Chapter 964: The Encounter

Shaun Barclays’s arrival surprised Twain a little. During the entire time of the European Cup, this England Football Association’s main character had never come to spectate his team, he only offered some help during the checkup of Wood. At other times, it was as if he disappeared.

Barclays did not encounter the players but instead went straight to Twain. That point satisfied Twain; at the very least, England’s managers were not like the Chinese Association’s managers, skipping the head coach and directly implicating themselves in the team matters. Up until now, in the English team, he felt like he got the respect he deserved.

Barclays and Twain were meeting by themselves for the first time in the coffee shop in the basement of the hotel. Barclays was most concerned about what results England could achieve this time. The Football Association’s minimum target for Twain was a top-four finish, but Twain had already accomplished his task exceeding their expectations. Following the logic, the Football Association’s CEO should be relaxed. However, humans are always greedy, and since they were already in the finals, why not fight for the championship?

Everyone had this exact same idea so of course, the Football Association’s CEO would have it as well.

Although Twain had already expressed his ambition for obtaining the championship, he might need to act a little humble when face to face with the CEO of the Football Association.

“I can’t promise anything,” Twain spread his hands. “The game has not even started, and our opponents are very strong.”

Barclays was scolding Twain on the inside for being cunning, but on the surface, he smiled and said, “This is not the Tony Twain I know, the one who proclaimed his team was the one who would win the championship.”

Twain knew Barclays was trying to pressure him, but his expression did not change. He only slightly nodded. “The season is long, and we have enough time to carry out adjustments. However, there is only one match in the finals, whether it is 90 minutes or 120 minutes long, and then the room to allow errors is too small. I don’t want you to be overly disappointed after having high expectations, Mr. Barclays,” He rebutted without hesitation.

Barclays continued inwardly scolding him. He came out this time to hear out what Twain’s true aim was, but Twain’s lips were sealed, and he was not saying anything.

“But I don’t think anyone’s target is obtaining the runner-up, right?” He asked.

This time, Twain nodded definitely. “That is for sure, we would work hard to fight for the first place.”

That line was Barclay’s only satisfaction. To his slight displeasure, Twain remained as unruly as he was rumored to be and cold-hearted towards the chairman of the Football Association. Towards the end of the meeting, he even felt impatient, as if he had many matters at hand, while Barclays himself had an abundance of time.

After leaving the hotel, Barclays was cornered by reporters for a brief interview.

“Our goal is to be champions.” In front of the media, he announced the ultimate goal of the team on behalf of Twain.

In contrast to Barclays’s high profile, Twain was surprisingly keeping a low profile before finals.

In the past, when Twain was coaching a team in preparation for an important match, he would never forget starting a vocal war with the opposing head coach, a battle of wills. However, this time, he did not do this at all.

He did not take the initiative to attack Italy, nor did he provoke Lippi. Other than the regular training, he would not mention any other extra things. It was as if he wanted to leave his first encounter with Lippi until the press conference on the day before the match.

However, the more Twain was acting low profile, the more worried the Italians were. Considering Italy’s fate, if Twain was acting like a quiet little mouse before the game, he would roar like a lion after the match.

The Italians were worried about what Twain was plotting behind the scenes against them. In these few days, the Italian media was trying every method to find out the training conditions of the English team, trying to figure out what the English were up to.

In reality, they really had wronged Twain…

※※※

Wood passed on the information Bale gave him during the training break to Twain. This information was helpful for Twain in implementing the tactics, especially defensive tactics, which now became a lot more tailored to the team.

The overall tactics of the game have long been determined. All of the training today was carried out based on that one tactic. No matter how different the opinions in the coaching crew were, all of them would have to put down their own opinions once the head coach was decided and work together with all their effort.

The good news spread quickly. With Ben Trey and Walcott both recovering from injury, they would be able to go onto the roster during the finals. Other than Mitchell, who was suspended due to the accumulation of too many yellow cards, England was able to send their strongest roster to welcome Italy.

George Wood’s right foot was no longer a problem. The team doctor Derek White thought that Wood was as strong as a bull.

