Godfather Of Champions

Kaka opened his arms with both hands pointed to the sky as he ran toward the corner flag. This was his signature celebratory move. Even in such a fierce final game, he first thanked his God for scoring the goal. He thanked his God, and his teammates thanked him. The AC Milan players cheered as they rushed toward him.

In the stands, the AC Milan fans set off the long-prepared fireworks and started singing “Milan! Milan!” again.

Although it was just a goal, it gave them a glimmer of hope to equalize the score. A fifty-meter-long lone breakthrough greatly boosted their morale!

“Is George Wood really that good? He even can’t stop our Kaka! During that fifty meters wild sprint, he could only follow behind as he ran! He serves the backdrop to Kaka’s brilliance, a little star dimmed by the radiance of the superstar!”

Wood sat on the ground supported by his hands and remained in a tackle position — one leg stretched outward and one leg pressed under his buttocks.

He could not hear the agitated gibberish of the Italian commentator, but he knew he had lost to Kaka. He had completely lost in terms of speed, skills or experience.

The defenders were not like the offense players. They did not have the right to lose because their loss likely meant that the entire team had lost as well.

The Forest players looked a little demoralized and were left speechless by Kaka’s goal. Even if they did not want to concede, they had no other choice — George Wood, the best defensive player on the team, did not manage to tackle the ball after he followed Kaka and ran for fifty meters. Pepe, who could easily rank within the top ten center-backs in the Premier League, was shook off by Kaka’s directional change and did not even get a chance to fight back.

What else was there to say about a goal like this?

It was a heavy blow.

※※※

The players were speechless, but Twain had a lot to say. He did not want to admit how good Kaka’s goal was, because if he were Wood, the attack would have disappeared right at the beginning.

He was furious off the field and brandished his hands as he growled at the field. “George! You bastard, get over here!”

Amidst the AC Milan fans’ thunderous cheers, Wood still heard Twain’s roar.

He got up and immediately ran over.

Twain pulled him toward his side and spoke in a low voice through gritted teeth. “You need to take full responsibility for this goal concede. You hear me?!”

Wood nodded. He was very well behaved.

“I know what you’re thinking, but you have to keep the occasion in mind. This is the Champions League final, not some f**king medieval duel between two knights throwing down the gauntlet! In order to win, you have to do whatever it takes and use whatever means!” Twain growled in Wood’s ear. Wood lowered his head in silence as he accepted the manager’s fury without question.

“What do I usually teach you? Defense is not a sleek job. It’s the most tiring and dirty job. Those fans…” He pointed to the AC Milan fans in the stands. “What they want to see is what you’re going to destroy. Whatever they like, you have to oppose. You have to be against them at all times, confront them! Do you understand?”

“I understand, boss.”

※※※

Albertini sensed a hint of danger. He turned his head and looked at the celebrating AC Milan players and fans in the stands.

This goal was so beautiful that it affected the mood of his teammates. It was too dangerous to ignore. He was the captain of the team, and the captain’s armband was not meant to look good. He had to do something.

He yelled loudly for his teammates to focus on him. He had something to say.

Everyone obediently gathered around except for Wood, who was called to the sidelines by the manager for his rebuke. Looking at the boss’s expression and gestures, and the way his lips seemed to spit out the words, those were definitely not nice words.

Time was precious, so Albertini did not care about the ranks. He ran over to interrupt Twain’s lecture to Wood.

“I’m sorry, chief. Do you mind if I call everyone together and say something?” He asked as he pulled Wood away.

Twain did not mind. In fact, he’d love for Albertini do so. What was the captain’s job? It could be said that the captain was the team’s on-field manager and could help the manager accomplish a lot of things that could not be done from the coaches’ seats on the sidelines.

While the AC Milan players were celebrating, Albertini gathered his teammates together.

“It’s just a goal, guys. You don’t have to be so downcast, we’re still one goal ahead of them.” He glanced at the AC Milan players celebrating and continued, “this is the Champions League final. No championship title can be so easily obtained without experiencing repeated obstruction by the opponent. And, look…” He pointed at the AC Milan players.

“They only scored a goal and haven’t equalized the score and yet they are so excited. They are the AC Milan team, the leading powerhouse club in Italy. But now they’re celebrating as if they won the championship. What does that mean? It shows that they are afraid of us. Only one goal and they’re already behaving like that. They feel secure, but in fact they are still trailing behind us. I used to be an AC Milan player, I know the team. They’re not as strong and invincible as you think they are. They also have a lot of weaknesses. For example, they’re not really good at kicking in the headwinds. Think about that night in Istanbul in 2005 when Liverpool scored three goals in a short period of time and they just panicked.”

Some of Albertini’s words were not true, because to be honest, no team could guarantee to be calm in the face of losing three goals in ten minutes. He had said it only to try and restore the confidence of the Forest players and calm their state of mind.

