a front-page figure again. The Italian media reproved the man’s lack of basic politeness, showboating, and thirst for fame. What caused them to be so angry was because Twain completely disregarded AC Milan and the Italian media at the airport which irked some people.

On the other hand, the English media excitedly described Twain’s “pluck” at the airport in detail over and over again with pictures of Twain standing in front of the fan groups appearing frequently in the newspapers.

It was not them standing up for Twain; it was a contest between the English and Italian media.

Twain certainly did not do it to provide the media with fodder for a war of words. His peevish antics were actually aimed at the AC Milan team. It was also part of the psychological battle before the game.

As expected, there were people in Milan who had expressed their annoyance at Twain’s arrogant and conceited behavior.

In a subsequent interview, AC Milan’s manager, Ancelotti, said he could not understand Twain’s thinking. He seemed impolite toward everyone. He went on to talk about the final game. “We’ve already got six UEFA Champions League titles and a lot of experience winning this title. I’ve personally led the team to win the Champions League title once, so I’m confident. But I really can’t understand where Mr. Twain’s confidence comes from when he declares that he will win the title.”

Later, the AC Milan players were also interviewed about this incident.

“Nottingham Forest? Didn’t they say the same thing last season? That they would definitely win the championship title? And what happened?” Gattuso did not hold back at all, but it fit with his tough style on the field. He continued, “I think this is meaningless. No matter how loud he shouts, the real champion will always be decided in the game. If he can’t beat us, it’s no use for him to say any more. If the number of times someone said the word champion guaranteed victory, then I’d say it a hundred times a day.” Gattuso laughed, and so did the reporters.

AC Milan was a very image-conscious club and generally did not allow the players to express any views at will, especially for sensitive issues. Only Gattuso said what he thought and expressed his real opinions in front of the reporters. The others were vague in the interview and just glossed over it.

Kaka was asked the most questions because he was also in the limelight at the airport. Although his limelight was overshadowed by Twain, the reporters wanted to hear Kaka’s assessment of the manager.

“I don’t know what to say. I don’t know him. I haven’t played under him. You want me to evaluate him, and all I can say is I don’t know…. That incident? He just wanted to leave early. It’s normal. Is there anything wrong?”

Kaka was the same as AC Milan in that he was very image-conscious. He would never said “never,” and he would never offend anyone. Therefore, his reply was a great disappointment to the media.

“So how would you feel about someone like that as your manager?” a bold reporter asked.

The question caught Kaka off guard, and he froze for a moment. No one knew if he was in a daze, or if he was thinking seriously about an answer to the question. Then he shook his head. “I don’t know.” Perhaps seeing the disappointment in the eyes of the reporters, he added, “I’ve never worked with a manager like that, so I don’t know how that would feel like.”

He ended the brief interview with his signature bright smile.

The reporters expressed disappointment as they looked at his departing figure.

“Compared to them, I like to interview the Forest team more…” an English reporter complained. “At least they dare to say anything.”

“Dare to say anything? What if there’s trouble for the team and the club because of they can’t hold their tongues?” An Italian reporter expressed his doubts and disdain for the English reporter’s statement.

A group of Englishmen laughed. “What are you afraid of? Tony Twain will clean up their messes! That’s what all the Nottingham Forest players think.”

※※※

Just like trying to validate the claims of these English reporters, shortly after AC Milan left the Olympic Stadium of Athens, the Nottingham Forest bus with the entire team slowly approached. It was their turn to adapt to the field.

Once the bus came to a complete halt, reporters surrounded the bus door, ready to interview the people who got off.

The first to jump off was not the team’s manager, but the assistant manager, Dunn.

With regard to the Chinese, the English reporters knew he was reticent, so no one went up to interview him. Twain looked up at the reporters around him with a cool gaze. He saw that Tang Jing had waved to him from a distance.

“I won’t disturb you but remember your promise! You must give me an exclusive interview in time!” Tang Jing shouted in Mandarin, and Dunn nodded as he squeezed out among the reporters.

Then the Forest players came out.

In packs of twos and threes with their arms around each other’s shoulders, they looked like they were going to a restaurant instead of coming to adapt to the field.

A reporter stopped them to hear their views on the final.

“Do you have to ask? The Championship title! We will definitely be the champions!” The Romani, Eastwood yelled while he raised his hand to make a “victory” sign. Ribéry stuck his tongue out and made funny faces.

This group of people walked out amidst the sounds of laughter.

The English reporters were not surprised at their behavior. The Italian media just shook their heads, thinking that these nobodies acted recklessly and that the player from the Wales national team dared to come out with such conceited claptrap. They were delighted when they saw van Nistelrooy get down from the bus. This man should be able to answer their questions properly, right?

An Italian journalist asked van Nistelrooy with halting English, “Ruud, what do you think of tomorrow’s final?”

The answer prepared in advance in many people’s minds was “AC Milan is a strong team, and we will go all out for the victory.” It was conventional answer. Most importantly, it did not aggravate either side, fully expressing respect for the opponent, but also reflecting the confidence in their own strength. It was a good answer.

“The championship title, thank you.” The Dutch striker smiled and put up two fingers at the Italian reporters before he left under the other party’s stunned gazes.

Well, the Italian reporters thought. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s football club career was short of a UEFA Champions League title, so it was understandable that he thirsted for the title…

Demetrio Albertini jumped down from the bus and the Italian reporters were all excited when they saw him. Their old acquaintance was here. This man had a good relationship with both the Italian footballers’ circle and the media. He was the best person to ask any questions.