※※※

Three days of preparation time passed by quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was the last day before the competition. On this afternoon, the teams would go to the Bernabeu stadium for a ground adaptation while the two managers would bring a player to the last news conference before the final match.

The Italian team was arranged to enter the Bernabeu adaptation site first. After the adaptation training, the head coach Lippi brought the Italian captain Chiellini to partake in the news conference.

During the meeting, the reporters were most interested in the first and final face-off between the two coaches. Lippi and Twain were both highly known and successful managers in European football but they have never had a direct encounter. Lippi did not talk about Twain during his most popular years. Twain would definitely not take the initiative to mention someone who was not connected to him at all, regardless of whether he was the head coach of a championship team.

However, today, it was clearly inevitable that each of them would be challenged to give their opinion of the other.

After asking the routine questions, a reporter for Italy’s Milan Sport stood up and asked the question: “Marcelo, what do you think of Tony Twain?”

“He’s a very good manager and the trophies he’s brought to Nottingham Forest are a testament to his ability,” Lippi’s answer was not surprising at all, because this was a fact.

However, it was clear that such an answer could not satisfy the journalists.

“But he has not made any notable achievements in the national team coaching field,” continued the Milan Sports reporter.

“I don’t think it’s a problem. England’s performance at this European Championship was impressive and this was what he has achieved.” This time, the answer was beginning to excite the reporters. As an opponent, following common sense, one should not praise the other party so easily, and what’s more, Lippi was a coach who has gotten almost all of the honor a coach was able to obtain, so getting his compliments was not easy.

So was his praise for Twain a smoke bomb or the real deal?

※※※

While Lippi was facing the reporters, Twain was already waiting outside with George Wood. As the media was interested in the first encounter between Twain and Lippi, the duration of the news conference would definitely be extended.

From the door, one was able to see the situation inside and to hear the voices inside. However, most of it was in Italian so Twain was unable to comprehend the conversation.

He might as well chat with Wood outside.

“How’s your mother’s health, George?”

“She is fine…” That was what he said, but his face was expressionless so Twain could easily guess that the situation was definitely not ideal. However, he was unable to help George Wood in this aspect at all, so he could only sigh inwardly. It was as if such a pitiful woman was sent into this world just to suffer.

“Will your mum watch the finals?”

“She’ll watch the television broadcast.”

“Perform better, get a trophy to make her happy.”

Wood nodded.

It suddenly turned silent again between the two men, and each seemed to be thinking their own thoughts. Wood then took the initiative to break this silence. “How are you… and Shania?”

Twain glanced at Wood with a smile. “Wood also shows some concern for other people, that’s rare. How can we be? It’s the same every time, I’m busy with my work and she’s busy with hers. Every year we get more and more distant. For you though, you’re already 30 years old, and if you do not find any woman by this age, there are people who would suspect your sexuality, George.”

Wood said, “What do I care?”

“You are too indifferent,” Twain looked at Wood as he chuckled. “The best gay magazines have already placed you as the most ideal partner by the votes of their readers for three consecutive years.”

Twain was really worried about Wood’s life issues, so he brought up homosexuality to provoke him. However, the Westerners did not regard continuing the family line as high as the Asians, else Twain would definitely bring up the issue of “one having nothing to be proud of if he were unfilial”, using Wood’s mother’s name to affect him.

“Tomorrow is the final, and you are thinking of this?” Wood rebutted.

“What should be done is already done, what else is there to do? Frown and stay silent?” Twain was smiling brightly. “That is not like me. Besides…” He pointed to, Lippi who was in the room. “Our enemies can’t look down upon us. George, relax a little. We are the ones who obtained all three prestigious trophies, what hardships have we not seen? Ha!”

In the middle of their conversation, the news conference inside the room has ended. In the midst of the applause, Lippi pulled back his chair as he left the room following Chellini

.

Lippi was a little surprised when he saw Twain smiling at him, but his expression quickly returned to normal.

He knew that Twain was greeting him with a smile, as this manager did not seem to be as vicious and untouchable as the outside world had rumored him to be. Since the other side took the initiative to show friendliness, Lippi did not need to look arrogant either and slightly nodded when he looked at Twain.

