Chapter 877: Conflict
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Ribéry fell in the Nottingham Forest’s penalty area, Evan Doughty, who was seated in the Executive Box, had a very interesting expression on his face as he looked like he ate a plate of caterpillars. But the exciting event was happening on the pitch and not off it.
Pepe thought that he pushed Ribéry very softly and it would interrupt Ribéry’s action for a little, thus preventing him from having an opportunity to take a volley. However, he did not expect Ribéry to take advantage of it and fall inside the Forest penalty area. That was a penalty kick!
Pepe suddenly flared up while watching Ribéry lying on the ground, a surge of fire rushed into his head and his eyes turned red immediately.
First, he gave a direct kick to Ribéry’s leg with so much force that he lost his balance too and fell next to Ribéry.
The matter was not over yet. He then pressed onto Ribéry’s head and roared into his ears while gritting his teeth, “You’re a lying, shameless scoundrel!! b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You…son of a b*tch!”
He wanted to continued screaming but he realized that Ribéry’s face was crushed so much that its shape had changed under his full force.
This scene was really terrifying for anyone witnessing it.
Pepe was not aware of it at all. He was still using force and he was still screaming. Even after he got up, he was still trying to aim a kick towards Ribéry.
“Pepe!” Bale tried his best to stop Pepe while Woodgate stood in front of Pepe, preventing him from lunging at Ribéry.
Ribéry was still on the ground.
The Real Madrid players had already rushed over to defend Ribéry. Higuaín went forward to argue with Pepe, but Pepe launched a punch towards Higuaín’s face across Woodgate!
Pepe was totally different from the usual impression of a benign and uncontentious person that he gave people. He was as furious as a thunderstorm and everyone standing ahead of him had to be prepared to receive his wrath.
“d.a.m.n it, he’s trying to punch people!” Benzema rushed over to try and exact vengeance on Pepe. He watched Higuaín squat down clutching his face and it looked like it was not a light punch.
He was cordoned off by the Forest players before he could go over.
The players from both sides cl.u.s.tered together in that small area, pus.h.i.+ng and shoving each other while spouting vulgarities. For a moment, it was a totally chaotic situation.
Even though Bale and Woodgate were holding on to Pepe and trying to separate him, Pepe still kept trying to escape their hold to go towards Ribéry. At the same time, he kept shouting, “You liar! Don’t dive if you have the guts! d.a.m.n traitor! Diving for a penalty, useless fellow! Son of a b*tch!”
“Enough, enough!” Bale was holding on to Pepe from behind and he felt that it was very exhausting. Pepe was like a raging bull that he was trying to stop, “Stop scolding, Pepe! You’re in big trouble! You’re about to be sent off!”
“So what!” Pepe was in so much rage that he did not care if he would be sent off. All he wanted to do then was to teach that diving traitor a lesson. He gave his shoulders a powerful shrug, managed to escape the hold of Bale and Woodgate, and it looked like he was going to continue rus.h.i.+ng forward.
Just then, George Wood grabbed him by the throat with one hand and stopped his cursing before they left his throat. n.o.body saw where Wood came from, and n.o.body saw him make his move.
He looked at the stunned Pepe with a cold look, “Calm down.”
Veins popped out on Pepe’s neck as he competed with Wood in strength. Too bad he was unable to defeat his captain who was way stronger than him, and he could only grit his teeth and stare straight at Wood.
Wood exerted some force and pushed Pepe back, “Get out of here!”
“d.a.m.n…it!” Pepe gave a low growl.
“This isn’t a boxing ring,” Wood stared at Pepe and lunged at him after saying that, holding him tightly as he dragged him off the pitch.
“Let me go, let me teach that weak traitor a lesson!”
Pepe was still struggling, but it was to no avail. He could not beat Wood and he was dragged to the sideline eventually.
Just when Pepe was still struggling, the referee wriggled out from within the group of impulsive players and ran towards Pepe before showing him a direct red card!
The Real Madrid fans directed their jeers toward Pepe while the Nottingham Forest players booed the diving Ribéry. At that moment, there were only jeers ringing out from the stands.
After Wood dragged Pepe to the sideline, he pushed him out with one hand. Pepe did not return to the pitch this time. He merely shouted at the linesman a.s.sisting the referee who flagged for a penalty, “b.a.s.t.a.r.d referee, my advice to you is to get a pair of gla.s.ses! No, you’d better bring your brain along!”
