Godfather Of Champions

On the computer screen, Gerrard, wearing England’s number 8 red jersey, blasted the ball into the goal amidst the boos from the German fans. Wearing a pair of earphones, an impeccably suited man could not help but raise his arms up and cheer loudly.

Although it was during office hours, no one was surprised by his actions, because everyone was doing the same thing as him. A dozen pairs of arms were raised high in the office and everyone cheered together.

But this situation was an exceptional case. Many people in a lot of companies and even government agencies left work early at this time. Majority of people gathered in bars ubiquitous in the streets everywhere, sipping beer with friends and watching the game.

The radios of every taxi were tuned into the radio stations that broadcast the match. Not only for the passengers, but also for the drivers themselves to follow the game.

The big-screen televisions in the train stations, plazas and large shopping malls were all playing the game broadcast. A lot of passers-by stopped in front of each screen to watch the game.

After seeing Gerrard score with the penalty shot, all of these people cheered as though there were nobody else present. Of course, Liverpool fans were the happiest because the man who helped England equalized the score was their captain.

“England equalizes the score! Now we can see the hope of victory again! The Germans are still protesting the penalty shot. But no matter how many times you watch the replay, there’s nothing wrong with the referee’s decision!” The commentator, John Motson again stressed the matter of the penalty shot.

“Yes! There’s nothing wrong!” The fans shouted along with him.

In fact, it did not matter even if there was a problem. It felt great to be able to score a goal against Germany, but it was even better that the goal itself had no problems, such as an offside position in the first place or for the ball to be judged crossed the line even though it was not…. So, the England fans liked to talk about the 1966 World Cup final all the time and taunt the Germans.

Every time Germany’s “Der Kaiser”, Beckenbauer came to London, he would be pulled in a conversation about the final of that year by taxi drivers, or else he would barely be able to leave the airport. The drivers wanted to ask if he thought Hurst’s goal had crossed the goal line.

Of course, technology later had proved that the ball was not completely over the goal line, but the English people enjoyed this kind of outcome.

※※※

Back at Valencia’s Nou Mestalla stadium, the England fans in the stands were singing loudly and cheering for England. The German fans chose to remain silent. The riot police in the stands were particularly nervous at this time, fearing that the England fans would provoke the German fans, and then both sides would break off the seats in the stands to fight a battle that was more intense than the game itself.

But fortunately, none of these things happened.

Sammer was disappointed with the goal concede. Now he had to rethink how to play for the rest of the game. They could still play conservatively with a one goal lead. What should they do now that the score was equalized?

No news came out of the other game. It looked like Portugal and Wales should be a draw too. In the case, based on the current situation, if both games ended in a draw and the four teams had each accumulated four points, then Germany would continue to be at the top of the group with a net goal advantage, thus allowing it to advance smoothly. Even if a winner was declared for the other game, whether Portugal or Wales won, Germany would still be able to advance as the second placeholder in the group with a net goal advantage over England. On the other hand, England would slip to the third place in the group. Depending on the results of several other groups, it could only be determined whether they were qualified to advance based on having the best results among the third placeholders in four teams.

For the Germany team, they could advance as long as they did not lose the game. They had more leeway than the England team.

Sammer was a person who cared more about the results than saving face. Since he could guarantee that they would advance as long as they did not lose the game, then they would maintain the draw to seek victory. If they press out and attack at this time, then England would likely seize the opportunity to score another goal. At that time, they would switch positions with the England team if they lost the game.

During his years as a player, Matthias Sammer was known as the best “free-role player” in the world since Beckenbauer and Baresi. Trained in the East German mechanical style, he placed emphasis on discipline and was insurmountable iron gate on the Germany team’s defensive line. He did not care if the football he played was beautiful, artistic or pleasurable to watch. He only cared about the result. Football was a sport that seek victory. If he could not win, then the effort expended would be meaningless.

After he became a manager, he stuck to that view.

He decided to keep the team focused on defense and counterattack as secondary. It was not necessarily to breach England’s goal. It was enough as long as they could hold on to the score line.

※※※

Contrary to Sammer’s conservative stance, Twain did not have the power to choose to play conservatively at this time. He must attack, and he could only attack. As a result, he stood on the sidelines and gave a big wave of his hand to signal for the entire England team to press forward and launch a siege on the Germany team. It was a complete reversal of the situation in the first half.

The England tried its hardest to pass the football from the sideline to Mitchell’s head. Unfortunately, the penalty shot was the only one. Mitchell was pressed from both sides by the German gigantic defenders and could not do anything. At this time, he must regret why he did not pay more attention to his strength exercises during the usual training.

