Chapter 551
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"I thought with such an important final game, both teams would stabilize and hold. The opening ten minutes or so should have been a phase of mutual probing. After all, this is the first time both teams have played against each other in history. But I was wrong. AC Milan might have wanted to stabilize, but Tony Twain didn't give them that chance. Nottingham Forest's offense since the kick-off was not a bluff. They managed to crack open the gates of AC Milan in the first eight minutes! They did not sound them out at all... it looks like they're extremely familiar with the AC Milan team!" the commentator stated excitedly.
The truth of the matter was that Twain and Albertini were familiar with AC Milan. What would they need to feel out the team first?
When he had been a fan, Twain had not understood why some team managers said "I don't know this team" when they discussed their opponents. It happened all the time, especially with the managers of big clubs. Was it because the opponent was weak and therefore they felt it beneath them to understand? But when a heavyweight matchup came up, it still happened.
Hence, after he became the official manager of Nottingham Forest, he placed great importance to gather intelligence on his opponents. At first, the club did not have that capability, so he paid for the temporary workers himself to help him gather intelligence. Later, when the team's performance improved, the club was able to completely fulfill his requirements in this regard. Today's Nottingham Forest had a complete system of intelligence-gathering. Dunn had once said to Tang Jing that they did not care who the opponent was because they had all the intelligence they needed on the top sixteen teams. They would simply pull the information on the team they drew. It was the result of their work on the intelligence-gathering system.
Twain held a deep belief of the ancient Chinese wisdom of "know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." No matter how strong his team was, they could not neglect the work of gathering intelligence on their opponents. Even if it was not used in the game, they would not know when it would be needed.
From the first day he assumed the official position as the Nottingham Forest manager, he took on the intelligence gathering of all the European powerhouse clubs as a long-term project. At the time, his team was still in League One — later known as English Football League Championship. He paid for someone to do the job out of his own pocket and did not trouble the club. It was only after the team had successfully been promoted to the Premier League that he took out the information he had collected and asked the club to take on the project.
The intelligence gathering on AC Milan began during that time. He did not know that he would encounter AC Milan in the final game of the 06-07 Champions League. He had just thought that if Nottingham Forest wanted to grow and embark on the road to becoming a powerhouse club, then the big clubs were bound to become his opponents and enemies in the near future. Therefore, he had to gather intelligence as soon as possible and continued systematically. Otherwise, there would be no reference and research value in them at all.
Now, they had cracked open AC Milan's defense in the opening eight minutes. In addition to the players' outstanding play, as well as the appropriate tactical formulation, the long-term intelligence-gathering work had to be credited, too.
Twain hugged everyone around him in celebration. The first goal came so quickly that everyone felt that the trophy was getting closer to them.
On the other side, Ancelotti did not rush to the sidelines like some managers to remind the players what to do after he vented his anger on awning of the technical area. He just sat in his seat.
AC Milan was a traditionally strong team and had experienced countless tests like this one. Each one of the players was the elite among the elite. They were experienced and knew how to manage themselves. It was only a goal concede, which was not enough to scare the entire team, especially given that it was only eight minutes into the game. For AC Milan, they still had eighty-two minutes left to equalize and overtake Forest.
Sure enough, Maldini assumed his role as the team captain on the field. He comforted his teammates and loudly encouraged them. The teammates who were slightly shocked by the premature goal concede quickly calmed down and their morale recovered. The impact of the goal concede slowly faded.
Twain took in the scene. He snorted. He did not expect one goal to crush a team like AC Milan, otherwise it would be too easy to take down this world.
It was going to be a tough final that would not be easy for either side...
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The game restarted. After the kick-off, AC Milan gave up their intention to continue sounding out and launched a fierce offensive against the Forest team in their inner area. However, the results were minimal up against the Forest team's Wall Defense...
Pirlo realized that when the Nottingham Forest team contracted their defense, the gap between the midfield and the backfield disappeared and he could no longer exploit that area to attack. He could only slowly contend with the Forest team on the outside.
The Forest team sent Albertini to mark him and gave Kaka to the tireless George Wood.
The Forest team used relentless running and frequent fouls, as well as rough moves, to stop AC Milan's attacks. This trick appeared to be effective.
Pirlo could not easily send the football to where it needed to go. Even if he managed to send it out, Kaka might not be able to secure it under Wood's close marking and tackles. Even if Kaka received it, Inzaghi would not be able to come out and pick up the shot in the crowd. In the end, Kaka or Seedorf could only end the attack with a long shot.
It left them with very little choice.
Nottingham Forest unreasonably used aggressive running and high pressing to disrupt AC Milan's defense.
The tactic obtained a very good outcome within twenty minutes after the start of the game.
AC Milan had intended to look for opportunities at their own pace, using ball control and passes and cuts. However, they did not obtain the results they wanted during the twenty-minute game time, because their ball possession and passing became a mess under the Forest team's forced interceptions.
Restricted by Wood, Kaka rarely played. Under Albertini's defense, the most Pirlo did were straight passes, but not return passes or cross passes.
As time passed, the score still remained at 1:0 with Nottingham Forest in the lead.
Ancelotti stood up from his seat and walked to the sidelines but just quietly observed the situation on the field. Standing up gave him a much better view, and he could clearly see the situation.
Only twenty-five minutes had passed, and he was not worried. Despite a goal concede, he believed that the final victory would belong to his AC Milan team. Why would he be so confident? He had figured out Twain's tactics, and he knew what Nottingham Forest was going to do.
Running around such a large area was a physically draining job. George Wood was marking Kaka so closely, he was almost his shadow. Kaka found it difficult to even turn around, never mind trying to attack. As for the others, Seedorf, Pirlo, Inzaghi, They were all faced with the "meticulous" close marking from their opponents. The front of the Forest team's goal was so overcrowded that it could be the city. It was too difficult to launch an attack. Ancelotti was not in a hurry.
He knew that the Forest team could not last ninety minutes with such exhausting runs and defense. There were not many teams in the world that could hold such a high-intensity rhythm for ninety minutes. Perhaps the South Koreans would be able to...
Ancelotti did not believe the Forest team could hold on to such tight defense for ninety minutes. He believed that as game time went on, the Forest team's seemingly impenetrable defense was bound to reveal holes, and the experienced AC Milan would be certain to seize the opportunity to reverse the game in an instant.
The most important thing now was not to let the opponent's defense and interceptions disrupt their game rhythm. AC Milan still had to stick to their style of football. Ancelotti was aware that Twain wanted to drag the unhurried AC Milan into a fast pace like in the Premier League and use speed and chaos to win. He could not let the other man get what he wanted.
He observed for a while on the sidelines, and then shouted Pirlo's name. He made a hand gesture of pressing down to him.
Pirlo nodded to show his understanding.
He had the same idea as his manager. If he were to blindly do a straight pass, he would only fall into the opponent's trap. Constant mistakes would impact the confidence and morale of his teammates while giving the opponent too many chances to fight back.
The current focus of the game for AC Milan was not to equalize, but to get more control of the football, stabilize the situation, and slowly contend with the opponent.
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"Ancelotti is an old fox. I don't like him, but I have to admit that he does have skill," Twain muttered to himself in the coaches' seat.
Ancelotti had read his intentions, and he had figured out Ancelotti's ideas as well. This kind of final game was the best stage for the managers' match of wits. His opponent was not an idiot who could be easily beaten, but a manager who had won the Champions League title once. With that title alone, the other party had a lot more experience than Twain.
The fat Ancelotti wanted to drag the game out until Forest ran out of strength, and then use AC Milan's experience and methods to determine the outcome.
Twain did not deny that his team could not hold on to their defensive tactics for all ninety minutes, but he was also not going to give Ancelotti the chance to reverse the tables. The only way was to score more goals before his team ran out of stamina and establish the victory early and completely crush AC Milan's remaining hope of a reversal.
You want to reverse the tables? I'll score a few more goals and then see how you can overtake!
Don't say you're going to turn everything on its head?
Twain did not think his team was like AC Milan in 2005. Likewise, he would also never admit that the current AC Milan was Liverpool in 2005. He was arrogant enough to think that he was the heavens above his head.
"Do we need to step up offense, Tony?" Kerslake asked from next to him.
Twain turned his head to look at the silent Dunn.
Staring at the field, Dunn noticed the glances from the two men beside him and turned his head. He shook his head. "No. I think we're good for now. Our defense is solid, and we have opportunities for counterattacks. Now it's up to Ribéry and the others to grab them."
Twain nodded in agreement. "I'm of the same opinion. To step up our offense requires putting in more players. We are defending now and can't pull too many people. And David, you need to know AC Milan is very cunning... If we take the risk to press on, it will allow Pirlo and Kaka to seize the opportunity. Our current state is good, so nothing has to change."
Tony is really conservative Kerslake could not help but think, even though he had made it many times... If it had been him, maybe before the game, he would get the team to fight it out with AC Milan win to their hearts' content! He did not like to be conservative, but he expressed understanding and respect for Twain's decision. After all, this was the final game of a major competition. Any manager would be afraid to take risks in a game like this and trifle with their own coaching careers.
Just thinking back to the dreary final at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester in 2003, where two Italian teams tied their civil battle at 0:0 after 120 minutes and finally relied on a penalty shootout to decide the outcome. Kerslake had watched the game in on the television, and his disdain for Italian football originated from it. He thought that the penalty shootout had been planned by both managers before the final, and that little sense of accomplishment could be had from how the championship title was won.
Little did he know that Tony Twain would study that final game countless times. For the vast majority of fans, that game had viewing pleasure, but for the managers, it was a valuable teaching and research material.
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Ancelotti instructed Pirlo on the sidelines to reassure the team and to enter their own rhythm, before he walked back to sit down again in the coaches' seat and didn't get up again.