Perhaps it was due to the finals, but Lippi, who attended the press conference that day, did not wear the Kappa T-shirt he usually wore on the training ground. Instead, he wore a very formal dark blue suit and white shirt. The two men passed by. Twain kept his eyes on George Wood instead of Lippi’s back view, and the opposing captain Chellini started a spark upon their contact. Both of them stared at each other.

After leaving the press conference, the old smoker Lippi put an end to his own suffering. He pulled out a Tuscan cigar out from inside his suit and placed it in his mouth. He lit it and took a deep breath, one so loud even Twain could hear.

With a cigar in his mouth, Lippi and Chiellini left just like that. Twain touched Wood, who was beside him. “Let’s go, George. It’s our turn.”

He did not smoke — not that he needed it to look cool. He was the embodiment of the word “cool”. Especially when he appeared in front of the media, that continuous flashing of the lights could clearly represent that Tony Twain was very close to snatching the world championship from Lippi.

“What do you think about Marcelo Lippi, Mr. Twain?” After the routine questions, Twain needed to face this one as well.

“He is an outstanding head coach. He led Juventus and Italy to obtain those championship trophies, which proves this point.” Twain did not hesitate nor was surprised, and answered quickly.

However, the journalists who could understand both English and Italian laughed out loud. This was too coincidental, as Lippi used the same words.

Even their act of being low profile was similar. No wonder they were the opponents for the final of the world championships.

Twain was laughed at inexplicably, but he did not ask for the reason.

“Is it a little difficult to play against such a coach in the final?” A reporter from Milan Sports asked.

“I admit it’s a bit difficult, after all, Lippi is very experienced. But…” Twain’s tone changed a little, “No one came to the Bernabeu stadium to compete for the runner-up. I’m sure Lippi would think the same way. If I were able to beat Italy and get the first place, I would be extremely happy.”

“Mr. Twain, you have intentionally and surprisingly acted low profile lately. Was that to get Italy to underestimate you?” The reporter from Milan Sports was very aggressive.

“No, it was not.” Twain spread his hands. “You’re insulting Mr. Lippi’s IQ.” He didn’t forget to use humor against the Italian journalist, for his constant aggression. “I do have a lot of respect for Lippi and I’m happy to play against him in the final.”

Twain did not lie. Although as a fan, Twain hated Juventus and Lippi, after becoming a coach, there has been a change of mind. As he thought from the coach’s point of view now, his mindset was becoming similar to that of the Italian coach. Being the head coach, the tactics master was deserving of his respect.

And Twain also knew that, with Lippi’s experience, it was himself who would end up losing out if he provoked a war of words. Lippi’s Italian team would definitely not be fooled, and if England were to suffer a psychological attack, their morale would definitely take a huge hit. Psychological warfare was a double-edged sword.

This double-edged sword, if used poorly, would hurt the wielder, so Twain always went for the easier alternative.

Lippi was an old fox, and if he screwed up, he would mess up his own and his teammates’ morale.

“I hope that there will be an exciting contest tomorrow, but that does not mean I would promise that I’ll play an offensive ball game,” Twain slyly laughed. “For me, the results are the priority.”

Hearing him say this, some of the reporters sighed. It looked like the finals match tomorrow would be a boring one. If there were no surprises, it was most likely going to end in a penalty shootout.

On the other hand, some reporters heard what they wanted. Tomorrow, tomorrow England was likely to be defensive, probably prioritizing defensively counter-attacking, sacrificing offense, and dragging them into extra-time and penalty shoot-outs.

The original tactic was kept under wraps for three days, and this was what Twain implemented for the English team? That was so boring…

Defensive, defensive, defensive… someone please knock open his brain to see if there was anything inside other than “defense”.

Twain would not go ahead and think about what the reporters were discussing. After answering the media’s questions, he and Wood left the Bernabeu stadium as he took the team bus and followed the team back to the hotel that they were staying in. There would be a final tactical meeting tonight, and after that, the quiet wait for tomorrow night.

His first time leading a country team into the World-level championship final was approaching so quickly. (To be continued, if you want to know what happens later, please log in to www.qidian.com, where there would be more chapters, support the author, support legal reading!)