Chapter 606: McClaren’s good luck
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
There was no England game on November 17th, but a broadcast by English television stations would be watched by countless people. Russia had an away challenge against Israel. The outcome of the game would determine England’s eventual fate in its advancement.
If Russia won, then the two teams would have played the same number of games and Russia would lead by one point. England would face Croatia in last round of the group while Russia would face the weakest team, Andorra. From the looks of it, it was certain that Russia would win. In that case, even if England won against Croatia, it would not be able to avoid the misfortune of being knocked out.
Therefore, Russia’s away game against Israel would be the focus of all of England.
Twain sat in front of the television to watch the game. He was not concerned about whether England could advance or not. He had no interest in the fate of the England team. It was just that he had two players from his team in Russia’s starting lineup. Since English television stations were going to broadcast it, he might as well inspect the two players’ performances.
Even though Akinfeev was a subst.i.tute for Edwin van der Sar on Nottingham Forest for the time being and had only played in the EFL Cup, that had not affected his position as the main goalkeeper in the Russia team in any way. Hidd.i.n.k had once expressed his displeasure at Twain putting Russia’s number one goalkeeper on the bench, but Twain pretended not to hear it and did what he wanted. He had originally wanted to promote Akinfeev. Who could have thought that Edwin van der Sar’s form would be so good that not only he did not lose his fighting spirit, but he was also fired up by last season’s Champions League victory? He continued to be in top form this season. Since a goalkeeper’s position valued experience and Edwin van der Sar was in a good shape, Twain naturally put him in the starting position.
Arshavin, another member of the Forest team, was currently the captain of the Russian national team. He wore the number 10 jersey and was the core of the team’s offensive organization on the field. In the game England had an away loss to Russia, Arshavin scored one goal and even a.s.sisted his teammates with a goal. He played actively in the entire game, giving England’s rear defensive line of star players a headache.
In Nottingham Forest, he was luckier than his fellow Russian because he received numerous appearances, as well as goals and a.s.sists because Eastwood was always injured. The English fans were also gradually more familiar with him. During his rookie season in the English Premier League, his performance could be scored seventy points. It proved, once again, that Tony Twain had a good eye for players. In fact, Arshavin’s skills were very much in line with Twain’s tactics — his speed, flank attacks, and plug ins from the back. Moreover, Arshavin’s style of play fit well with the pace of the English Premier League and was not as unadaptable as Grosso.
With the two Russian players playing in the Premier League, the English commentator was familiar with them. However, he did not say anything nice about Russia. He wanted Israel to win from the start of the game.
Although the game was between Israel and Russia, the leading figures seemed to be England and Russia.
Before the game, the Chelsea chairman, Abramovich, promised to reward everyone with 100,000 pounds as long as Russia could defeat Israel! And during Russia’s home win over England, Abramovich walked into Russia’s locker room after the game and gave out a 500,000 reward to each national footballer on the spot!
As a result, due to the Mourinho incident, as well as Twain’s swearing incident, the English media was almost entirely against the Chelsea boss because of their national honor.
The Russian was in action, and so were the English people. Before the game, the entire English team had launched a multi-faceted PR campaign: the national team players lobbied and campaigned their Israeli teammates at their respective clubs in the hope that they would not throw the game for the sake of their friends.h.i.+ps. Crouch’s and Gerrard’s Liverpool teammate, Benayoun, could not be in the game due to injuries, which was a blow to the English people. Chelsea’s center-back, the Israeli, Ben Haim, was also “tempted” by Joe Cole. He revealed, “These days, my English teammates have been putting pressure on me. Cole said that as long as I beat Russia, I can choose where to go for a holiday and he will foot the bill. I don’t know if he’s joking, but I’d like to try it. Hopefully Israel will get a good result because I also want to help Mr. Abramovich save money.” The Israeli midfielder, Tamir Cohen, also had an English complex. He said, “My father, Avi used to play for Liverpool and he loved Liverpool and England.”
The English media continued to publish articles urging UEFA to closely monitor the game; UEFA’s official partners, which were some of Britain’s biggest companies, were also busy, hoping to help Israel defeat Russia.
However Israel and Russia were the teams that were actually going to be playing.