The year after they crushed Barcelona 4:0: that kind of final was memorable, but had only appeared once in all these years. If all the finals were prepared with that kind of final as the standard, the manager would collapse after conceding a goal.
Ancelotti did not think the second UEFA Champions League title of his coaching career would be easy to take. He was prepared for the worst and ready to do his best to fight with his opponent.
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In the 37th minute of the first half, with more than eight minutes from the end of the first half, the score still had not changed. On the big screen, the 1:0 score somewhat quieted the AC Milan fans. For a period, only the Forest fans' singing could be heard in the Olympic Stadium of Athens.
They sang the old team song, again and again.
The Forest fans' hearts were as sweet as if they had drunk honey. They were also particularly fired up in singing the old song.
Michael Bernard and his buddies sang and shouted at the top of their lungs despite their hoarse voices. The Forest fans became protagonists in the stands of the stadium, venting the emotions they had accumulated over twenty-seven years and staying unconcerned about how their opponents felt.
"We are the strongest team in the world!"
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In the 40th minute, AC Milan began to change their tempo and retreated slightly after their successive sieges on the Forest team goal were not effective. The first half was almost over, and AC Milan had to maintain their strength.
Nottingham Forest launched an offensive. This time, it was threatening even though it was not a fast attack. The Forest team was not a team that only knew how to launch a swift attack. Twain had lined up a formation with a single striker. He placed five players in the midfield using a 4-4-1-1 formation against AC Milan's 4-4-1-1. Van Nistelrooy was the single spearhead, and van der Vaart was in charge of organizing the team's offense behind him. The Dutchman was put in the starting lineup because when Twain considered the need to play the positional play, he wanted him to organize the attack, while he shared the pressure on Albertini. After all, Demetrio still needed to strengthen his defense against Pirlo, and he did not really have many chances to organize attacks.
The football was passed to van Nistelrooy's feet, but as he was closely marked and could not turn around, he could only pass the football back to van der Vaart coming from the midfield.
As soon as van der Vaart took the ball, Gattuso leaned in.
Ancelotti knew van der Vaart acted as a midfield commander for Nottingham Forest. Twain letting him start was certainly to get him to organize the attacks. Therefore, as long as they restricted van der Vaart, the Forest team's offense would have no option other than to play defensive counterattacks.
Since George Wood tries to contain Kaka and Albertini tries to entangle with Pirlo, why can't our Gattuso restrict their van der Vaart? Furthermore, Ancelotti had always believed that Gattuso was the best defensive midfielder in the world.
George Wood? He was just a star player made up by the English media that liked to brag...
Ancelotti had really thought so before the game.
Now, he had to revise his assessment of Wood. A defensive midfielder who could render the world's best attacking midfielder, Kaka, useless for nearly forty minutes could not be made up.
Kaka went back to participate in the defense, and Wood followed him. He was no longer the rookie that had nothing to do with offense. After three years of training under Albertini, he had learned how to be involved with the team's offense.
He saw that van der Vaart needed backup as Gattuso's defense made things extremely hard for the Dutchman. If no one came up to assist, the Forest team's attack could only have two results — one, van der Vaart hurriedly passed the football and lost it. Two, van der Vaart's ball would be directly intercepted by Gattuso.
Either way, it was not good for the Forest team.
Albertini was older. This required someone to sprint back and forth, which better suited for the young and strong Wood.
George ran up. He did not shout loudly as he believed van der Vaart knew he was coming up.
Sure enough, van der Vaart passed the football on to Wood under the constant harassment from Gattuso.
Wood did not linger after he received the ball. He immediately diverted the ball to Ribéry, who plugged into the middle.
When he no longer had the ball, the pressure on van der Vaart lessened and he shook off Gattuso to run to the left flank. Twain asked him and Ribéry to regularly switch positions in the game because the two players had the ability to play in the left flank and the middle. The switch of positions could effectively enhance the Forest team's offensive routine and disrupt the opponent's defense.
Ambrosini followed Ribéry to the middle and Gattuso decided to follow van der Vaart after some hesitation. Who knew if Ribéry would pass the football back? Van der Vaart's performance on the left flank could not be ignored.
Ribéry found that cracks did not appear in the opposing defense just because of his change in position with van der Vaart. Ambrosini followed him closely, so he passed the football back to Wood.
Wood's position was further back, and for the moment, no AC Milan players had come up to tackle.
After a careful study of Nottingham Forest's two games against Chelsea, Ancelotti acknowledged Wood's attacking prowess but knew that he did not have fluent command of it. The threat that he posed would decrease as long as he was kept as far away from the goal as possible.
Therefore, in this game, the defensive strategy for Wood was not to let him near the box and for him to pass the ball outside if he had to.
Ribéry passed the football to Woo, wanting to do a wall pass with Wood. In fact, Wood thought the same. He saw Ribéry turn suddenly and rush directly into the box, so he launched a straight pass.
Unfortunately, Ambrosini saw through the Forest team's simple tactical coordination. Just when Ribéry turned around, he immediately tackled him to the ground to stop the attack.
The referee's whistle sounded. Ambrosini had fouled. Nottingham Forest was awarded a free kick about thirty meters from the goal.
The exact distance was displayed on the television screen as twenty-eight meters.
Originally in the backfield, Albertini started to run forward when he saw the Forest team got a free kick in the front. The Forest players seemed to be waiting for him. Before he ran up, no one went to place the football. They just let the football rest at the spot of the foul.
"Albertini is running up, and it looks like he's going to take the free kick!" The English and Italian commentators got excited at the same time.
"Make a human wall with five players!" Maldini shouted in the penalty area after it was determined that Albertini would take the free kick.
He was completely aware of his old friend's free kick standard.
In the 2000 Champions League game, with AC Milan versus Barcelona and Albertini up against Rivaldo, the face-off between the two world-class free kick masters started with an equal score of 2:2. The final score of the game was 3:3. If Albertini had not been there, it would have been a different result.
Now that he was older, people were bound to think that his set piece skills had degenerated, right? It would appear so. Gareth Bale was the main player for free kicks, and the second was Eastwood. But that was because Albertini did not play very often.
In January of that year, at the farewell match that AC Milan prepared for him, the older man still used a long-distance free kick to blow Barcelona's goal wide open.
Woe be to anyone who dared to underestimate his free kicks!
Maldini dared not take it lightly. He even went up to direct his teammates to make the wall.
Albertini ran over, picked up the football, and placed it carefully on the turf.
When he raised his head and straightened up, AC Milan's human wall had not yet been lined up. Dida was directing the human wall as well as Maldini was also in command. The scene looked a little chaotic. He did not know whether AC Milan was deliberately engaging in psychological tactics or not.
Albertini remained unmoved. He retreated and quietly waited for the opponent to form a good wall.
AC Milan's human wall lined up longer than usual, but the Forest players were not impatient because they had their own things to do.
Ribéry suddenly came up to high-five Albertini standing in front of the ball. "All the vest, Captain!" Then he turned and walked away.
The Frenchman might have done it on a whim, but since he took the lead, the rest of the Forest team felt that this looked so cool that they ran up one by one. The second player to high-five him was van der Vaart, and the third was van Nistelrooy. The Dutch striker asked him with a laugh, "do you want me to do the shot instead?"
A number of Forest players came up to high-five their captain as they stood in line. This had never been seen in previous games.
Both the televised broadcast and the commentators noticed the scene happening on the field. No one paid attention to when AC Milan would be able to line up their human wall.
"Let's see what's happening on the field... Ah, all the Forest players have gathered around Albertini to high-five and say something to him..."
In fact, AC Milan's human wall was already formed, but the Forest team was not done on their side. Now it was their turn to wait.
If the referee had not forcibly intervened, perhaps even the goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, would have gone up to high-five Albertini. If AC Milan's slow-going human wall was really a psychological tactic against Nottingham Forest, in that case they were now being countered by the Forest team...
Kerslake turned to look at Twain. He thought it must have been Twain's idea. Twain shrugged and spread his hands to protest his innocence. "I did not do this! I never thought there would be such a scene... Don't blame all their antics on me, okay?"
Kerslake laughed happily. "Who made you this person who's always getting into all kinds of jigs?"
Wood finally high-fived Albertini. When everyone started high-fiving him in the beginning, Albertini was surprised. Later, he calmly accepted this special treatment with a smile. It was only when he saw Wood that the expression on his face changed.
He had always wanted to teach Wood how to kick a free kick, but this boy's talent in this area was nil. It was not easy to bring the range of his shots within the goal posts. But to demand that he be able to bypass the wall and the goalkeeper, would it not be near impossible?
After Wood and Albertini high-fived each other, they wanted to open their mouths to say something, but were interrupted by the referee's whistle.
The two men turned their heads to look at the displeased-looking German referee, Fandel. Albertini smiled as he gently pushed Wood. "Go away, George, don't get in the way of my goal."
Wood did not move. "I'm here to cover for you."
Albertini laughed even more happily. "The whole world knows you don't know how to kick a free kick."
"Then I'll watch at your side." Wood insisted on staying, and Albertini could not do anything about him.
Regarding this scene after the human wall, Maldini really did not know how he felt. It looked like Demetrio had met a lot of new friends in England and was happy in the final years of his career. He should be happy about that, so why did he feel little jealous and disgruntled about his opponent showing such a close comradery?
"All right, George, up to you. If you want to learn something, go right ahead... I don't have many chances to teach you anymore." Albertini turned. "You won't be able to master the free kicks, but I will teach you... The most important thing is your mind. Right here, you must..." he jabbed himself in the heart, "make sure you're calm. The more critical the moment is, the more you must remain calm."
