Godfather Of Champions

The Spaniards could not have imagined that they would concede the goal in this way. With three consecutive shots, their defenders did not even snapped up a point of fall. They were all grasped by England.

It was very clear that England had thoroughly studied Spain and made the right tactics.

Twain celebrated the goal with excitement not far from the sidelines, while Hierro sat in a chair without even lifting his buttocks once. He was pondering a question – England’s change in deployment must have held great meaning, but what was the specific meaning?

From the looks of this goal… was it a coincidence or a premeditation?

It was a far cry from the previous way England had attacked. Rooney and Agbonlahor were two strikers playing as wingers while Gerrard, the former attacking midfielder did not carry out his responsibility as the playmaker… What did Tony Twain exactly have in mind?

“It looks like we bet right!” On the other side, Tony Twain said excitedly to Des Walker, “The Spaniards didn’t think we were going to make such a jump in tactics. They couldn’t react in time and find a way to deal with us!”

“If they find a way to deal with us, what are we going to do then?” Walker was not as excited as Twain. He always thought the change in maneuver was too risky.

“I don’t think that Hierro will be able to think of a way to deal with us until the end of the first half. . . Even if he has gotten it, he can’t implement it.” Twain laughed complacently. He was confident in that. “He has to substitute players if he wants to deal with us. In the semifinals, he will not dare to make a substitution before the end of the first half. If you look at Spain’s current starting lineup, how many players can be replaced?”

Fàbregas and Iniesta were Spain’s dual-core players and certainly could not be replaced. Moreover, both players were better at offense and made little contribution to the defense. On the two sides, Silva nor Lago were the kind of players who were good at defense and like to defend. Their task was to attack and attack again. Spain, which was proclaimed to have Europe’s strongest midfield, had only Camacho who was a defensive midfielder. But how could he defend against the repeated impacts in turn from Gerrard, Rooney, Agbonlahor and Wood? The goal concede just now spoke for itself: Camacho ran positions with Gerrard, so Rooney was unmarked. Once Rooney took the ball, it attracted the attention of the Spanish defense. Then Vaughan quietly left the Spanish defender’s sights. No one noticed him, partly because the defenders were keeping a close eye on Rooney’s next move at the point in time, and partly because it was Vaughan’s first time in the starting lineup in the tournament. Compared to the rest of England team’s players, he was not very famous and lacked a sense of presence in the minds of the Spanish defenders…

Ultimately, Twain’s tactic was to use Mitchell to attract the attention of the Spanish defenders. The three midfielders with exceptional attacking ability, Rooney and Agbonlahor, as well as Gerrard, were the real killer move. If Rooney had been lucky, the first shot should have been scored just now, but Asenjo made a world-class save. Instead, it was Vaughn who picked up the bargain.

If Spain were to make adjustments targeting England’s tactics, it would be not a question of who should mark Rooney or Agbonlahor, but that they must find someone to entangle with George Wood. Because England’s brain was him, and not everyone else. If Wood could not pass the ball properly, England’s attack would be paralyzed.

However, Wood’s position was as the defensive midfielder, which was positioned far back. Even if he could not move up, he could also achieve the purpose of organizing the attack through long passes. If they wanted to find a person who could defend against him, it could not be said that there was no such player in the world of football. But at least currently in the Spain team, …it was very hard to do so.

“It’s like this… I remember Hierro saying in an interview before the UEFA European Championship that he would give the Spanish fans the best UEFA European Championship to watch. That means he’s going to stick to his attacking tactics, and he has brought a lot of attacking players for the reason. Whereas for the defensive players, he only has …” Walker said contemplatively to this point and suddenly stopped to twist his head to look at Twain.

Twain smiled at him and said, “That’s right. The only midfielder who can really defend is Camacho. Surely Hierro can’t have his center back rush to our half to defend against George?”

Once Twain said that, Walker could finally lay his worries to rest. He sat back in the technical area and looked at the players running on the pitch, thinking that Tony was right. Everything about the Spain team is currently within our calculations, and we shouldn’t be surprised if they make any adjustments. At least we are safe in the first half.