“So, we still have a chance to maintain our lead over them now. I’m not the boss, but I also play the football manager games. I know about the mindset of some managers. If I were the boss, I would bring on the offense players and step up the offense instead of continuing to hold fast to defense. Do you know why?” Without waiting for the guys to answer, he went on to answer, “because if we don’t widen the gap again, it will always give the opponent the hope of levelling the score or even to overtake. This kind of hope is behind their enthusiastic motivation. They will tirelessly launch waves of offensive against our goal and the pressure on our defense will only increase. It will absolutely not decrease. There’s only one way to solve this situation now and that is to score more goals. If we can score another goal, they will be finished!”

Albertini clenched his fists as he spoke. It was as if he had forgotten that he was once an AC Milan player.

He glanced at his opponent again and discovered that the AC Milan people were done celebrating, so he clapped his hands. “Remember what the boss said before the game? No matter what situation you face, don’t give up. It’s not the worst yet. Chin up. When they think they can beat us, we’ll show them how wrong they are!” Indefinably, Albertini had a trace of Tony Twain’s shadow on him. Working with Twain for three years had affected him.

Everyone clapped their hands and spread out. Albertini stopped Wood again as he had something to say to his midfield partner alone.

“George, are you still thinking about the goal concede?”

Wood first shook his head and nodded.

Albertini smiled. “Don’t think about it. As a defensive midfielder, there will be many moments like that. If you think about every goal, you don’t play the game. You heard that, didn’t you? Although the boss has not made an adjustment, we need to attack now. We can’t win this game on the defense alone.”

Wood continued to nod in agreement.

“But I can’t run.” Albertini spread his hands and smile somewhat helplessly as he said, “Pirlo keeps running non-stop. I exerted too much, led by my nose as he ran. If the offense needs me to rush up, I’m afraid I won’t be able to return.”

Wood noticed that Albertini’s gasps were greater than before the goal was conceded. His jersey was almost soaked in sweat. He would turn thirty-six in August, and high-intensity games like the Champions League final were really not easy for him.

“So, I need you to help me. Let’s adjust our positions a little. You lean forward slightly, and I’ll be behind you. You’ll go up when the team needs to attack, and I’ll be in the back to protect you. You’re young and have good stamina. Since you are fast, you can come back when you go up. I can’t think of a more suitable candidate than you.”

Wood did not nod immediately, nor did he shake his head.

Albertini saw his hesitation and smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. There’s nothing to hesitate about. You’re still doubting your ability to attack? This final is the last game I will play in my career before I retire and return to my home in Italy. You can’t always depend on someone like me to be around. You need to solve problems on your own a lot of times. When you need to move forward, go right ahead and don’t worry. I’ve got your back.” He stopped speaking and nudged Wood away before he ran off.

※※※

Albertini was correct in what he said. After scoring a goal, AC Milan’s morale was boosted, and they were in high spirits. They launched a more ferocious attack on the Forest team’s hinterland than before. With only one goal difference, AC Milan was fired up like a shark that smelled blood in the sea and chased Nottingham Forest relentlessly.

Twain made his first substitution in the game three minutes after the goal concede. He deployed Gareth Bale, the full-back better at offense to replace Leighton Baines.

This signal could not be more obvious — Twain wanted the team to attack.

The Forest players could not help but look at the team captain, Albertini. He was absolutely right. The boss wanted to attack.

Five minutes later, Twain made a second substitution. This time, he brought on the striker, Freddy Eastwood to replace van der Vaart.

Everyone understood the first change, but they were puzzled by the second change — they originally thought Eastwood would replace the physically weaker Albertini. They did not expect van der Vaart, who performed well, to be replaced.

Ancelotti secretly smiled at the substitution. He felt that Twain valued Albertini too much and chose to believe in the veteran’s experience. However, Albertini obviously could no longer run, and his experience was useless. Pirlo had already shaken him off twice in a row and sent out threatening passes. Had it not been for Wood closely marking Kaka, the score would definitely not remain at 1:2.

If Twain was so confident in Albertini’s experience, then Ancelotti did not mind letting Twain fall head first on that trust.

He walked to the sidelines and motioned for Pirlo to be back as the core of the team’s offensive organization and for whoever on the team with the ball to try and hand it over to Pirlo so as to completely topple Albertini.

Van der Vaart thought he did not perform well and did not make any outstanding contribution to the team’s attack when he came off the field. Hence, the boss brought him off. He did not expect Twain to take the initiative to hug him and ask him to wait to go on the field to celebrate the win with a grin.

Eastwood charged up the field. With little time for him to perform, he had to treasure every second.

He did not blame the boss for making him a substitute for two consecutive Champions League finals. The boss had to think like a boss and a player only needed to listen to the commands. If he was not allowed to play, he would watch the game carefully and find something useful for himself. Once he was allowed to play, it would be the moment for these things play a role.