With that, Albertini turned around and looked across at the human wall and AC Milan's goal. He no longer paid any attention to George Wood and the smile on his face was gone.
The figures of his teammates were no longer on this field. The human wall? The opponent? They all vanished. In Albertini's eyes, the only things on the field were an empty goal, himself, and the football under his feet.
On the opposite side of him was his former mother team, AC Milan, which he had loved the most in his life. Such thoughts did not appear in Albertini's mind. He only had one thought right now, and that was to score a goal.
That is my path.
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There was no sound in more than half of the pubs in Nottingham city. If the bright lights could not be seen clearly from the outside, an unwitting person would certainly think that the pubs were closed.
Kenny Burns did not go to watch the game live. He wanted to stay in his pub to help out. That night, his business was exceptionally good. The fans who could not travel to Athens had chosen to come to the most familiar pub to order a large pint of beer and watch the televised broadcast. They would cheer for their favorite team in England.
The Forest fans in the stands sang and so did the fans in the pubs. When their mouths were dry and voices hoarse, they just took big gulps of cold beer, cried out at the chill and then continue to sing with joyous abandonment.
The bar was full of people with flushed faces, but no one made a peep. Everyone had the same pose — glasses in their hands as they stretched their necks to watch the television hanging from the ceiling. Even the waiters and the boss were still.
If a stranger were to charge in, he would think that he was in the world of Harry Potter — had all these people been petrified by magic?
A close-up shot of Albertini appeared on the screen. He looked ahead with a firmness in his eyes and a serious expression on his face.
The commentator did not speak, and there was no other sound from the television speakers other than the noise from the fans in the stadium. For a moment, it gave rise to the illusion that the transmission signal was broken.
"Oh lord..." Someone sighed when they finally could not stand the oppressive silence.
"Beep—" The whistle rang.
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Albertini ran up, raised his leg and kicked.
The football went straight over the human wall and straight into the sky. It looked like it was going to fly out of the field and into the stands where the AC Milan fans gathered.
However, that was just an illusion.
The football spun in the air with its angle adjusted as it began to fall towards the goal.
Dida used all his strength to jump. His height of 1.96 meters, combined with a pair of long arms, were enough to block the area above the goal.
He did not manage to touch the football...
The football skimmed past his fingertips.
Was it going out of bounds?
No, this was a free kick from Demetrio Albertini. It was the free kick known as "Albertini's banana kick."
After it skimmed past Dida's fingertips, the football suddenly changed direction and plummeted!
It happened in an instant, and people only felt the slight change in the trajectory of the football.
The ball brushed against the crossbar as it fell into the net.
Like a fallen leaf to the ground...
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When Albertini first debuted, he already showed an amazing talent for football. Gullit once pointed at his young teammate and said to Sacchi, "he's a tough one." To which, Sacchi replied, "yes, he has the playing rhythm in his body."
The AC Milan manager discovered his talent for long shots and free kicks, so he told him to learn the "banana kick" that only South American players could make. He succeeded and the "banana kick" became his trademark move. He had used the stunt countless times to besiege others' goals and repeatedly brought results for AC Milan.
Banana kick = Albertini = AC Milan.
For thirteen years, this was a given. The three factors made up an indestructible triangle.
When Albertini still wore the red and black striped jersey to set foot in San Siro stadium, he never thought he would become AC Milan's enemy one day. He wanted to play there until he retired.
When Galliani decided to inform Albertini that "AC Milan no longer needs you. We have the young players like Pirlo and Kaka," the manager, known for his shrewdness in the football world, did not think that one day his team would encounter Albertini in the Champions League final, and the player he did not need would give him the hardest stab.
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"Long live!" The Nottingham city, which had been quiet a moment ago, erupted into a huge roar, ringing through the night sky.
"Long Live Demetrio! Long live Nottingham Forest!"
"He scored! He has scored! Demetrio Albertini! Abandoned by AC Milan, with his iconic 'banana kick.' Nottingham Forest extended its lead to two goals!" The British commentator was a little incoherent with excitement.
"The player that we didn't want has given us a fatal blow... This is just too cruel, too dramatic..." the Italian commentator said feebly. Should he cheer that Albertini was old but still vigorous? Perhaps at the end of this game, they could still say in a self-deprecating manner, "at least the outcome was determined by a player groomed by AC Milan..."
In the VIP seats, a polite smile did not even exist on Berlusconi's face. Sitting next to him, Galliani leaned on the back of the chair, looking very powerless indeed.
Not far away, the chairman of Nottingham Forest Football Club, Evan Doughty and his good friend the club's marketing manager, Allan Adams jumped and hugged in celebration. After their embrace, Evan waved his fists excitedly at the field.
"Terrific job! Well done!" There was no other sound from his mouth other than that. He did not care about the feelings of the AC Milan Football Club's top echelon. After being together with Twain for a long time, he was more or less afflicted with some of his bad habits. When it was time to be proud, it should be the time to celebrate wildly and enjoy to the fullest. Why should he pay attention to the others' mood?
As his role model, Twain was crazier than he was. After Albertini's goal, he held his arms high and rushed straight onto the field. He was offensively conspicuous and stood out as he dashed all the way in his suit. If it had been usual, he might have been knocked to the ground by the stadium security guard like a naked streaker. However, the field was complete chaos. The ground seemed to be shaking, and the security guards had not reacted as they looked at Twain, allowing him to rush up the field. Twain did not rush onto the field to wave his fists before he finished. He ran straight to Albertini and pushed the veteran to the ground to pile on him.
"F**k! Demetrio, you did it!" These were the last words Albertini heard before he was crushed underneath the bodies of his teammates.
Twain's passionate celebration also ignited the mood of the Forest fans in the stands. Together, they sang the first team song when the Forest team won their two Champions League titles —"We got the whole world in our hands."
Michael, John and Bill sang with their hoarse voices... They were not so much singing as they were yelling the song, as if they were going to rip their vocal chords apart, as if the failure to do so would not show how excited they were.
"We got the whole world in our hands! We got the whole world in our hands! This damn world is in our hands! We're the strongest in the world!"
"The singing voices of the Nottingham Forest fans... and the song of Nottingham Forest fans is once again ringing through the European arena! We seem to be instantly transported back to The Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany in 1979. That was when Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest appeared in the Champions League finals for the first time and shocked Europe as soon as they appeared. No one thought anything of them, but they ended up winning! Twenty-eight years later, Tony Twain has taken over the mantle of the veteran Manager Clough and led a brand-new Nottingham Forest to appear on the Champions League finals. This time, he vowed not to let the championship title to be sidelined! 2:0! The red color is back!"
Yes, baby! We're back, and ready to take back the lost glory of our yesteryears!
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
"I thought with such an important final game, both teams would stabilize and hold. The opening ten minutes or so should have been a phase of mutual probing. After all, this is the first time both teams have played against each other in history. But I was wrong. AC Milan might have wanted to stabilize, but Tony Twain didn't give them that chance. Nottingham Forest's offense since the kick-off was not a bluff. They managed to crack open the gates of AC Milan in the first eight minutes! They did not sound them out at all... it looks like they're extremely familiar with the AC Milan team!" the commentator stated excitedly.
The truth of the matter was that Twain and Albertini were familiar with AC Milan. What would they need to feel out the team first?
When he had been a fan, Twain had not understood why some team managers said "I don't know this team" when they discussed their opponents. It happened all the time, especially with the managers of big clubs. Was it because the opponent was weak and therefore they felt it beneath them to understand? But when a heavyweight matchup came up, it still happened.
Hence, after he became the official manager of Nottingham Forest, he placed great importance to gather intelligence on his opponents. At first, the club did not have that capability, so he paid for the temporary workers himself to help him gather intelligence. Later, when the team's performance improved, the club was able to completely fulfill his requirements in this regard. Today's Nottingham Forest had a complete system of intelligence-gathering. Dunn had once said to Tang Jing that they did not care who the opponent was because they had all the intelligence they needed on the top sixteen teams. They would simply pull the information on the team they drew. It was the result of their work on the intelligence-gathering system.
Twain held a deep belief of the ancient Chinese wisdom of "know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." No matter how strong his team was, they could not neglect the work of gathering intelligence on their opponents. Even if it was not used in the game, they would not know when it would be needed.
From the first day he assumed the official position as the Nottingham Forest manager, he took on the intelligence gathering of all the European powerhouse clubs as a long-term project. At the time, his team was still in League One — later known as English Football League Championship. He paid for someone to do the job out of his own pocket and did not trouble the club. It was only after the team had successfully been promoted to the Premier League that he took out the information he had collected and asked the club to take on the project.
The intelligence gathering on AC Milan began during that time. He did not know that he would encounter AC Milan in the final game of the 06-07 Champions League. He had just thought that if Nottingham Forest wanted to grow and embark on the road to becoming a powerhouse club, then the big clubs were bound to become his opponents and enemies in the near future. Therefore, he had to gather intelligence as soon as possible and continued systematically. Otherwise, there would be no reference and research value in them at all.
Now, they had cracked open AC Milan's defense in the opening eight minutes. In addition to the players' outstanding play, as well as the appropriate tactical formulation, the long-term intelligence-gathering work had to be credited, too.
Twain hugged everyone around him in celebration. The first goal came so quickly that everyone felt that the trophy was getting closer to them.
On the other side, Ancelotti did not rush to the sidelines like some managers to remind the players what to do after he vented his anger on awning of the technical area. He just sat in his seat.
AC Milan was a traditionally strong team and had experienced countless tests like this one. Each one of the players was the elite among the elite. They were experienced and knew how to manage themselves. It was only a goal concede, which was not enough to scare the entire team, especially given that it was only eight minutes into the game. For AC Milan, they still had eighty-two minutes left to equalize and overtake Forest.