The a.s.sistant referee did not take it lying down as he returned fire, “You’re a violent person and you have no rights to be telling me how to do my job.”
Pepe did not pay any attention to him as he walked towards the tunnel, spewing curses such as “d.a.m.n you”, “d.a.m.n him” and he was still scolding them as he walked in front of Twain. Twain gave him a slap on the back of his head.
“What are you doing?” Twain stared at the startled Pepe angrily, “Look what you’ve done! We’ve given away a penalty kick and we’re also one man down!”
Pepe tried to defend himself, “I didn’t commit a foul, that was a dive…”
“Even if it was a dive, can’t you f*cking calm down? b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” Twain pulled Pepe towards the tunnel, “Think about it carefully in the changing room!”
Pepe refused to accept it and he pointed towards the pitch and shouted furiously, “Even if I’m calm, as calm as the d.a.m.n ice mountain! The referee will also give me a yellow card. Boss, I already have one!”
Twain was shocked by Pepe’s sudden explosion. He looked at Pepe and opened his mouth without saying anything.
“I hate that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Ribéry! I hate him! But I did not just hate him just now! I hated him to the core! He used an unscrupulous dive to get a penalty kick and get me sent off! This was the plan of that d.a.m.n b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I want him to pay for it! I won’t accept this!”
Pepe shouted with his fists clenched.
“But the price that you made us pay now…” Twain opened his arms and his tone was not as agitated as it was earlier.
Within the players’ tunnel where n.o.body could see them, Pepe finally calmed down amidst the jeers from outside. He went silent for awhile before losing all his strength as his shoulders relaxed.
“Sorry. Sorry, boss…” He muttered in a low voice, as if he was a child who recognized his mistake and was begging his father for forgiveness.
Twain moved to touch his bald head, “Franck is already a Real Madrid player, it’s natural for him to think from Real Madrid’s point of view. The two of you are just enemies in this match, not sworn enemies for life. If you wanted to make him pay, you should work hard to stay in the match and defeat him and his team, lift the trophy in front of his eyes,” Twain sighed as he said that, “But it’s useless saying anything now, you’re already sent off. Go back to the changing room…”
He did not expect Pepe to shake his head and said with conviction, “No, boss. I’ll stay here, I want to watch our team defeat Real Madrid.”
Twain shrugged his shoulders, “It’s up to you.”
Then he turned and walked out of the tunnel and back to the manager’s seat.
The conflict on the pitch had already ended at that moment. After George Wood pushed Pepe out of the pitch, the people involved in the altercations had already dispersed. The referee gave Mitch.e.l.l and Benzema who both threw punches in the conflict a yellow card each, putting the blame equally on both parties. However, this did not reduce the tension between the two teams. The Nottingham Forest’s players still stared at the Real Madrid players with anger in their eyes.
Franck Ribéry, the culprit who started everything, was surrounded by his Real Madrid teammates. Everyone around him was smiling happily, agitated even, but Ribéry himself had a forced smile on his face and he was not feeling especially emotional.
Of course, he knew he was exaggerating when reacting to the force of Pepe’s push. That push was so light that if he wanted to, his center of gravity would not even move a bit. But if he did that, he did not have absolute confidence to score. If that was the case, why insist on it? Almost 80% of the attacking players would choose to fall with no hesitation under such a situation to cheat a penalty kick…No, this was no longer “cheating”, it was making use of the rules logically…
When he thought about it that way, the guilt he felt deep inside lessened a little. He left the penalty area and waited for his teammate to take the penalty kick.
If this ball went it, Real Madrid would be pulled back from the cliff side. The suspense of the match could continue, and the Real Madrid fans did not need to leave early.
He stood outside the penalty area and watched Higuaín place the ball on the spot. There was sweat all over his palms.
※※※
Kerslake saw Twain walking back and he asked, “How is Pepe?”
“I think he has calmed down,” Twain looked towards the pitch while walking back, “Higuaín is going to take this penalty I see…”
“Honestly, Tony… Pepe gave me a scare just now. I’ve never seen him so furious before.”