A group of people crowded forward and thrust out microphones, cell phones and recording pens.

“Demetrio! Demetrio!” They shouted in Italian, “Answer a few questions, we won’t take up too much of your time!”

Albertini heard the familiar language of his country and he stopped to stand in front of the reporters.

“Oh, it’s you guys.” There were a few familiar faces among the reporters.

“First of all, congratulations on getting into the Champions League final again! Two years in a row for the final, it’s amazing!” Some of the Italian reporters gave a thumbs up.

“Are you praising our manager? Getting to the final is not due to me alone.” Albertini said with a grin, but it embarrassed the reporters a little. He was right. Getting to the final was definitely not solely dependent on Demetrio’s ability. If credit were to be given, Twain should receive the first-class merit. They had wanted to please Albertini but did not expect that they’d be praising Tony Twain instead. How could they not be embarrassed?

“Let’s talk about the final. You’re retiring when this game is over…” A reporter cleared his throat and asked, breaking the awkwardness.

Albertini nodded. “Yes, I had originally decided to retire at the end of last season, but Twain urged me to stay and play for another year. I was undecided at the time. Now it looks like I was right to stay on so that I can play in the Champions League final again. It’s an experience that not every professional player can enjoy.” While Albertini was in AC Milan, he had helped the team break into the Champions League final three times in five years and picked up two trophies. Everyone knew the story that happened later on. He was mercilessly abandoned by AC Milan and had left for the United Kingdom. Unexpectedly, he ended in Nottingham Forest where his career had a second revival. He had advanced to the Champions League final two years in a row. Including his three times with AC Milan, he had reached the final five times as a player, which was a remarkable achievement. Among active players, only the Dutchman, Seedorf, could be compared with him. And coincidentally, Seedorf was currently on the AC Milan team.

“But the opponent of this final is AC Milan, Demetrio.” One reporter from the La Gazzetta dello Sport asked the question that made everyone uncomfortable. Everyone had tried to avoid mentioning it, but how could one turn a blind eye to such an amusing and newsworthy topic?

Every topic about AC Milan was difficult for Albertini to face. On the one hand, it was his mother team and had groomed him and made him successful. On the other hand, it was also the team that had mercilessly ditched him at the end of his career.

Should he feel love or hate?

In the early days of his abandonment, he always adhered to one belief: no matter what, he was going back to San Siro, back to AC Milan.

As time went by, the belief slowly turned into a bubble. The moment he decided to go to Nottingham Forest, he waved goodbye to that belief. He knew he would retire there, no matter what else he could achieve.

After the leaves turned yellow and fell from the branches to the ground, they slowly rotted and decomposed in the soil to nourish the tree. They sacrificed themselves to repay the tree’s nurturing grace.

A leaf like Demetrio Albertini, who specialized in banana shots, could only be blown to an unfamiliar place by the wind, slowly rotting and gradually forgotten. He did not have a chance to be Baresi or Paulo Maldini, “loyal subjects” that the clubs focused on promoting.

The boss said that everyone had their own unique path. For Albertini, becoming a drifting cloud was his path. So was it his destiny to face his former teammates and the team that groomed him in a very important games in the final moments of his career?

Perhaps if he had decided to retire a year ago, there would not have been such an encounter today.

“Is this game going to be your revenge on AC Milan?” The reporter from La Gazzetta dello Sport added what everyone cared about the most.

Albertini looked up at the other man without a smile on his face.

Twain appeared at the bus door. He saw Albertini surrounded by reporters, and heard the Italian reporter ask a question in Italian, which made Albertini change a little.

He just stood at the door and did not come down. He did not want to be the leading character.

Albertini shook his head and looked serious. “It will be my tribute to AC Milan to win the championship.”

With that, he pushed the crowd aside and walked out with his head bowed.

The reporters had no idea that they were going to hear that answer from Albertini, who had always been cultured and refined. The Italian reporters looked at each other.

Even Albertini was this certain…

“Everyone is adamant that they’re going to win the championship title,” someone murmured. “What magic did Tony Twain perform on them?”

They truly had not anticipated the situation. They had also asked AC Milan those questions during the interview. Other than a small number of people who were convinced that they would win the championship title, most of them did not say insist.

Now they could understand why this English team would be so aggravating and reprimanded as “arrogant.”

Arrogance combined with true strength would make them kings but arrogance without ability would only reduce them to clowns.

Which one was Nottingham Forest?

Twain got down from the bus and his footsteps roused the Italian reporters.

Seeing his relaxed look, everyone seemed to see the answer.

Why were these people so adamant that they would win?

Because there was a person behind them.

“Mr. Twain, can we talk about this final…” There were others who still relentlessly sought answers.

“Didn’t you all hear it? No matter how many times you ask, the answer is the same — we are the champions.” He raised both his hands and made the sign for “victory.”

At the same time, flashbulbs went going off and the English media outside coordinated well with him.

Twain was about to go once the photo taking was done, but some Italian reporters were still reluctant to give up and continued to ask, “confidence is certainly a good thing! But, Mr. Twain, aren’t you afraid of any surprises when you speak so confidently? You must know that a football is round, anything can happen in the game…”

Twain looked back at the reporter and enunciated every word. “Surprise? I won’t allow that to happen. Also, in this game, the football is triangular, my dear Mr. Journalist.”