Sure enough, Maldini assumed his role as the team captain on the field. He comforted his teammates and loudly encouraged them. The teammates who were slightly shocked by the premature goal concede quickly calmed down and their morale recovered. The impact of the goal concede slowly faded.
Twain took in the scene. He snorted. He did not expect one goal to crush a team like AC Milan, otherwise it would be too easy to take down this world.
It was going to be a tough final that would not be easy for either side...
※※※
The game restarted. After the kick-off, AC Milan gave up their intention to continue sounding out and launched a fierce offensive against the Forest team in their inner area. However, the results were minimal up against the Forest team's Wall Defense...
Pirlo realized that when the Nottingham Forest team contracted their defense, the gap between the midfield and the backfield disappeared and he could no longer exploit that area to attack. He could only slowly contend with the Forest team on the outside.
The Forest team sent Albertini to mark him and gave Kaka to the tireless George Wood.
The Forest team used relentless running and frequent fouls, as well as rough moves, to stop AC Milan's attacks. This trick appeared to be effective.
Pirlo could not easily send the football to where it needed to go. Even if he managed to send it out, Kaka might not be able to secure it under Wood's close marking and tackles. Even if Kaka received it, Inzaghi would not be able to come out and pick up the shot in the crowd. In the end, Kaka or Seedorf could only end the attack with a long shot.
It left them with very little choice.
Nottingham Forest unreasonably used aggressive running and high pressing to disrupt AC Milan's defense.
The tactic obtained a very good outcome within twenty minutes after the start of the game.
AC Milan had intended to look for opportunities at their own pace, using ball control and passes and cuts. However, they did not obtain the results they wanted during the twenty-minute game time, because their ball possession and passing became a mess under the Forest team's forced interceptions.
Restricted by Wood, Kaka rarely played. Under Albertini's defense, the most Pirlo did were straight passes, but not return passes or cross passes.
As time passed, the score still remained at 1:0 with Nottingham Forest in the lead.
Ancelotti stood up from his seat and walked to the sidelines but just quietly observed the situation on the field. Standing up gave him a much better view, and he could clearly see the situation.
Only twenty-five minutes had passed, and he was not worried. Despite a goal concede, he believed that the final victory would belong to his AC Milan team. Why would he be so confident? He had figured out Twain's tactics, and he knew what Nottingham Forest was going to do.
Running around such a large area was a physically draining job. George Wood was marking Kaka so closely, he was almost his shadow. Kaka found it difficult to even turn around, never mind trying to attack. As for the others, Seedorf, Pirlo, Inzaghi, They were all faced with the "meticulous" close marking from their opponents. The front of the Forest team's goal was so overcrowded that it could be the city. It was too difficult to launch an attack. Ancelotti was not in a hurry.
He knew that the Forest team could not last ninety minutes with such exhausting runs and defense. There were not many teams in the world that could hold such a high-intensity rhythm for ninety minutes. Perhaps the South Koreans would be able to...
Ancelotti did not believe the Forest team could hold on to such tight defense for ninety minutes. He believed that as game time went on, the Forest team's seemingly impenetrable defense was bound to reveal holes, and the experienced AC Milan would be certain to seize the opportunity to reverse the game in an instant.
The most important thing now was not to let the opponent's defense and interceptions disrupt their game rhythm. AC Milan still had to stick to their style of football. Ancelotti was aware that Twain wanted to drag the unhurried AC Milan into a fast pace like in the Premier League and use speed and chaos to win. He could not let the other man get what he wanted.
He observed for a while on the sidelines, and then shouted Pirlo's name. He made a hand gesture of pressing down to him.
Pirlo nodded to show his understanding.
He had the same idea as his manager. If he were to blindly do a straight pass, he would only fall into the opponent's trap. Constant mistakes would impact the confidence and morale of his teammates while giving the opponent too many chances to fight back.
The current focus of the game for AC Milan was not to equalize, but to get more control of the football, stabilize the situation, and slowly contend with the opponent.
※※※
"Ancelotti is an old fox. I don't like him, but I have to admit that he does have skill," Twain muttered to himself in the coaches' seat.
Ancelotti had read his intentions, and he had figured out Ancelotti's ideas as well. This kind of final game was the best stage for the managers' match of wits. His opponent was not an idiot who could be easily beaten, but a manager who had won the Champions League title once. With that title alone, the other party had a lot more experience than Twain.
The fat Ancelotti wanted to drag the game out until Forest ran out of strength, and then use AC Milan's experience and methods to determine the outcome.
Twain did not deny that his team could not hold on to their defensive tactics for all ninety minutes, but he was also not going to give Ancelotti the chance to reverse the tables. The only way was to score more goals before his team ran out of stamina and establish the victory early and completely crush AC Milan's remaining hope of a reversal.
You want to reverse the tables? I'll score a few more goals and then see how you can overtake!
Don't say you're going to turn everything on its head?
Twain did not think his team was like AC Milan in 2005. Likewise, he would also never admit that the current AC Milan was Liverpool in 2005. He was arrogant enough to think that he was the heavens above his head.
"Do we need to step up offense, Tony?" Kerslake asked from next to him.
Twain turned his head to look at the silent Dunn.
Staring at the field, Dunn noticed the glances from the two men beside him and turned his head. He shook his head. "No. I think we're good for now. Our defense is solid, and we have opportunities for counterattacks. Now it's up to Ribéry and the others to grab them."
Twain nodded in agreement. "I'm of the same opinion. To step up our offense requires putting in more players. We are defending now and can't pull too many people. And David, you need to know AC Milan is very cunning... If we take the risk to press on, it will allow Pirlo and Kaka to seize the opportunity. Our current state is good, so nothing has to change."
Tony is really conservative Kerslake could not help but think, even though he had made it many times... If it had been him, maybe before the game, he would get the team to fight it out with AC Milan win to their hearts' content! He did not like to be conservative, but he expressed understanding and respect for Twain's decision. After all, this was the final game of a major competition. Any manager would be afraid to take risks in a game like this and trifle with their own coaching careers.
Just thinking back to the dreary final at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester in 2003, where two Italian teams tied their civil battle at 0:0 after 120 minutes and finally relied on a penalty shootout to decide the outcome. Kerslake had watched the game in on the television, and his disdain for Italian football originated from it. He thought that the penalty shootout had been planned by both managers before the final, and that little sense of accomplishment could be had from how the championship title was won.
Little did he know that Tony Twain would study that final game countless times. For the vast majority of fans, that game had viewing pleasure, but for the managers, it was a valuable teaching and research material.
※※※
Ancelotti instructed Pirlo on the sidelines to reassure the team and to enter their own rhythm, before he walked back to sit down again in the coaches' seat and didn't get up again.
The year after they crushed Barcelona 4:0: that kind of final was memorable, but had only appeared once in all these years. If all the finals were prepared with that kind of final as the standard, the manager would collapse after conceding a goal.
Ancelotti did not think the second UEFA Champions League title of his coaching career would be easy to take. He was prepared for the worst and ready to do his best to fight with his opponent.
※※※
In the 37th minute of the first half, with more than eight minutes from the end of the first half, the score still had not changed. On the big screen, the 1:0 score somewhat quieted the AC Milan fans. For a period, only the Forest fans' singing could be heard in the Olympic Stadium of Athens.
They sang the old team song, again and again.
The Forest fans' hearts were as sweet as if they had drunk honey. They were also particularly fired up in singing the old song.
Michael Bernard and his buddies sang and shouted at the top of their lungs despite their hoarse voices. The Forest fans became protagonists in the stands of the stadium, venting the emotions they had accumulated over twenty-seven years and staying unconcerned about how their opponents felt.
"We are the strongest team in the world!"
※※※
In the 40th minute, AC Milan began to change their tempo and retreated slightly after their successive sieges on the Forest team goal were not effective. The first half was almost over, and AC Milan had to maintain their strength.
Nottingham Forest launched an offensive. This time, it was threatening even though it was not a fast attack. The Forest team was not a team that only knew how to launch a swift attack. Twain had lined up a formation with a single striker. He placed five players in the midfield using a 4-4-1-1 formation against AC Milan's 4-4-1-1. Van Nistelrooy was the single spearhead, and van der Vaart was in charge of organizing the team's offense behind him. The Dutchman was put in the starting lineup because when Twain considered the need to play the positional play, he wanted him to organize the attack, while he shared the pressure on Albertini. After all, Demetrio still needed to strengthen his defense against Pirlo, and he did not really have many chances to organize attacks.
The football was passed to van Nistelrooy's feet, but as he was closely marked and could not turn around, he could only pass the football back to van der Vaart coming from the midfield.
As soon as van der Vaart took the ball, Gattuso leaned in.
Ancelotti knew van der Vaart acted as a midfield commander for Nottingham Forest. Twain letting him start was certainly to get him to organize the attacks. Therefore, as long as they restricted van der Vaart, the Forest team's offense would have no option other than to play defensive counterattacks.
Since George Wood tries to contain Kaka and Albertini tries to entangle with Pirlo, why can't our Gattuso restrict their van der Vaart? Furthermore, Ancelotti had always believed that Gattuso was the best defensive midfielder in the world.
George Wood? He was just a star player made up by the English media that liked to brag...
Ancelotti had really thought so before the game.
Now, he had to revise his assessment of Wood. A defensive midfielder who could render the world's best attacking midfielder, Kaka, useless for nearly forty minutes could not be made up.
Kaka went back to participate in the defense, and Wood followed him. He was no longer the rookie that had nothing to do with offense. After three years of training under Albertini, he had learned how to be involved with the team's offense.