“Me neither,” Twain looked at his a.s.sistant, “But…perhaps there will be something for everyone that cannot be provoked, something that they will never tolerate…”
To be honest, Twain had to thank Pepe. If Pepe did not explode with rage, he might have been the one who would be sent off. When he saw Ribéry dive, he almost cursed before he saw Pepe go berserk. And so, Twain naturally stopped himself from cursing as he was stunned by Pepe. Later on, Pepe attracted the attention of everybody else and he did not need to step up…
※※※
“Watching the replay of what Pepe did earlier…it’s really shocking,” even though Pepe was already sent off, his performance earlier still shocked the commentators, “Pepe is very good-tempered in Nottingham Forest and his defense on the pitch has always been clean. He did not even get a red card in this season, and most of the time, he would not be involved in any of the altercations on the pitch. For such a goody two shoes to act as if he was insane. It might be the pressure of the final…”
“His foul gave Real Madrid an opportunity to level the game just before the end. He might have exploded because of this. Looking at the slow-motion replay, there was no doubt that Pepe did push him, but Ribéry made the most of it too… For such a light push, he actually fell as though he was. .h.i.t by a truck…”
The commentator did not say that it was a dive, but they too, felt that Ribéry’s acting was very exaggerated. Nottingham Forest could feel a little aggrieved at conceding this penalty kick…
※※※
There was no point feeling aggrieved. Even if Ribéry really dived, the referee had already given the penalty kick, naturally, it could not be changed. The Nottingham Forest players all looked like they could not accept it as they stood outside the penalty area, waiting for Higuaín to take the penalty kick.
When Higuaín was taking the penalty kick, the away fans behind the Forest goal kept jeering in an attempt to affect the Argentine striker’s mentality.
Under ma.s.sive pressure, Higuaín calmly sent Akinfeev the wrong way and put the ball into the net.
The stands exploded and it felt like there was an earthquake.
The depressed emotions that the Real Madrid fans were keeping within them for so long could finally be released. They waved their fists and sang to their hearts’ content. At that moment, there was only one voice that could be heard in the huge Bernabéu Stadium.
“Viva la Madrid!!”
※※※
Akinfeev was totally duped by Higuaín’s eyes. He only realized that he went the wrong way after diving, and he turned back to see the ball fly into the center of the goal when he was still in mid-air…
Before Higuaín took the penalty kick, the Forest players and fans still had hope in their hearts——Under such ma.s.sive pressure, maybe the Argentine might put the ball over?
Unfortunately, Higuaín’s mental strength was definitely stronger than Lǚ Meng from the Wu Kingdom.
Higuaín ran to the part of the stands where the Nottingham Forest fans were gathered after he scored and made a “shut up” sign. What he got in return was ma.s.sive boos of course.
And Akinfeev kicked the ball which bounced back off the net towards the center of the pitch in frustration. Conceding a goal at the final moments of the match was really too damaging to their morale.
Michels stood at the sideline and applauded this penalty kick. On the other hand, Twain stood with his arms folded in front of him and did not say anything.
One could tell what the two managers were thinking about from the looks on their faces.
Michels must be celebrating the narrow escape that him and his team just experienced and Twain must have been cursing in his heart regarding this unexpected penalty kick.
The Real Madrid players were still celebrating the goal while the Nottingham Forest players looked crestfallen. Right after the goal from the penalty kick, the fourth official announced the injury time from the sideline.
Because of the conflict caused by Pepe, the injury time was a full five minutes.
Both sets of fans from Real Madrid and Nottingham Forest were satisfied with this amount of injury time as they did not want to give up on the match and go to extra time directly.
The Real Madrid players seemed more fired up about it. Their morale was high as they just levelled the score and they could not wait for the match to restart so that they could attack straight away.
Whereas Nottingham Forest was sh.e.l.l-shocked by this goal. There were still players surrounding the referee, attempting to explain what happened in the penalty area to him.
Twain watched this unfold and he knew that it was almost impossible for his team to score another goal to send Real Madrid into the abyss. He decided to give up on the thoughts of going for it.
“Tell them that we’ll play on the counter in the last five minutes,” Twain waved his hand without much strength as he told Kerslake beside him. Then he turned and walked back to the manager’s seat and sat down.
Eastwood was a little worried, he approached Twain and just when he was about to speak, Twain interrupted him and said, “I’m fine Freddy. Let me be alone for a while, I need to think about what to do in extra time…”
He looked down as he rubbed his temple and fell into deep thoughts.