Godfather Of Champions

The England fans had been feeling on edge earlier, but Mitchell’s goal delighted them immensely and blew all their worries away. They began hugging one another and cheering at the top of their voices at the stands. Even the fans watching the live coverage of the match in England were all shouting Mitchell’s name as well.

Everyone at the England dugout jumped to their feet after seeing Mitchell score the goal. They then ran to the side of the pitch and waved their fists in the air wildly to celebrate the goal.

It was a joyous moment for the British. Their team led Spain 3:1 right before the match went into stoppage time. England was definitely guaranteed of qualification into the finals now. The fans went wild with their celebrations. If there was beer in their hands, they would gulp it all down, and if there were people next to them, they would give them a hug.

The atmosphere at the stadium was merry and uproarious. The England players and fans were all busy celebrating, but Mitchell was the only one who did not join in the celebrations. He knelt on the pitch alone.

The joy of qualifying for the finals had nothing to do with him. His journey in the Euro Cup will come to an end the moment the referee blows on his whistle to signal the end of this semi-final match.

He just could not bring himself to smile at a time like this, even though he has always been an optimistic person.

Rooney ran up to Mitchell and wrapped an arm around the latter’s shoulder as he knelt down next to him. “Well done, Aaron!”

Mitchell did not respond to his senior’s praise.

He wished that the match would last a little longer. He did not want to have to leave the pitch so quickly.

“Aaron Mitchell. He might not be playing in the finals, but he has sent his team into the finals with a beautiful goal… It’s really a shame that we won’t get to see him play at the Bernabéu during the finals.”

“England has lost a pointed fang. I don’t know how this loss would affect them during the finals…” After seeing Mitchell’s goal, the commentators working for other countries all began expressing how Mitchell’s absence from the finals would give Twain a bad headache. Twain would definitely have a harder time setting up his team for the finals without Mitchell in the team.

※※※

Asenjo threw out his hands before him and shook his head in frustration. There was nothing he could say about Mitchell’s goal. He had expected England to go on the counter-attack, but he did not expect Mitchell to choose to shoot for goal in that manner. There was really nothing he could do to stop the goal.

Piqué stood before him. His head was lowered, and no one could see the expression on his face. No one knew what was on his mind at this very moment.

Fàbregas pursed his lips and hugged his head with his hands. He could see the fate that awaits his team for this match. They were going to lose. Where exactly did it go wrong for his team? Why is the strong Spain team so helpless against England?

Hierro probably knows the answer to Fàbregas’ question. England’s change in formation for the match had gone against his expectations, and he failed to prepare his team for it in advance. In addition, he was also too slow in making the necessary adjustments to deal with England’s new formation. He failed to make any tweaks in the first half and simply sat back and watched as the momentum of the match shifted in England’s favor.

It pains Hierro to admit it, but he is still inexperienced as a manager… He should have made adjustments at halftime. He allowed himself to fall into Twain’s trap and be led around by the nose.

Twain did not win in a battle of tactics. He won in a battle of experience.

※※※

The stoppage time lasted for four minutes. The Spain team knew that their hopes of qualifying for the finals were bleak, but they were not willing to throw in the towel just yet. They did not wish to let England win over them this easily. Thus, they attacked England’s penalty box ferociously within those four minutes. The entire England team retreated backwards and solidified their defense to deal with Spain’s flurry of attacks.

When the final whistle blew, all the Spain players collapsed to the ground, whereas the England substitutes ran onto the pitch to hug their teammates and they celebrated the historic moment together.

“The match is over! The final score is 3:1! England has defeated Spain! We have made our way into the finals of a major international competition once again after 50 years! We are going to become the champions!” John Motson yelled loudly, but his voice got drowned out by the cheers in the stadium.

The first thing that Twain did was to run towards Mitchell and give him a tight hug.

“You did well, Aaron.”

He stroked Mitchell’s hair and tried to console the dispirited player.

Mitchell could not hold his tears back. He allowed his tears to fall on Twain’s tuxedo and shirt. “I want to play in the finals, boss…”

Twain did not know what to say to Mitchell. All he could do was to tighten his embrace.

George Wood had intended to go over to Mitchell to comfort him, but he was a little too slow in his actions. He was dragged away by his passionate teammates before he could even make his way over to Mitchell. He was about to leave with his teammates when he saw Twain walk over to Mitchell. He stopped in his tracks and quietly watched as Twain gave Mitchell a hug and said a few words to him from afar.

There might be a million people who are happy right now, but sadly, no one would be able to make the youngster happy.

Wood felt someone pat him on the arm. He turned around and realized that Fàbregas was standing behind him. Fàbregas pointed at Wood’s jersey and asked, “Do you want to exchange it?”