He saw that van der Vaart needed backup as Gattuso's defense made things extremely hard for the Dutchman. If no one came up to assist, the Forest team's attack could only have two results — one, van der Vaart hurriedly passed the football and lost it. Two, van der Vaart's ball would be directly intercepted by Gattuso.
Either way, it was not good for the Forest team.
Albertini was older. This required someone to sprint back and forth, which better suited for the young and strong Wood.
George ran up. He did not shout loudly as he believed van der Vaart knew he was coming up.
Sure enough, van der Vaart passed the football on to Wood under the constant harassment from Gattuso.
Wood did not linger after he received the ball. He immediately diverted the ball to Ribéry, who plugged into the middle.
When he no longer had the ball, the pressure on van der Vaart lessened and he shook off Gattuso to run to the left flank. Twain asked him and Ribéry to regularly switch positions in the game because the two players had the ability to play in the left flank and the middle. The switch of positions could effectively enhance the Forest team's offensive routine and disrupt the opponent's defense.
Ambrosini followed Ribéry to the middle and Gattuso decided to follow van der Vaart after some hesitation. Who knew if Ribéry would pass the football back? Van der Vaart's performance on the left flank could not be ignored.
Ribéry found that cracks did not appear in the opposing defense just because of his change in position with van der Vaart. Ambrosini followed him closely, so he passed the football back to Wood.
Wood's position was further back, and for the moment, no AC Milan players had come up to tackle.
After a careful study of Nottingham Forest's two games against Chelsea, Ancelotti acknowledged Wood's attacking prowess but knew that he did not have fluent command of it. The threat that he posed would decrease as long as he was kept as far away from the goal as possible.
Therefore, in this game, the defensive strategy for Wood was not to let him near the box and for him to pass the ball outside if he had to.
Ribéry passed the football to Woo, wanting to do a wall pass with Wood. In fact, Wood thought the same. He saw Ribéry turn suddenly and rush directly into the box, so he launched a straight pass.
Unfortunately, Ambrosini saw through the Forest team's simple tactical coordination. Just when Ribéry turned around, he immediately tackled him to the ground to stop the attack.
The referee's whistle sounded. Ambrosini had fouled. Nottingham Forest was awarded a free kick about thirty meters from the goal.
The exact distance was displayed on the television screen as twenty-eight meters.
Originally in the backfield, Albertini started to run forward when he saw the Forest team got a free kick in the front. The Forest players seemed to be waiting for him. Before he ran up, no one went to place the football. They just let the football rest at the spot of the foul.
"Albertini is running up, and it looks like he's going to take the free kick!" The English and Italian commentators got excited at the same time.
"Make a human wall with five players!" Maldini shouted in the penalty area after it was determined that Albertini would take the free kick.
He was completely aware of his old friend's free kick standard.
In the 2000 Champions League game, with AC Milan versus Barcelona and Albertini up against Rivaldo, the face-off between the two world-class free kick masters started with an equal score of 2:2. The final score of the game was 3:3. If Albertini had not been there, it would have been a different result.
Now that he was older, people were bound to think that his set piece skills had degenerated, right? It would appear so. Gareth Bale was the main player for free kicks, and the second was Eastwood. But that was because Albertini did not play very often.
In January of that year, at the farewell match that AC Milan prepared for him, the older man still used a long-distance free kick to blow Barcelona's goal wide open.
Woe be to anyone who dared to underestimate his free kicks!
Maldini dared not take it lightly. He even went up to direct his teammates to make the wall.
Albertini ran over, picked up the football, and placed it carefully on the turf.
When he raised his head and straightened up, AC Milan's human wall had not yet been lined up. Dida was directing the human wall as well as Maldini was also in command. The scene looked a little chaotic. He did not know whether AC Milan was deliberately engaging in psychological tactics or not.
Albertini remained unmoved. He retreated and quietly waited for the opponent to form a good wall.
AC Milan's human wall lined up longer than usual, but the Forest players were not impatient because they had their own things to do.
Ribéry suddenly came up to high-five Albertini standing in front of the ball. "All the vest, Captain!" Then he turned and walked away.
The Frenchman might have done it on a whim, but since he took the lead, the rest of the Forest team felt that this looked so cool that they ran up one by one. The second player to high-five him was van der Vaart, and the third was van Nistelrooy. The Dutch striker asked him with a laugh, "do you want me to do the shot instead?"
A number of Forest players came up to high-five their captain as they stood in line. This had never been seen in previous games.
Both the televised broadcast and the commentators noticed the scene happening on the field. No one paid attention to when AC Milan would be able to line up their human wall.
"Let's see what's happening on the field... Ah, all the Forest players have gathered around Albertini to high-five and say something to him..."
In fact, AC Milan's human wall was already formed, but the Forest team was not done on their side. Now it was their turn to wait.
If the referee had not forcibly intervened, perhaps even the goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, would have gone up to high-five Albertini. If AC Milan's slow-going human wall was really a psychological tactic against Nottingham Forest, in that case they were now being countered by the Forest team...
Kerslake turned to look at Twain. He thought it must have been Twain's idea. Twain shrugged and spread his hands to protest his innocence. "I did not do this! I never thought there would be such a scene... Don't blame all their antics on me, okay?"
Kerslake laughed happily. "Who made you this person who's always getting into all kinds of jigs?"
Wood finally high-fived Albertini. When everyone started high-fiving him in the beginning, Albertini was surprised. Later, he calmly accepted this special treatment with a smile. It was only when he saw Wood that the expression on his face changed.
He had always wanted to teach Wood how to kick a free kick, but this boy's talent in this area was nil. It was not easy to bring the range of his shots within the goal posts. But to demand that he be able to bypass the wall and the goalkeeper, would it not be near impossible?
After Wood and Albertini high-fived each other, they wanted to open their mouths to say something, but were interrupted by the referee's whistle.
The two men turned their heads to look at the displeased-looking German referee, Fandel. Albertini smiled as he gently pushed Wood. "Go away, George, don't get in the way of my goal."
Wood did not move. "I'm here to cover for you."
Albertini laughed even more happily. "The whole world knows you don't know how to kick a free kick."
"Then I'll watch at your side." Wood insisted on staying, and Albertini could not do anything about him.
Regarding this scene after the human wall, Maldini really did not know how he felt. It looked like Demetrio had met a lot of new friends in England and was happy in the final years of his career. He should be happy about that, so why did he feel little jealous and disgruntled about his opponent showing such a close comradery?
"All right, George, up to you. If you want to learn something, go right ahead... I don't have many chances to teach you anymore." Albertini turned. "You won't be able to master the free kicks, but I will teach you... The most important thing is your mind. Right here, you must..." he jabbed himself in the heart, "make sure you're calm. The more critical the moment is, the more you must remain calm."
With that, Albertini turned around and looked across at the human wall and AC Milan's goal. He no longer paid any attention to George Wood and the smile on his face was gone.
The figures of his teammates were no longer on this field. The human wall? The opponent? They all vanished. In Albertini's eyes, the only things on the field were an empty goal, himself, and the football under his feet.
On the opposite side of him was his former mother team, AC Milan, which he had loved the most in his life. Such thoughts did not appear in Albertini's mind. He only had one thought right now, and that was to score a goal.
That is my path.
※※※
There was no sound in more than half of the pubs in Nottingham city. If the bright lights could not be seen clearly from the outside, an unwitting person would certainly think that the pubs were closed.
Kenny Burns did not go to watch the game live. He wanted to stay in his pub to help out. That night, his business was exceptionally good. The fans who could not travel to Athens had chosen to come to the most familiar pub to order a large pint of beer and watch the televised broadcast. They would cheer for their favorite team in England.
The Forest fans in the stands sang and so did the fans in the pubs. When their mouths were dry and voices hoarse, they just took big gulps of cold beer, cried out at the chill and then continue to sing with joyous abandonment.
The bar was full of people with flushed faces, but no one made a peep. Everyone had the same pose — glasses in their hands as they stretched their necks to watch the television hanging from the ceiling. Even the waiters and the boss were still.
If a stranger were to charge in, he would think that he was in the world of Harry Potter — had all these people been petrified by magic?
A close-up shot of Albertini appeared on the screen. He looked ahead with a firmness in his eyes and a serious expression on his face.
The commentator did not speak, and there was no other sound from the television speakers other than the noise from the fans in the stadium. For a moment, it gave rise to the illusion that the transmission signal was broken.
"Oh lord..." Someone sighed when they finally could not stand the oppressive silence.
"Beep—" The whistle rang.
※※※
Albertini ran up, raised his leg and kicked.
The football went straight over the human wall and straight into the sky. It looked like it was going to fly out of the field and into the stands where the AC Milan fans gathered.
However, that was just an illusion.
The football spun in the air with its angle adjusted as it began to fall towards the goal.
Dida used all his strength to jump. His height of 1.96 meters, combined with a pair of long arms, were enough to block the area above the goal.
He did not manage to touch the football...
The football skimmed past his fingertips.
Was it going out of bounds?
No, this was a free kick from Demetrio Albertini. It was the free kick known as "Albertini's banana kick."
After it skimmed past Dida's fingertips, the football suddenly changed direction and plummeted!
It happened in an instant, and people only felt the slight change in the trajectory of the football.
The ball brushed against the crossbar as it fell into the net.
Like a fallen leaf to the ground...
※※※
When Albertini first debuted, he already showed an amazing talent for football. Gullit once pointed at his young teammate and said to Sacchi, "he's a tough one." To which, Sacchi replied, "yes, he has the playing rhythm in his body."
The AC Milan manager discovered his talent for long shots and free kicks, so he told him to learn the "banana kick" that only South American players could make. He succeeded and the "banana kick" became his trademark move. He had used the stunt countless times to besiege others' goals and repeatedly brought results for AC Milan.