“I don’t care what the English or the Russians say.” The Israeli manager, Kashtan, said in an interview before the game, “I just want my team to perform well.”
Obviously, he was a little disgruntled that the real protagonist had become a supporting actor, but his remark rea.s.sured England.
As expected, ten minutes into the game, the Israelis took the lead on their own home ground. The British commentator was thrilled, as if England had scored the ball, constantly chanting the name of the goalscorer.
For his part, Twain just shrugged.
In the 60th minute, Russia finally equalized the score. The television broadcast immediately quieted down. After a while, the commentator’s voice piped up again, sounding extremely frustrated.
What would happen if Russia and Israel drew? England had to beat Croatia to secure its advancement. England would be better off if Russia lost to Israel. Then they just needed to draw with Croatia to advance.
A draw would ensure that they could advance.
Twain took his eyes off the television screen as he recalled past events…
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On the television, the game continued thousands of miles away in the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. Russia equalized the score after they stepped up the offensive. They also could not put the hope of advancement in the final round on Croatia, who had advanced ahead of time, to carry forward the spirit sportsmans.h.i.+p. Only an away victory over Israel would put the fate of their advancement in their own hands.
On the other hand, the Israelis seemed to be content with the result of a draw with Russia. Their attack was not fierce and even gradually withdrew with the intention to hang on to the one point. The English commentator impatiently shouted, “they definitely won’t be able to hold if they start defending so early! Conservative play usually doesn’t end well!”
Unfortunately, the Israelis could not hear his shouts and withdrew into the penalty area to contend with the Russians, as if they did not want to win the game. Twain started to imagine that there had to be a lot of drunk English fans who were currently admonis.h.i.+ng the Israelis.
Unexpectedly, there was a sudden change in the game at the last minute. In the 92nd minute, the score was still at 1:1. The English commentator had given up. He listlessly started the formality of introducing to the audience what England would face under such circ.u.mstances —”We must have a home win over Croatia in the last game so that even if Russia and Andorra have a lot of goals, it won’t affect our advancement… Yes, that’s the case…”
He had not finished speaking when he saw the Israelis suddenly rally.
“What? This is… Omer Golan!” the commentator, who saw the replay shot, screamed with excitement. “Omer Golan! Golan, I love you! He created a miracle! This is a last-minute goal! A fatal shot from the Israeli! So deadly that the Russians are screwed!! The Israelis beat the Russians at home! They have lived up to the spirit of sportsmans.h.i.+p and fair play! They are the pride of professional football!”
This commentator almost yelled “they are possessed by Divinity.”
Seeing the commentator this excited, Twain felt acid surge in his stomach. He did not want to see such a comedic scene again, so he lifted his hand to turn off the television.
Shania, who heard the loud roar from the television upstairs, got curious and came down, only to see a dark screen.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Nothing.” Twain shrugged. “I was watching a film that was said to rival One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. But after I watched a little, I was disappointed. There was no flying at all. It was completely “a cuckoo’s nest,” so I turned it off.”
Shania was even more baffled. “Weren’t you watching a football game?” she asked.
“Yes, the game is over.”
“What’s the result?”
“The English have won.” Twain said unkindly.
Shania thought for a moment and laughed. “In other words, Israel beat Russia? England’s hope of advancement looks promising. But why do I think that you’re not happy at all?”
Twain stood in the living room and looked up at Shania on the stairs. He spread out his hands and waved. “The FA is not paying me. Why should I be happy for their victory?”
Shania took it that Twain and the Football a.s.sociation had a very deep contradiction, so she did not ask further. Little did she know that Twain was unhappy because he had never been an England fan or an Englishman, so he did not need to get mixed up with others’ domestic affairs.
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The next day, almost all the newspapers that Twain was able to see on the market used the front-page s.p.a.ce to cover the game that took place the day before. Omer Golan seemed to become a hero for all of England overnight, and some people even seriously suggested that the bosses and managers of the English Premier League clubs purchase the player. Twain would find it amusing to see such similar comments every time — in fact, most of the time, he did treat a lot of the English media’s comments as jokes.