Wood did not hesitate. He took off his jersey and handed it to him immediately.

Similarly, Fàbregas handed his own jersey to Wood as well.

“You guys played well. As for Mitchell… I’m sorry. It wasn’t my decision…” Fàbregas tried to comfort the despondent Wood.

Wood shook his head. “If it were me, I’d have done the same.”

“If it were you? You mean you would have committed the foul? Or do you mean you would have enticed the other player to commit the foul?”

“Both.” Wood placed Fàbregas’ jersey on his shoulder.

Fàbregas knew that Wood meant what he said, and he smiled in response. He felt like he was a fool for asking Wood that. How could he possibly forget what kind of player Wood is? ‘Do whatever it takes to achieve your goal’. That is what their boss, Tony Twain, had inculcated in them. Also, he seems to be forgetting something else as well: the winner does not need the loser to sympathize with him.

“I wish you and your team all the best. The finals would definitely be tough, but I’d be rooting for you.” Fàbregas patted Wood on the shoulder. The two have played against each other for close to 10 years in the Premier League, and they have also been friends for several years as well. “Your team eliminated us. I’d definitely hope that you go on to become champions, if not it’d be embarrassing for us.”

Fàbregas waved his hands and bade farewell to the winner, Wood.

Twain specially talked about Mitchell during the post-match press conference. He commended Mitchell’s performance in the match and admitted that it was a big blow to the team to lose such a talented center-forward in the finals.

A reporter brought up how Lago’s real target had been Wood instead of Mitchell. He then asked Twain who he would drop from the team between Wood and Mitchell, to which Twain replied, “I would not drop either of them.”

The England players were not as happy as they should be to qualify for the finals due to the fact that Mitchell was not going to play in the match. They all tried to console Mitchell in the locker room, but none of their consolations could beat a hug from Wood.

Wood knew in his heart that it was Mitchell who had given him the opportunity to play in the finals, and that is why he put even more force into his embrace.

※※※

Mitchell was inherently optimistic, and he was already back to his normal self the next morning. The team had their breakfast at the hotel before setting off for Madrid, and they noticed then that there was not even a hint of depression on his face any longer. Not only that, he also sounded much happier when his teammates spoke to him.

The team’s assistant manager, Des Walker, heaved a sigh of relief at the sight. If Mitchell had continued to pull a long face, it would have affected the team’s morale and mentality, and this would not be beneficial to their performance in the finals. However, based on how things are now, it looks like he had worried for nothing.

The players did not get a chance to relax. They had to attend a night training session that Twain had arranged for them when they arrived in Madrid. There was no need for Mitchell to participate in the training session since his journey in the Euro Cup has ended, but for some reason, he attended the session and was also very serious during it. The other players had no excuse to be lazy after seeing Mitchell’s attitude towards the training session.

The reason for Mitchell’s behaviour is not to spur his teammates on. He just wanted to vent his frustrations for not being able to play in the finals, and the training session was the only outlet that he had.

The England players noticed Mitchell’s behavior during the training session, and they began planning something behind his back.

“We need to do something for him.” A few of the team’s forwards were whispering amongst themselves in a corner away from Mitchell. “He has become a part of the audience in such an important match. I know he definitely feels terrible over it. Don’t be fooled by how happy he looks right now. It’s all an act.” Agbonlahor really felt for Mitchell given how they are also teammates in Nottingham Forest.

“We’ve consoled him numerous times, but it doesn’t look like our consolations helped him at all…” James Vaughan felt helpless and did not know what else he could do for Mitchell. He did not know Mitchell very well, and he has only interacted with Mitchell when they play together in the England national team. As a result, he was not able to say the words that a close friend would to Mitchell.

“Now’s not the time to be comforting him.” Rooney voiced his opinion. “We can say whatever we want, but we’d never be able to comfort him. We can’t change the fact that he’s still not going to play in the game. I think what we should do now is to let him feel like he’s a part of us.” Rooney thought about it for a moment before lifting his head to look at the other two players. “I don’t know which one of us is going to start in the finals.”

Rooney is definitely not trying to be humble when he said those words. He is not that kind of person. However, he is unable to say for sure who will start in the finals due to the fact that Twain has constantly been making adjustments to the team ever since the group stage match against Portugal. Anyone can start in matches and anyone can sit on the bench. It would be foolish to say that a particular player would definitely start in a match before the team list is officially announced.

“I don’t know who among us would be able to score a goal either. But, I think we could run over and hug him after we scored, or we could write something on our T-shirts too.”

“This is a great idea!” Agbonlahor’s eyes lit up. “I’d go and tell the rest…” He stood to his feet and was about to leave when he was stopped by Rooney.