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The game that followed happened just as Twain had predicted. The Spanish team tried hard to fight back. In fact, they did pose a lot of threats to England’s goal in terms of the offensive. But no matter how many shots they did, they did not result in goals. And considering England’s offensive, Spain’s two full backs were afraid to rush up to assist in the attack. Hierro had specifically instructed them on the sidelines. It was a top priority not to concede the goal anymore until the end of the first half.

The England team was also active in their search for attacks. A one-goal lead was not secured enough. If they could, it would be nice to have a two-goal lead at the end of the first half. Everyone from the coaches to the players thought so.

The game became even better to watch after England’s goal, with the Spain team, adept at offense and the England team, eager to attack, having explosive clashes at the Nou Mestalla Stadium.

Both sides played wonderful set pieces, but everyone’s luck was just a little worse. The score was still at 0:1 until the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half. The host, Spain trailed behind for the time being.

Although the 1:0 score was still not very satisfactory, to be able to be in the lead was considered a good result. So, Twain did not show any displeasure when he came off the field.

And the Spanish players were not particularly depressed. After all, they were only one goal behind. The manager would certainly make adjustments during the halftime interval. The second half was the real decisive battle!

The two teams left the field in different moods. The Spanish fans in the stands were not as confident about the second half as their team was, with the vast majority of Spanish fans worried about the team’s fate. And the favorite thing that the England fans wanted to do now was talk about the naval battle that happened 500 years ago.

It was in that naval battle that the Royal Navy defeated the then world’s number one invincible fleet of Spain, thus allowing Britain to replace Spain as the maritime overlord and laying a solid foundation for Britain to establish the “the empire on which the sun never sets” in the future.

The glorious history was familiar to every Englishman, and it was just too fitting when put together with today’s game.

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“We’re one goal ahead, but now is not the time to celebrate, guys.” In the locker room, Twain was talking to the team, “You know…”

“A one-goal lead is the most dangerous score in the world!” Some of the players already helped him to yell out the words.

Twain laughed, pointing to those players and saying, “Good, good, you have learned to answer first…”

There was a burst of laughter in the locker room. Although it was a semifinal game, the mentality of the players was good, and Twain was very happy with that.

“In the second half, Spain will definitely make adjustments to their tactics to counter our tactics. You have to be mentally prepared – the second half will not be as easy as the first half. We could be engaged in a bitter fight – if you can’t widen the gap in the score at the start of the second half. What kind of adjustments will they make? It won’t be defense but offense. They will step up their attacks on the sidelines. Fàbregas and Iniesta will frequently pass the ball to the sidelines, or simply go to the sides to make their moves. They can only suppress our attacks in the sides by stepping up their offensive on the side…” At this point, Twain pointed to Rooney and Agbonlahor as he said, “Pay attention, you will need to return to defend in the second half.”

Agbonlahor nodded, while Rooney had a question which he asked, “Boss, since their aim is to suppress our attack on the sidelines, and if Gabriel and I were to return to defend, wouldn’t it just serve their purpose?”

Twain smiled and said, “We still have George. If they suppress our sidelines, we will go to the middle. After playing for 45 minutes in the first half, the Spaniards must have thought that our main offensive direction was the two sides, and that Mitchell and Vaughan were merely facades to attract the opponent’s attention… If they really thought so and adjusted accordingly, then the second half…” Twain pointed to Mitchell and Vaughan to say, “You two let the Spaniards know who the real set-up are!”

“No problem, boss!” Mitchell answered with a loud voice.

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“I must admit I did not expect England to make such a change…” In the Spanish team’s locker room, the first words out of Hierro’s mouth was to apologize to the team and admit the mistake in his tactics. “I apologize for the overall weakness in the situation in the first half.”

The Spanish players did not expect the mighty manager to bow his head in public, but it made them feel like they had not done their part instead. The reality of falling behind by one goal should not be borne by the manager, because it was not just one person’s responsibility in the team trailing behind, but the entire team’s responsibility.

The atmosphere in the Spanish team had always been good. Even though there had been a long-running fight for independence by Catalonia in Spain, it would not affect the friendship of the players within the national team. Today they were a whole, without the differences between the Madrilenians, Basques and the Catalans.

“We must make adjustments in the second half. Unfortunately, we don’t have too many defenders in the midfield.”

Camacho felt everyone turn their gazes over at him. He knew that his task would be a heavier one in the second half as the team’s only defensive midfielder.