Twain observed on the sidelines for a while and found that it was easy for the German players to defend against them if they blindly insisted on passing from the sides. Their height was an advantage, so headers were not a good idea. So, he called Walcott to his side during a dead ball opportunity. He instructed him not to cross the ball over anymore but instead to dribble the ball to break though by cutting inward.

The German defenders were tall and huge but inflexible with their turning. This was where they could take advantage of it.

Jansen was fast so Walcott could not take any advantage in that regard. Therefore, Twain let Walcott and Cohen regularly switched positions. Walcott went to the left side and Cohen came to the right side.

The right-footed player went to the left side which made it easier for him to cut inside and shoot. Twain wanted to create chaos for the Germany team’s rigid defensive line.

The effect was clear once Walcott went to the left side. The Germany team did not expect Twain to make such an arrangement. Because neither Cohen nor Walcott were players who were skilled at using both legs. Cohen could only use his left foot to shoot while Walcott’s left-foot technique could not bear comparison to his right foot. Sammer never thought that Twain would make the two men change positions, so there was no targeted arrangements on his part.

The Germany players found it difficult to defend. After all, players who were strong in their left feet or right feet had different technical action and habits. Being used to defending against a specific type of player would lead to inertial thinking, so that when he faced another player who played with a different leg, it would lead to errors in his judgment.

Lahm was an outstanding full back. He completely subdued Chris Cohen in the sideline, but he did not defend well when he was up against Walcott’s speed.

“Walcott accelerates …he suddenly stops and turns inward to cut inside! Gorgeous, he shakes off Lahm! And he shoots!!”

Adler punched the ball out with both hands and roared at Lahm. He was not happy with his teammate’s defense.

Soon Walcott made a comeback, but this time when Lahm tried to defend against his inside cut to break through, he chose to forcibly cross from the byline. Then in the face of Lahm catching up to him, he hooked the ball back and turned around to switch to using his strong right foot again to cross the ball. Unfortunately, Rooney’s shot deflected due to Westermann’s interference. It caused the Germans to break out in a cold sweat.

“You can’t allow him to run amok anymore!” Adler yelled at his teammates, “Whichever way you have to use, don’t let him go into the penalty area!”

Walcott’s vigor was a headache for the Germans. Twain also saw the advantage of such deftness in the face of tall defenders. He decided to make a substitution.

“Moke.” He turned around and gestured to Moke, who was sitting on the substitutes’ bench. “Go warm up and come back in five minutes.”

Moke was a little surprised. Despite being brought to Spain, he was widely regarded by the media as having little hope of appearing on the pitch. He was a player that shared the same fate as the third goalkeeper. Because in front of him there was Walcott, who had secured the main position, and Bentley who was excellent with passing. He himself had no other advantage other than his skills. He did not have a strong body; he was not fast, and his stamina was not good … It was such a great surprise to be brought to Spain by Twain that the media had been talking about it, saying that Twain must have brought him out with the mentality of “taking care of his own people.”

But now he had a chance to play!

Moke hurriedly put on a white vest and rushed out.

Five minutes later, he stood panting in front of Twain.

Twain glanced at the boy who had been taught a hard lesson by him before and said, “Are you tired after only running for five minutes?”

Moke hurriedly closed his mouth which had been opened while he gasped for air. He shook his head and said, “Not tired, boss! I was just… excited!” Actually, he was a little nervous. It was his first time making an appearance on behalf of the national team and he was up against such an opponent like Germany. It would be false if he were not nervous.

Twain looked at him and smiled, “Just so long you’re not nervous. I want you to replace Cohen as he’s not very effective on the right side. You go up and take advantage of your footwork skills and dribbling ability to break through from the side into the penalty area and create chaos as well as opportunities.” Twain pointed to the field as he spoke to Moke.

Moke nodded as he listened.

“If you’re unable to break through, then create place kicks. Of course, it’s better to get a penalty shot.” Twain chuckled.

“Okay, boss!” Moke laughed. The boss’ smile made him feel familiar and at ease. Although we are still at a disadvantage, the boss must have a way!

When the England team was awarded an out of bounds ball, Chris Cohen was brought off and Moke was brough on.

Although Cohen did not contribute much in the attack, his aggressive defense helped ease a lot of pressure on the team’s rear defensive line in the first half. Now that the England team did not need to focus on defense, his role was diminished.

“Well done, Chris.” Twain shook hands with Cohen, who had come off, and praised his performance.

Moke’s appearance suddenly strengthened England’s attack. The England team was no longer hobbling like a one-legged cripple during the attack. Whether it was Walcott on the left or Moke on the right, both players had excellent dribbling skills. Each of them had the ability to make the German defenders run in circles.

When the German players had just put their defensive focus on the right side, Moke was active again.

Moke’s speed was not fast, but his footwork skills was fancier than Walcott’s. Jansen was tricked by him and had to resort to using fouls several times to stop Moke from breaking through.