“Make sure Mitchell doesn’t hear of this. Let’s give him a surprise!”

Agbonlahor did an ‘OK’ sign to Rooney.

Most people would have noticed Agbonlahor whispering to the other players by now because it was that obvious and eye-grabbing, but Mitchell was so engrossed in venting his frustrations that he did not pay attention to his teammates’ abnormal behavior.

Mitchell rarely puts a lot of strength behind his shots when he shoots for goal, but all the shots that he has made during training so far have all been strong and powerful. It was as though the goalkeeper, Joe Hart, was his nemesis.

Mitchell might not have realized that he was putting a lot of strength behind his shots, but it did not mean that others did not notice it just like him.

“What are they doing?” The assistant manager, Des Walker, furrowed his eyebrows when he saw a group of players looking around and acting suspiciously.

“God knows.” Twain shrugged. He did not particularly care about what the players were up to. Everyone is entitled to privacy, and the players are no exception. The managers have no need to intervene if the players are just crowding around to talk about topics that they are all interested in. “As long as they don’t do that during training.”

At the moment, Twain’s mind was imbued with thoughts of their upcoming opponent. He did not care about what his players were up to.

Their opponents in the finals had been decided.

It was Italy, the team that Twain was most worried about.

Italy’s manager was a born tactical master, and the finals match is bound to be a tactical showdown between the two sides. Additionally, Italy has always been a defensive team. They would definitely not give England the space that they need to make use of their pace. England would definitely find it hard to rely on their quick counter-attacks to score goals during the match. Twain expects the match to be a very grueling one for England.

Twain has a lot on his plate right now. Why would he possibly care about a trifle like what the players are discussing amongst themselves?

※※※

Twain was not the only one who was worried about his opponent in the finals. Italy’s manager, Marcello Lippi, was just as worried as he was.

The 68-year-old Lippi plans to retire after the Euro Cup is over, and he does not intend to be the manager of the Italy national team ever again in the future. In truth, this was his second time coming out of retirement to rescue the Italy team. He had retired back in 2006 after leading the Italy team to become champions of the World Cup that was held in Germany, but his successor, Marco Donadel, performed terribly during the 2008 Euro Cup, and the Italian Football Federation came knocking on his door and gave him the reins to the team once again. Lippi continued to be in charge of the Italy team until the 2012 Euro Cup. The team performed poorly in that year’s competition and Lippi resigned afterwards, but things did not improve for the Italy team. Lippi’s successor performed even worse than he did. He did not even manage to lead the team past the group stages at the World Cup that was held in Brazil. Think about it! They are Italy, a powerhouse team! How can they not even progress past the group stages? Many Italy fans wanted Lippi back in charge after seeing the poor results. Some of the more passionate fans even made their way down to his house and carried out a sit-in before his front door. Their gesture touched Lippi, and he decided to take charge of the Italy national team once again. However, he only promised to take charge until the end of the Euro Cup. Once the Euro Cup is over, he would retire once and for all, and he hopes that the fans would not disturb him again.

Lippi probably never expected that he would be able to lead the Italy team all the way into the finals on his last time in charge. The Italian press are all talking about how Lippi intends to end his managerial career with a Euro Cup trophy. When Lippi was the manager of Juventus, he led his team to five Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia trophy, one Intercontinental Cup trophy and one Champions League trophy. He reached the peak of his managerial career in 2006, when he led the Italy team that no one thought highly of to become champions of the World Cup that was held in Germany in 2006. The only regret that such an accomplished manager like him has is that he has yet to win the Euro Cup with the Italy national team thus far.

He had not intended to take charge of the Italy national team for the third time of his career, but it looks like this unintentional act of his was going to help him fulfill the biggest dream of his life. He hopes that he would be able to retire from the sport without any regrets, and he wants to leave behind a legacy in world football by retiring from the job that he deeply loves with a lot of accolades under his name.

However, he has to defeat a tough opponent before he can become a legend of the sport. His opponent is just like a comet that has suddenly appeared on the footballing scene. He shines very bright and has achieved nearly as many titles and trophies as Lippi did. He is regarded as the most dominant manager of the decade, and his name is Tony Twain.

This is going to be a clash between two men named as the ‘Godfather of Football’. The old ‘godfather’ would face off with the new ‘godfather’, and it also signified the transition from the ‘old’ generation to the ‘new’ generation for European football.

It does not matter which side goes on to become champions in the finals. Both England and Italy are strong teams, and the teams that lost to either team would definitely take comfort in the fact that the team that they lost to was truly a strong team. At the very least, they did not lose to a weak team. It is not embarrassing to have lost against a team that made its way to the finals…