However, it was understandable that the English people were so excited, because the Israelis had an upset win against Russia. Although Croatia lost to Macedonia, it had been announced that Croatia had advanced early because Croatia still had a three-point gap with the second-placed England, coupled with the outcome of the two teams’ game was in Croatia’s favor.
England only needed to tie with Croatia at the new Wembley Stadium to be able to advance to the UEFA European Champions.h.i.+p finals as the group’s second ranked team. That way, even if Russia defeated Andorra, the two teams shared the same points but according to the compet.i.tion results of the two teams, England ranked ahead of Russia.
Now it was the Russians’ turn to panic.
Twain coolly watched the play. He was an outsider. England’s inability to play in the UEFA European Champions.h.i.+p was no loss to him. The English national footballers in his team could even get a pleasant vacation next summer.
Before the game, England organized a friendly with Austria and the media sourly stated, “if Russia defeats Israel, then this friendly is likely to be the closest England will get to the UEFA European Champions.h.i.+p.” Indeed, it would be geographically closest.
The friendly match was on the 16th. After the friendly, the England team flew back to the United Kingdom and was dismissed, with all the players watching the game at home.
McClaren’s luck was unbelievable. He had one foot out the door. After the game, both of his feet were firmly planted on the ground and he was safe for the time being.
Now the pressure was on the Russian side and the English team only needed a draw. The English media was jubilant, as if they had already advanced.
When Twain saw the scene, he really wanted to remind them that a draw to advance was the world’s most terrible curse and the sweetest trap. He could even give them examples from Chinese football, which, of course, the conceited Britons would not listen to, because the difference between the levels of Chinese and English football was like night and day. But in Twain’s view, English football had a lot of things in common with the Chinese football, such as the media and the Football a.s.sociation.
Of course, Twain currently could not be bothered to do such a thankless thing.
There were also reportera coming to interview Twain. These days, many people in the English football circle had come out for interviews, to talk about how wonderful the England team’s prospects were, to get a tied game and advance was almost equal to their advancement now, Croatia would not do its best, or enthusiastically promote the friends.h.i.+p between the two countries.
Even the Frenchman, Wenger, came out to say he was bullish on England’s victory. In order to prove that he was not saying it just for show, he a.n.a.lyzed the reasons for England’s victory from a tactical standpoint in detail. That strengthened the confidence that many English fans and the media had for the looming better future.
When Twain was asked, he said, “if I were to express a different view, would I become everyone’s enemy?” Then without waiting for the dumbfounded reporter’s response, he put up two fingers and claimed, “England can score at least two goals!”
He did not say the second part. The reporters could use their own imagination. What did it mean to score two goals in one’s own home ground? The game was basically won! The crowd left Wilford with a wonderful wish.
On the last day before the game on the 20th, Twain could not help but express his concerns in his column, tactfully saying how terrible the idea of “a draw to advance” was. It was similar to what Wenger had said except that Wenger had followed up saying that he had faith in the English team. On the other hand, Twain stated the English people were so optimistic that it might fail miserably in a very easy task, not to mention that Croatia was not an “easy task.”
If he had only said that, the comment could still be acceptable. But following it, he said it was still fine to get a draw, but England’s midfield lacked a good defensive midfielder. If McClaren really wanted to defend, it would not work to depend on the big-name players. Hargreaves was injured during training before the game and was unable to play in the important game. England was basically without a defensive midfielder. Did they hope to tie the game with such a lineup? Did they really think that Croatia’s forward line, which had scored twenty-five goals, was for show?
Therefore, he thought that since McClaren was not going to recall George Wood, then it would be the road to disaster if he still wanted to hold the ground. As for the good luck, “when the Israelis beat the Russians, McClaren had used up all his good fortune.”
By saying so, he gave people the idea that he seized the opportunity to achieve his personal vendetta and promote his players. It naturally gained no favors. There were already voices saying that it was inappropriate for Twain to pour cold water on everyone and cause the players to lose heart. Twain could not be bothered to wage a war of words with the ignorant people. He had expressed his opinions and would shut up and wait quietly for the fate of England and McClaren to arrive.
He could not predict the future, but there were some future events that he could still guess, such as the break between Mourinho and Abramovich, and the fate of the English team, which had been spoiled by the media and the public and lwas ed by the mediocre man, McClaren.