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“Ah ha! Well done, Moke! He does not have the slightest bit of stage fright in his first appearance for the national team. Look at his breakthrough… he uses his heel to knock the ball and change direction! He’s through!” John Motson shouted excitedly.

After Moke bypassed Jansen, he shielded the ball with his body, leaving Jansen unable to intercept the ball easily. Then he started to make his way into the penalty area.

Facing Mertesacker, who came forward to help defend, Moke was going to do the nutmeg so as to bypass him along with the ball. But he was blocked by Mertesacker on the outside when the football was pushed over. Moke, who fell to the ground face up, raised his hand to demand for a penalty shot, but the referee signaled for him to get up quickly and not to delay the time.

This time it was Twain’s turn to get angry on the sidelines and complained, “It’s a typical blocking foul! Do you need me to give you a lesson, Mr. Referee!”

The referee ignored him, and Twain scolded a few words before he shut his mouth.

Now that his team had the upper hand, the German team’s counterattack was not a threat. He was not too anxious. If there were only ten minutes left in the game, he would not have been willing to take things lying down.

※※※

Gerrard once again passed the ball to Moke on the right side. Schweinsteiger ran up to defend when he saw him take the ball. However, Moke went along the sidelines to knock the ball past the other person. Following which, when he was faced with the situation of intercepting players ahead and being pursued at the back, he then gave the ball to his own teammate, Michael Johnson who came up to help. After passing the ball, he continued to rush forward. Johnson also cleverly passed the ball back to him. It was a two over one pass!

Jansen learned to be clever this time and no longer rushed to make a move. Instead, he followed Moke and retreated backward. He tried to tackle the ball after he forced Moke near the corner flag. He did not expect Moke to shield the ball with his back toward him and turned his leg to use the arch of his foot to hook the ball between Jansen’s legs. Then, Moke quickly turn around and bypassed him!

Thanks to Jansen, Moke caught up with the ball on the end line. This time, he faced Mertesacker, the opponent who had blocked him last time. He did not choose to do the nutmeg but made the shot.

Being so close to the goal, Mertesacker dared not act to block the shot. Moke pulled the ball back while he stretched his leg to prevent the shot, then flicked his left foot and flashed past Mertesacker at the back.

Adler was hesitating whether to expand the area to block when Moke passed the ball!

The football passed through Westermann between his legs. Wayne Rooney got rid of Rolfes’ entanglement in the instant when Moke passed the ball and leapt forward. All he had to do in the face of a wide-open empty goal was to stick out his leg to kick…

Adler turned around to pounce on Rooney, but he was a step too late.

“Moke passes the ball… Rooney, Rooney, ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—GOOOOAL!! Easily pushes the ball into the goal! England leads 2:1, ahead of Germany!” Motson stood up from his seat with the microphone in his hand.

The England fans were already cheering when they saw Moke bypass Mertesacker. The cheers finally reached the climax after Rooney scored the goal.

“Long live – England!!”

※※※

There was nothing the Germany players could do about the goal concede. The diminutive Moke was like an agile monkey swinging through the dense forest. Their strong bodies simply could not block him and instead became obstacles to their defense. In this way, everyone watched as Moke nimbly turned his body to evade again and again and stirred up a foul atmosphere in front of the German team’s goal. Then he sent the football to the most dangerous place…

Sammer’s angry punch struck the sunshade behind him. Then when the one punch was not enough for him, he punched it again.

He did not make timely adjustments to Twain’s substitution, which led to serious consequences. His anger showed his dissatisfaction with his slow response.

Next door, Twain rushed to the sidelines and hugged Walker. Moke, who had just been brought on for less than ten minutes, had become the biggest contributor to them being in the lead, suggesting that his substitution had worked.

“We’re in the lead. Ah ha!” Walker shouted excitedly. There was now hope that they could directly advance to the next level.

Twain quickly calmed down and said, “Don’t be too happy yet, Des. Beware of Germany’s counterattack. We have to continue to strengthen our offensive and try to score another goal.”

He broke free from the excited crowd and waited for the players on the pitch to finish celebrating. Then he conveyed them his latest instructions.

But it looked like he would have to wait a little longer. The England players who had overtaken Germany, were so excited. Rooney had initially intended to stand and celebrate the goal, but now he was lying on the ground instead to celebrate – he was crushed under the weight of his ecstatic teammates.

The England fans obviously did not worry like Twain. At this time, they just wanted to cheer and celebrate to their hearts’ content as their team was ahead of their archrival, Germany. Whether it’s at the Nou Mestalla stadium or at home in England, chants of Rooney were flying in every corner.

Everyone saw a bright future of them stepping on the corpses of the Germany team to ascend to the top sixteen teams. That was the kind of future that made them excited just thinking about it…..