Banana kick = Albertini = AC Milan.
For thirteen years, this was a given. The three factors made up an indestructible triangle.
When Albertini still wore the red and black striped jersey to set foot in San Siro stadium, he never thought he would become AC Milan's enemy one day. He wanted to play there until he retired.
When Galliani decided to inform Albertini that "AC Milan no longer needs you. We have the young players like Pirlo and Kaka," the manager, known for his shrewdness in the football world, did not think that one day his team would encounter Albertini in the Champions League final, and the player he did not need would give him the hardest stab.
※※※
"Long live!" The Nottingham city, which had been quiet a moment ago, erupted into a huge roar, ringing through the night sky.
"Long Live Demetrio! Long live Nottingham Forest!"
"He scored! He has scored! Demetrio Albertini! Abandoned by AC Milan, with his iconic 'banana kick.' Nottingham Forest extended its lead to two goals!" The British commentator was a little incoherent with excitement.
"The player that we didn't want has given us a fatal blow... This is just too cruel, too dramatic..." the Italian commentator said feebly. Should he cheer that Albertini was old but still vigorous? Perhaps at the end of this game, they could still say in a self-deprecating manner, "at least the outcome was determined by a player groomed by AC Milan..."
In the VIP seats, a polite smile did not even exist on Berlusconi's face. Sitting next to him, Galliani leaned on the back of the chair, looking very powerless indeed.
Not far away, the chairman of Nottingham Forest Football Club, Evan Doughty and his good friend the club's marketing manager, Allan Adams jumped and hugged in celebration. After their embrace, Evan waved his fists excitedly at the field.
"Terrific job! Well done!" There was no other sound from his mouth other than that. He did not care about the feelings of the AC Milan Football Club's top echelon. After being together with Twain for a long time, he was more or less afflicted with some of his bad habits. When it was time to be proud, it should be the time to celebrate wildly and enjoy to the fullest. Why should he pay attention to the others' mood?
As his role model, Twain was crazier than he was. After Albertini's goal, he held his arms high and rushed straight onto the field. He was offensively conspicuous and stood out as he dashed all the way in his suit. If it had been usual, he might have been knocked to the ground by the stadium security guard like a naked streaker. However, the field was complete chaos. The ground seemed to be shaking, and the security guards had not reacted as they looked at Twain, allowing him to rush up the field. Twain did not rush onto the field to wave his fists before he finished. He ran straight to Albertini and pushed the veteran to the ground to pile on him.
"F**k! Demetrio, you did it!" These were the last words Albertini heard before he was crushed underneath the bodies of his teammates.
Twain's passionate celebration also ignited the mood of the Forest fans in the stands. Together, they sang the first team song when the Forest team won their two Champions League titles —"We got the whole world in our hands."
Michael, John and Bill sang with their hoarse voices... They were not so much singing as they were yelling the song, as if they were going to rip their vocal chords apart, as if the failure to do so would not show how excited they were.
"We got the whole world in our hands! We got the whole world in our hands! This damn world is in our hands! We're the strongest in the world!"
"The singing voices of the Nottingham Forest fans... and the song of Nottingham Forest fans is once again ringing through the European arena! We seem to be instantly transported back to The Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany in 1979. That was when Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest appeared in the Champions League finals for the first time and shocked Europe as soon as they appeared. No one thought anything of them, but they ended up winning! Twenty-eight years later, Tony Twain has taken over the mantle of the veteran Manager Clough and led a brand-new Nottingham Forest to appear on the Champions League finals. This time, he vowed not to let the championship title to be sidelined! 2:0! The red color is back!"
Yes, baby! We're back, and ready to take back the lost glory of our yesteryears!
"I thought with such an important final game, both teams would stabilize and hold. The opening ten minutes or so should have been a phase of mutual probing. After all, this is the first time both teams have played against each other in history. But I was wrong. AC Milan might have wanted to stabilize, but Tony Twain didn't give them that chance. Nottingham Forest's offense since the kick-off was not a bluff. They managed to crack open the gates of AC Milan in the first eight minutes! They did not sound them out at all... it looks like they're extremely familiar with the AC Milan team!" the commentator stated excitedly.The truth of the matter was that Twain and Albertini were familiar with AC Milan. What would they need to feel out the team first?When he had been a fan, Twain had not understood why some team managers said "I don't know this team" when they discussed their opponents. It happened all the time, especially with the managers of big clubs. Was it because the opponent was weak and therefore they felt it beneath them to understand? But when a heavyweight matchup came up, it still happened.Hence, after he became the official manager of Nottingham Forest, he placed great importance to gather intelligence on his opponents. At first, the club did not have that capability, so he paid for the temporary workers himself to help him gather intelligence. Later, when the team's performance improved, the club was able to completely fulfill his requirements in this regard. Today's Nottingham Forest had a complete system of intelligence-gathering. Dunn had once said to Tang Jing that they did not care who the opponent was because they had all the intelligence they needed on the top sixteen teams. They would simply pull the information on the team they drew. It was the result of their work on the intelligence-gathering system.Twain held a deep belief of the ancient Chinese wisdom of "know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." No matter how strong his team was, they could not neglect the work of gathering intelligence on their opponents. Even if it was not used in the game, they would not know when it would be needed.From the first day he assumed the official position as the Nottingham Forest manager, he took on the intelligence gathering of all the European powerhouse clubs as a long-term project. At the time, his team was still in League One later known as English Football League Championship. He paid for someone to do the job out of his own pocket and did not trouble the club. It was only after the team had successfully been promoted to the Premier League that he took out the information he had collected and asked the club to take on the project.The intelligence gathering on AC Milan began during that time. He did not know that he would encounter AC Milan in the final game of the 06-07 Champions League. He had just thought that if Nottingham Forest wanted to grow and embark on the road to becoming a powerhouse club, then the big clubs were bound to become his opponents and enemies in the near future. Therefore, he had to gather intelligence as soon as possible and continued systematically. Otherwise, there would be no reference and research value in them at all.Now, they had cracked open AC Milan's defense in the opening eight minutes. In addition to the players' outstanding play, as well as the appropriate tactical formulation, the long-term intelligence-gathering work had to be credited, too.Twain hugged everyone around him in celebration. The first goal came so quickly that everyone felt that the trophy was getting closer to them.On the other side, Ancelotti did not rush to the sidelines like some managers to remind the players what to do after he vented his anger on awning of the technical area. He just sat in his seat.AC Milan was a traditionally strong team and had experienced countless tests like this one. Each one of the players was the elite among the elite. They were experienced and knew how to manage themselves. It was only a goal concede, which was not enough to scare the entire team, especially given that it was only eight minutes into the game. For AC Milan, they still had eighty-two minutes left to equalize and overtake Forest.Sure enough, Maldini assumed his role as the team captain on the field. He comforted his teammates and loudly encouraged them. The teammates who were slightly shocked by the premature goal concede quickly calmed down and their morale recovered. The impact of the goal concede slowly faded.Twain took in the scene. He snorted. He did not expect one goal to crush a team like AC Milan, otherwise it would be too easy to take down this world.It was going to be a tough final that would not be easy for either side...The game restarted. After the kick-off, AC Milan gave up their intention to continue sounding out and launched a fierce offensive against the Forest team in their inner area. However, the results were minimal up against the Forest team's Wall Defense...Pirlo realized that when the Nottingham Forest team contracted their defense, the gap between the midfield and the backfield disappeared and he could no longer exploit that area to attack. He could only slowly contend with the Forest team on the outside.The Forest team sent Albertini to mark him and gave Kaka to the tireless George Wood.The Forest team used relentless running and frequent fouls, as well as rough moves, to stop AC Milan's attacks. This trick appeared to be effective.Pirlo could not easily send the football to where it needed to go. Even if he managed to send it out, Kaka might not be able to secure it under Wood's close marking and tackles. Even if Kaka received it, Inzaghi would not be able to come out and pick up the shot in the crowd. In the end, Kaka or Seedorf could only end the attack with a long shot.It left them with very little choice.Nottingham Forest unreasonably used aggressive running and high pressing to disrupt AC Milan's defense.The tactic obtained a very good outcome within twenty minutes after the start of the game.AC Milan had intended to look for opportunities at their own pace, using ball control and passes and cuts. However, they did not obtain the results they wanted during the twenty-minute game time, because their ball possession and passing became a mess under the Forest team's forced interceptions.Restricted by Wood, Kaka rarely played. Under Albertini's defense, the most Pirlo did were straight passes, but not return passes or cross passes.As time passed, the score still remained at 1:0 with Nottingham Forest in the lead.Ancelotti stood up from his seat and walked to the sidelines but just quietly observed the situation on the field. Standing up gave him a much better view, and he could clearly see the situation.Only twenty-five minutes had passed, and he was not worried. Despite a goal concede, he believed that the final victory would belong to his AC Milan team. Why would he be so confident? He had figured out Twain's tactics, and he knew what Nottingham Forest was going to do.Running around such a large area was a physically draining job. George Wood was marking Kaka so closely, he was almost his shadow. Kaka found it difficult to even turn around, never mind trying to attack. As for the others, Seedorf, Pirlo, Inzaghi, They were all faced with the "meticulous" close marking from their opponents. The front of the Forest team's goal was so overcrowded that it could be the city. It was too difficult to launch an attack. Ancelotti was not in a hurry.He knew that the Forest team could not last ninety minutes with such exhausting runs and defense. There were not many teams in the world that could hold such a high-intensity rhythm for ninety minutes. Perhaps the South Koreans would be able to...Ancelotti did not believe the Forest team could hold on to such tight defense for ninety minutes. He believed that as game time went on, the