“We can’t make too many adjustments defensively and I can’t ask Camacho to cover from the front field to the backfield. We can only find a way through offense.” Hierro muttered contemplatively for a while, “England’s tradition is to attack on the sidelines. The speed of their midfield passes are quick and rely mainly on the sidelines to push the attacks. George Wood is only responsible for dispatching the ball, and there are very few deadly passes near the penalty area. To suppress their attacks on the sides, we have to step up the attacks on the sides. The Spanish tradition is also to launch attacks on the sidelines. Don’t forget this, gentlemen!”

Hierro decided to place heavy forces on the sidelines. Whether it was Iniesta or Fàbregas, they all had to be more active on the sidelines and launch more interchangeable attacks with Lago and Silva.

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“In terms of offense, our midfield has to pass the ball quickly so as to reduce the frequency of ball contact and the time it takes to control the ball. You have to admit that technically we are not as good as Spain.” Seeing someone showing a look of displeasure, Twain immediately pointed over and said, “If the Spanish team strengthens their control and defense in the midfield, then we will make more use of the long pass in the backfield … Mitchell and Vaughn are the two beacons in the front field. The long passes are for them. Gerrard, your job is to control the second point of fall while they control the high points. If you’re close to the penalty area, try your best to shoot!”

Gerrard nodded and raised his fist. In terms of long shots, he would not lose to anyone. His increasing age did not affect his explosive power to shoot. Furthermore, his long shot angle was currently sharper, and he was subtle when he made a move.

“If we do not score at the start of the second half, we will slow down our pace for a while and withdraw the formation to solidify the defense. But under such circumstances, you must not forget to attack. You must firmly grasp any offensive opportunity! I’m telling you; you will pay dearly for any wasted opportunities on the football field!”

“I only stress one thing – you must act fact during an attack! Run fast, receive fast and pass the ball fast. You must be fast even when shooting! This kind of fast pace is what Spain lacks, but it is also what they fear. It is our advantage, so we must make good use of it.”

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“What do we do if England fights back? They’re fast, and if you’re certain that you can’t intercept the football, then you foul! Foul far away from the penalty area, the sooner the better! Don’t think I’m just talking about the defensive players. Starting with the forwards, once the ball is lost, you counter press and block. Even if you can’t intercept the ball, you must also force them to pass the ball back. You can’t let them launch their attacks quickly. Once England’s speed is picked up, it’s going to be hard to stop them… None of our players had a card in the first half and that’s our advantage. The referee is partial toward us, which is our advantage, so we have to make good use of it. Also, in physical confrontation with England, we can fall to the ground more. Remember we are the host, and this is our home ground!”

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“Pay attention during defense. Be subtle with your moves, be subtle! Do you know what it means to be subtle? That is, don’t let the damn referee see any petty maneuvers! Let the Spaniards suffer in secret! You must know that we are playing in an away game, the referee will definitely be a little bit biased towards the Spanish team. There’s no doubt about it. I know how the UEFA works.” Some people were secretly laughing on the inside when Twain said so. Nottingham Forest was given a hard time by the UEFA every year. As the former manager, he certainly knew how the UEFA functioned.

“If a foul was determined, do not attempt to justify it to the referee. Any of your actions under those circumstances may be interpreted by the referee as a provocation to his authority. I definitely don’t want to see a situation where you get a yellow card for a foul and a second yellow card through a verbal protest.”

Twain looked serious. He wanted the players to know what an important thing it was.

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“Well, I’ve said all that I need to say. Do you want more than 60,000 fans see their favorite team play for the third or fourth place in the finals? Do you want to miss the chance to lift the championship trophy at home? It’s no big deal to fall behind by one goal. We are Spain, we are a complete whole!” Hierro showed his style as the captain of Spain during that time and loudly motivated at the players, “We are the host and there are so many fans watching us. No matter what, we cannot lose!”

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“Guys, with 45 minutes to go, we’re going to reach the finals for the first time in 50 years. Think about that number, 50 years! Half a century! What a great thing it will be if we can do it! Does any one of you want to write your name in history? You can become a hero by taking a step forward now. Does anyone want to step in place or even step back? No, no one wants to! So, now…” Twain pointed to the door of the locker room and said, “All of us – move forward!”