※※※

“There are always people who say Twain is a conservative manager. But while they are in the lead, instead of bringing on more defenders to strengthen the defense, he brings on the attacking players to continue offense. Can this still be considered conservative?” The English commentator of England started to protest on behalf of Twain when he saw these two replacements.

Twain did not care what other people thought of him.

He and Albertini thought alike. Strengthening the defense did not necessarily have to be achieved by increasing the number of defensive players. From another point of view, stepping up the offense could also help to reduce the pressure on the defense instead. He did not believe AC Milan would not retreat to defend in the face of the Forest team’s offensive. Naturally, if AC Milan really wanted to continue to attack, it would be exactly what Twain wanted. In that case, it meant that there would be a lot of empty space behind them. Providing they seized the opportunity, once would be enough to kill them!

※※※

Pirlo could see that Albertini was out of strength. He did not actually have to look at him. He could discern just by listening — every time Albertini defended against him, he felt like he had a large bellow around him.

He suppressed his opponent and passed the football to Kaka.

Kaka had just managed to break through Wood’s defense and crack open the goal to score. His morale was high, and he was in the right shape. There was no reason not to pass the ball to him.

Just as he turned to get ready to break through Wood’s defense, Woods managed to block Kaka outside the goal. At the time of the one-on-one breakout, the football that Kaka kicked out was struck by Wood’s heel and changed direction. The two players pounced in the wrong direction, but the next second, the two players kicked at the football at the same time.

Wood kicked the football out first before Kaka, and Kaka only kicked Wood’s calf.

Kaka was startled as he was afraid that Wood would fall and then the referee would give him a yellow card. It could be seen that the blow was not light from his action…

Wood eventually climbed up from the ground and turned around to throw himself into another bout of defense for the Forest team.

The football reached Kaka’s feet again. This time, Kaka did not choose to break through directly. He sent the football back to Pirlo, who came up.

Pirlo was going to do a two-over-one pass with Kaka. Before he could receive the ball, Albertini had skirted around him and intercepted the football. The Forest team escalated to launch a counterattack.

Pirlo had to turn around and retreat to defend.

Only this time, Albertini’s long pass lost some precision and the drop point was robbed by Gattuso. The Forest team’s fast attack did not happen.

Gattuso gave the football to Pirlo. Having started an attack, Albertini did not immediately enter his defensive position. Pirlo spotted the opportunity for a sharp and straight pass.

Kaka suddenly set in motion, intending to use his speed to break through Wood’s defense.

Wood had already learnt his lesson from that goal concede. The defensive player had no right to make a mistake. One mistake was enough. Wood did not want a second time. This time he waited for Kaka just as he was about to speed up and had not controlled the football to decisively shovel with his foot. He was ahead of Kaka and intercepted the football. Kaka could not stop in time and crashed into him. He fell to the ground, but the referee did not whistle for the foul.

The AC Milan fans naturally booed, while the Forest fans cheered loudly and applauded Wood’s defense.

AC Milan’s offense was not finished. If Kaka could not do it, Pirlo would.

They saw that Albertini was physically weak and handed the football over to Pirlo.

Pirlo once again took the ball and shook off Albertini. He looked up to observe the situation on the field. He was not as desperate as he had been ten minutes ago. The “big bellow” behind him was still far away from him.

Now he could calmly observe the situation on the field and decide how and where to pass the ball.

Out of habit, he first looked to Kaka.

There was no one around Kaka!

Where was the Forest team’s number 13, who was always inseparable from the Brazilian?

A soundless breeze appeared beside him. When Pirlo sensed the danger, he got ready to pass the football to Kaka, but he kicked the air instead…

George Wood had stabbed Pirlo’s ball and handed it to Albertini, who ran back.

Wood did not know how much he could achieve in offense for the future, and he did not know if he could really become good at both defense and offense like the “Metronomo,” Demetrio Albertini. But he had to admit one thing whether he wanted to or not — Albertini was leaving the team when the game was over.

Demetrio had said to him: I can’t run anymore. I am afraid I won’t be able to return once I go up, so you have to go up, George.

Wood had replied: you don’t have to come back. Just go up and wait in front. I’ll intercept the ball for you, and I’ll pass it to you. You’ll just be in charge of organizing the attack. Van der Vaart was already brought off. Our offense can only be organized by you.

The Forest team’s attack was blocked again. Maldini did a long pass to the front. Wood fought for the header against both Kaka and Seedorf and had the upper hand. He pressed the two opponents down and headed the football to Albertini.

When Albertini first came to the Forest team, Twain told Wood that he was his midfield partner and his teacher. He wanted him to learn everything from Albertini.

Wood’s mission on the field was to be Albertini’s bodyguard and to allow the metronome from Italy to attack without worries. Since when was Albertini needed to be a bodyguard for Wood?