Forest team's seemingly impenetrable defense was bound to reveal holes, and the experienced AC Milan would be certain to seize the opportunity to reverse the game in an instant.The most important thing now was not to let the opponent's defense and interceptions disrupt their game rhythm. AC Milan still had to stick to their style of football. Ancelotti was aware that Twain wanted to drag the unhurried AC Milan into a fast pace like in the Premier League and use speed and chaos to win. He could not let the other man get what he wanted.He observed for a while on the sidelines, and then shouted Pirlo's name. He made a hand gesture of pressing down to him.Pirlo nodded to show his understanding.He had the same idea as his manager. If he were to blindly do a straight pass, he would only fall into the opponent's trap. Constant mistakes would impact the confidence and morale of his teammates while giving the opponent too many chances to fight back.The current focus of the game for AC Milan was not to equalize, but to get more control of the football, stabilize the situation, and slowly contend with the opponent."Ancelotti is an old fox. I don't like him, but I have to admit that he does have skill," Twain muttered to himself in the coaches' seat.Ancelotti had read his intentions, and he had figured out Ancelotti's ideas as well. This kind of final game was the best stage for the managers' match of wits. His opponent was not an idiot who could be easily beaten, but a manager who had won the Champions League title once. With that title alone, the other party had a lot more experience than Twain.The fat Ancelotti wanted to drag the game out until Forest ran out of strength, and then use AC Milan's experience and methods to determine the outcome.Twain did not deny that his team could not hold on to their defensive tactics for all ninety minutes, but he was also not going to give Ancelotti the chance to reverse the tables. The only way was to score more goals before his team ran out of stamina and establish the victory early and completely crush AC Milan's remaining hope of a reversal.You want to reverse the tables? I'll score a few more goals and then see how you can overtake!Don't say you're going to turn everything on its head?Twain did not think his team was like AC Milan in 2005. Likewise, he would also never admit that the current AC Milan was Liverpool in 2005. He was arrogant enough to think that he was the heavens above his head."Do we need to step up offense, Tony?" Kerslake asked from next to him.Twain turned his head to look at the silent Dunn.Staring at the field, Dunn noticed the glances from the two men beside him and turned his head. He shook his head. "No. I think we're good for now. Our defense is solid, and we have opportunities for counterattacks. Now it's up to Ribry and the others to grab them."Twain nodded in agreement. "I'm of the same opinion. To step up our offense requires putting in more players. We are defending now and can't pull too many people. And David, you need to know AC Milan is very cunning... If we take the risk to press on, it will allow Pirlo and Kaka to seize the opportunity. Our current state is good, so nothing has to change."Tony is really conservative Kerslake could not help but think, even though he had made it many times... If it had been him, maybe before the game, he would get the team to fight it out with AC Milan win to their hearts' content! He did not like to be conservative, but he expressed understanding and respect for Twain's decision. After all, this was the final game of a major competition. Any manager would be afraid to take risks in a game like this and trifle with their own coaching careers.Just thinking back to the dreary final at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester in 2003, where two Italian teams tied their civil battle at 0:0 after 120 minutes and finally relied on a penalty shootout to decide the outcome. Kerslake had watched the game in on the television, and his disdain for Italian football originated from it. He thought that the penalty shootout had been planned by both managers before the final, and that little sense of accomplishment could be had from how the championship title was won.Little did he know that Tony Twain would study that final game countless times. For the vast majority of fans, that game had viewing pleasure, but for the managers, it was a valuable teaching and research material.Ancelotti instructed Pirlo on the sidelines to reassure the team and to enter their own rhythm, before he walked back to sit down again in the coaches' seat and didn't get up again.The year after they crushed Barcelona 4:0: that kind of final was memorable, but had only appeared once in all these years. If all the finals were prepared with that kind of final as the standard, the manager would collapse after conceding a goal.Ancelotti did not think the second UEFA Champions League title of his coaching career would be easy to take. He was prepared for the worst and ready to do his best to fight with his opponent.In the 37th minute of the first half, with more than eight minutes from the end of the first half, the score still had not changed. On the big screen, the 1:0 score somewhat quieted the AC Milan fans. For a period, only the Forest fans' singing could be heard in the Olympic Stadium of Athens.They sang the old team song, again and again.The Forest fans' hearts were as sweet as if they had drunk honey. They were also particularly fired up in singing the old song.Michael Bernard and his buddies sang and shouted at the top of their lungs despite their hoarse voices. The Forest fans became protagonists in the stands of the stadium, venting the emotions they had accumulated over twenty-seven years and staying unconcerned about how their opponents felt."We are the strongest team in the world!"In the 40th minute, AC Milan began to change their tempo and retreated slightly after their successive sieges on the Forest team goal were not effective. The first half was almost over, and AC Milan had to maintain their strength.Nottingham Forest launched an offensive. This time, it was threatening even though it was not a fast attack. The Forest team was not a team that only knew how to launch a swift attack. Twain had lined up a formation with a single striker. He placed five players in the midfield using a 4-4-1-1 formation against AC Milan's 4-4-1-1. Van Nistelrooy was the single spearhead, and van der Vaart was in charge of organizing the team's offense behind him. The Dutchman was put in the starting lineup because when Twain considered the need to play the positional play, he wanted him to organize the attack, while he shared the pressure on Albertini. After all, Demetrio still needed to strengthen his defense against Pirlo, and he did not really have many chances to organize attacks.The football was passed to van Nistelrooy's feet, but as he was closely marked and could not turn around, he could only pass the football back to van der Vaart coming from the midfield.As soon as van der Vaart took the ball, Gattuso leaned in.Ancelotti knew van der Vaart acted as a midfield commander for Nottingham Forest. Twain letting him start was certainly to get him to organize the attacks. Therefore, as long as they restricted van der Vaart, the Forest team's offense would have no option other than to play defensive counterattacks.Since George Wood tries to contain Kaka and Albertini tries to entangle with Pirlo, why can't our Gattuso restrict their van der Vaart? Furthermore, Ancelotti had always believed that Gattuso was the best defensive midfielder in the world.George Wood? He was just a star player made up by the English media that liked to brag...Ancelotti had really thought so before the game.Now, he had to revise his assessment of Wood. A defensive midfielder who could render the world's best attacking midfielder, Kaka, useless for nearly forty minutes could not be made up.Kaka went back to participate in the defense, and Wood followed him. He was no longer the rookie that had nothing to do with offense. After three years of training under Albertini, he had learned how to be involved with the team's offense.He saw that van der Vaart needed backup as Gattuso's defense made things extremely hard for the Dutchman. If no one came up to assist, the Forest team's attack could only have two results one, van der Vaart hurriedly passed the football and lost it. Two, van der Vaart's ball would be directly intercepted by Gattuso.Either way, it was not good for the Forest team.Albertini was older. This required someone to sprint back and forth, which better suited for the young and strong Wood.George ran up. He did not shout loudly as he believed van der Vaart knew he was coming up.Sure enough, van der Vaart passed the football on to Wood under the constant harassment from Gattuso.Wood did not linger after he received the ball. He immediately diverted the ball to Ribry, who plugged into the middle.When he no longer had the ball, the pressure on van der Vaart lessened and he shook off Gattuso to run to the left flank. Twain asked him and Ribry to regularly switch positions in the game because the two players had the ability to play in the left flank and the middle. The switch of positions could effectively enhance the Forest team's offensive routine and disrupt the opponent's defense.Ambrosini followed Ribry to the middle and Gattuso decided to follow van der Vaart after some hesitation. Who knew if Ribry would pass the football back? Van der Vaart's performance on the left flank could not be ignored.Ribry found that cracks did not appear in the opposing defense just because of his change in position with van der Vaart. Ambrosini followed him closely, so he passed the football back to Wood.Wood's position was further back, and for the moment, no AC Milan players had come up to tackle.After a careful study of Nottingham Forest's two games against Chelsea, Ancelotti acknowledged Wood's attacking prowess but knew that he did not have fluent command of it. The threat that he posed would decrease as long as he was kept as far away from the goal as possible.Therefore, in this game, the defensive strategy for Wood was not to let him near the box and for him to pass the ball outside if he had to.Ribry passed the football to Woo, wanting to do a wall pass with Wood. In fact, Wood thought the same. He saw Ribry turn suddenly and rush directly into the box, so he launched a straight pass.Unfortunately, Ambrosini saw through the Forest team's simple tactical coordination. Just when Ribry turned around, he immediately tackled him to the ground to stop the attack.The referee's whistle sounded. Ambrosini had fouled. Nottingham Forest was awarded a free kick about thirty meters from the goal.The exact distance was displayed on the television screen as twenty-eight meters.Originally in the backfield, Albertini started to run forward when he saw the Forest team got a free kick in the front. The Forest players seemed to be waiting for him. Before he ran up, no one went to place the football. They just let the football rest at the spot of the foul."Albertini is running up, and it looks like he's going to take the free kick!" The English and Italian commentators got excited at the same time."Make a human wall with five players!" Maldini shouted in the penalty area after it was determined that Albertini would take the free kick.He was completely aware of his old friend's free kick standard.In the 2000 Champions League game, with AC Milan versus Barcelona and Albertini up against Rivaldo, the face-off between the two world-class free kick masters started with an equal score of 2:2. The final score of the game was 3:3. If Albertini had not been there, it would have been a different result.Now that he was older, people were bound to think that his set piece skills had degenerated, right? It would appear so. Gareth Bale was the main player for free kicks, and the second was Eastwood. But that was because Albertini did not play very often.In January of that year, at the farewell match that AC Milan prepared for him, the older man still used a long-distance free kick to blow Barcelona's goal wide open.Woe be to anyone who dared to underestimate his free kicks!Maldini dared not take it lightly. He even went up to direct his teammates to make the wall.Albertini ran over, picked up the football, and placed it carefully on the turf.When he raised his head and straightened up, AC Milan's human wall had not yet been lined up. Dida was directing the human wall as well as Maldini was also in command. The scene looked a little chaotic. He did not know whether AC Milan was deliberately engaging in psychological tactics or not.Albertini remained unmoved. He retreated and quietly waited for the opponent to form a good wall.AC Milan's human wall lined up longer than usual, but the Forest players were not impatient because they had their own things to do.Ribry suddenly came up to high-five Albertini standing in front of the ball. "All the vest, Captain!" Then he turned and walked away.The Frenchman might have done it on a whim, but since he took the lead, the rest of the Forest team felt that this looked so cool that they ran up one by one. The second player to high-five him was van der Vaart, and the third was van Nistelrooy. The Dutch striker asked him with a laugh, "do you want me to do the shot instead?"A number of Forest players came up to high-five their captain as they stood in line. This had never been seen in previous games.Both the televised broadcast and the commentators noticed the scene happening on the field. No one paid attention to when AC Milan would be able to line up their human wall."Let's see what's happening on the field... Ah, all the Forest players have gathered around Albertini to high-five and say something to him..."In fact, AC Milan's human wall was already formed, but the Forest team was not done on their side. Now it was their turn to wait.If the referee had not forcibly intervened, perhaps even the goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, would have gone up to high-five Albertini. If AC Milan's slow-going human wall was really a psychological tactic against Nottingham Forest, in that case they were now being countered by the Forest team...Kerslake turned to look at Twain. He thought it must have been Twain's idea. Twain shrugged and spread his hands to protest his innocence. "I did not do this! I never thought there would be such a scene... Don't blame all their antics on me, okay?"Kerslake laughed happily. "Who made you this person who's always getting into all kinds of jigs?"Wood finally high-fived Albertini. When everyone started high-fiving him in the beginning, Albertini was surprised. Later, he calmly accepted this special treatment with a smile. It was only when he saw Wood that the expression on his face changed.He had always wanted to teach Wood how to kick a free kick, but this boy's talent in this area was nil. It was not easy to bring the range of his shots within the goal posts. But to demand that he be able to bypass the wall and the goalkeeper, would it not be near impossible?After Wood and Albertini high-fived each other, they wanted to open their mouths to say something, but were interrupted by the referee's whistle.The two men turned their heads to look at the displeased-looking German referee, Fandel. Albertini smiled as he gently pushed Wood. "Go away, George, don't get in the way of my goal."Wood did not move. "I'm here to cover for you."Albertini laughed even more happily. "The whole world knows you don't know how to kick a free kick.""Then I'll watch at your side." Wood insisted on staying, and Albertini could not do anything about him.Regarding this scene after the human wall, Maldini really did not know how he felt. It looked like Demetrio had met a lot of new friends in England and was happy in the final years of his career. He should be happy about that, so why did he feel little jealous and disgruntled about his opponent showing such a close comradery?"All right, George, up to you. If you want to learn something, go right ahead... I don't have many chances to teach you anymore." Albertini turned. "You won't be able to master the free kicks, but I will teach you... The most important thing is your mind. Right here, you must..." he jabbed himself in the heart, "make sure you're calm. The more critical the moment is, the more you must remain calm."With that, Albertini turned around and looked across at the human wall and AC Milan's goal. He no longer paid any attention to George Wood and the smile on his face was gone.The figures of his teammates were no longer on this field. The human wall? The opponent? They all vanished. In Albertini's eyes, the only things on the field were an empty goal, himself, and the football under his feet.On the opposite side of him was his former mother team, AC Milan, which he had loved the most in his life. Such thoughts did not appear in Albertini's mind. He only had one thought right now, and that was to score a goal.That is my path.There was no sound in more than half of the pubs in Nottingham city. If the bright lights could not be seen clearly from the outside, an unwitting person would certainly think that the pubs were closed.Kenny Burns did not go to watch the game live. He wanted to stay in his pub to help out. That night, his business was exceptionally good. The fans who could not travel to Athens had chosen to come to the most familiar pub to order a large pint of beer and watch the televised broadcast. They would cheer for their favorite team in England.The Forest fans in the stands sang and so did the fans in the pubs. When their mouths were dry and voices hoarse, they just took big gulps of cold beer, cried out at the chill and then continue to sing with joyous abandonment.The bar was full of people with flushed faces, but no one made a peep. Everyone had the same pose glasses in their hands as they stretched their necks to watch the television hanging from the ceiling. Even the waiters and the boss were still.If a stranger were to charge in, he would think that he was in the world of Harry Potter had all these people been petrified by magic?A close-up shot of Albertini appeared on the screen. He looked ahead with a firmness in his eyes and a serious expression on his face.The commentator did not speak, and there was no other sound from the television speakers other than the noise from the fans in the stadium. For a moment, it gave rise to the illusion that the transmission signal was broken."Oh lord..." Someone sighed when they finally could not stand the oppressive silence."Beep" The whistle rang.Albertini ran up, raised his leg and kicked.The football went straight over the human wall and straight into the sky. It looked like it was going to fly out of the field and into the stands where the AC Milan fans gathered.However, that was just an illusion.The football spun in the air with its angle adjusted as it began to fall towards the goal.Dida used all his strength to jump. His height of 1.96 meters, combined with a pair of long arms, were enough to block the area above the goal.He did not manage to touch the football...The football skimmed past his fingertips.Was it going out of bounds?No, this was a free kick from Demetrio Albertini. It was the free kick known as "Albertini's banana kick."After it skimmed past Dida's fingertips, the football suddenly changed direction and plummeted!It happened in an instant, and people only felt the slight change in the trajectory of the football.The ball brushed against the crossbar as it fell into the net.Like a fallen leaf to the ground...When Albertini first debuted, he already showed an amazing talent for football. Gullit once pointed at his young teammate and said to Sacchi, "he's a tough one." To which, Sacchi replied, "yes, he has the playing rhythm in his body."The AC Milan manager discovered his talent for long shots and free kicks, so he told him to learn the "banana kick" that only South American players could make. He succeeded and the "banana kick" became his trademark move. He had used the stunt countless times to besiege others' goals and repeatedly brought results for AC Milan.Banana kick = Albertini = AC Milan.For thirteen years, this was a given. The three factors made up an indestructible triangle.When Albertini still wore the red and black striped jersey to set foot in San Siro stadium, he never thought he would become AC Milan's enemy one day. He wanted to play there until he retired.When Galliani decided to inform Albertini that "AC Milan no longer needs you. We have the young players like Pirlo and Kaka," the manager, known for his shrewdness in the football world, did not think that one day his team would encounter Albertini in the Champions League final, and the player he did not need would give him the hardest stab."Long live!" The Nottingham city, which had been quiet a moment ago, erupted into a huge roar, ringing through the night sky."Long Live Demetrio! Long live Nottingham Forest!""He scored! He has scored! Demetrio Albertini! Abandoned by AC Milan, with his iconic 'banana kick.' Nottingham Forest extended its lead to two goals!" The British commentator was a little incoherent with excitement."The player that we didn't want has given us a fatal blow... This is just too cruel, too dramatic..." the Italian commentator said feebly. Should he cheer that Albertini was old but still vigorous? Perhaps at the end of this game, they could still say in a self-deprecating manner, "at least the outcome was determined by a player groomed by AC Milan..."In the VIP seats, a polite smile did not even exist on Berlusconi's face. Sitting next to him, Galliani leaned on the back of the chair, looking very powerless indeed.Not far away, the chairman of Nottingham Forest Football Club, Evan Doughty and his good friend the club's marketing manager, Allan Adams jumped and hugged in celebration. After their embrace, Evan waved his fists excitedly at the field."Terrific job! Well done!" There was no other sound from his mouth other than that. He did not care about the feelings of the AC Milan Football Club's top echelon. After being together with Twain for a long time, he was more or less afflicted with some of his bad habits. When it was time to be proud, it should be the time to celebrate wildly and enjoy to the fullest. Why should he pay attention to the others' mood?As his role model, Twain was crazier than he was. After Albertini's goal, he held his arms high and rushed straight onto the field. He was offensively conspicuous and stood out as he dashed all the way in his suit. If it had been usual, he might have been knocked to the ground by the stadium security guard like a naked streaker. However, the field was complete chaos. The ground seemed to be shaking, and the security guards had not reacted as they looked at Twain, allowing him to rush up the field. Twain did not rush onto the field to wave his fists before he finished. He ran straight to Albertini and pushed the veteran to the ground to pile on him."F**k! Demetrio, you did it!" These were the last words Albertini heard before he was crushed underneath the bodies of his teammates.Twain's passionate celebration also ignited the mood of the Forest fans in the stands. Together, they sang the first team song when the Forest team won their two Champions League titles "We got the whole world in our hands."Michael, John and Bill sang with their hoarse voices... They were not so much singing as they were yelling the song, as if they were going to rip their vocal chords apart, as if the failure to do so would not show how excited they were."We got the whole world in our hands! We got the whole world in our hands! This damn world is in our hands! We're the strongest in the world!""The singing voices of the Nottingham Forest fans... and the song of Nottingham Forest fans is once again ringing through the European arena! We seem to be instantly transported back to The Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany in 1979. That was when Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest appeared in the Champions League finals for the first time and shocked Europe as soon as they appeared. No one thought anything of them, but they ended up winning! Twenty-eight years later, Tony Twain has taken over the mantle of the veteran Manager Clough and led a brand-new Nottingham Forest to appear on the Champions League finals. This time, he vowed not to let the championship title to be sidelined! 2:0! The red color is back!"Yes, baby! We're back, and ready to take back the lost glory of our yesteryears!
