669 Stupid and Awesome

As the players from both teams stood near the center circle waiting for the second half to begin, Twain changed four players. Four players clad in Nottingham Forest's yellow away jerseys stood on the sidelines, waiting to get on the field.

Kompany replaced the older Ayala, Akinfeev substituted van der Sar, Lennon swapped out David Beckham, and George Wood replaced Sun Jihai.

Beckham's exit made the fans unhappy with Twain and they booed him.

"They're not booing at you, David." When Beckham walked off to shake Twain's hand, Twain laughed. "The boos are for me. They are complaining that I've brought you off too early."

"I understand, boss."

"Well, dry yourself." He handed over a towel.

Wood took over the captain's armband from Beckham. He tied it, and then ran onto the field. He did not give his opinion on how they should play in the first half during halftime, but Twain knew this kid had to have bottled up a lot of energy inside.

During halftime, Twain instructed the team to step up their long shots and still play offense in the middle. Apart from the players' fear of injury and the referee's whistle, they were unable to break the goal in the first half partly due to Twain's instruction to the team to attack from the middle, but he did not change that in the second half. In addition to it being a hard-to-get opportunity to train the players, Twain did not think that they could not breach the goal by attacking from the middle with Nottingham Forest's ability.

Even if the main players did not make noise during halftime, Twain had a way to reverse the situation in the second half. Hence, he kept the substitutes for the second half. The players played less and were eager to prove themselves, which, in some cases, were more powerful than the main players. Twain had planned from the start to let them play in the second half to teach the heads of the Chinese Football Association a lesson.

He did not plan to listen to Allan and give face to the Chinese Football Association. The Chinese Football Association's reputation had nothing to do with him. He did not refuse Allan only because he did not want to quarrel with him. His hot-headedness and outspoken personality did not mean that he would not resort to petty tricks.

※※※

While the China Olympic team's players and most of the fans were still oblivious from the dream of the first half, van der Vaart's long shot that struck the goal post sounded the alarm.

In the fifth minute of the second half, less than a minute after van der Vaart's long shot hit the post, Ribéry suddenly cut inside after he dribbled the ball in the wing. He kicked the ball in a straight line just before the Chinese Olympic team thought he was going to do a long shot. Plugging in from the side, Eastwood turned to shoot at the goal after he received the ball, which rolled past the goalkeeper, who was unable to react in time, and hit the net.

Nottingham Forest equalized the score.

So far, it was still in line with the result that Xie Yalong and Allan knew.

However, a bad feeling emerged in Allan's mind.

In the eleventh minute, Li Weifeng, whose defensive action was still rough, pushed down Lennon, who had intended to break through in front of the penalty area, the referee blew the whistle and ruled that it was his foul, which gave the Forest team a free kick twenty-seven meters from the goal.

Gareth Bale stepped forward to execute this free kick and the football drew a beautiful arc to fly straight toward a dead corner!

Nottingham Forest completed the reversal of the game in six minutes.

After this goal, Twain substituted the players again. Bale, who scored the goal was replaced by Baines, van der Vaart was replaced by Petrov and Ribéry moved to the middle to be the playmaker in the midfield.

Petrov, who just came on the field, brutally broke through the wing. After he relied on his speed to break past the Chinese Olympic defenders marking him, he sent out the ball. Van Nistelrooy suppressed Li Weifeng to head the football into the goal.

In the blink of an eye, the score had changed from 1:2 to 4:2.

Sitting on the podium, Xie Yalong's smile was long gone. His face was infinitely closer to Ningbo's weather.

Allan sat next to Evan Doughty, one person down from Xie Yalong. He could feel the emotional upheaval that took place in the Chinese Football Association President's mind. He was a little annoyed.

Tony Twain made a fool out of him!

※※※

Generally speaking, it was acceptable to the hosts for this score to be kept until the end of the game. After all, they had scored two goals against the European Champion and the other party only scored four goals, but Twain had no intention of giving up. He continued to bring on the driven players to attack the already battered and disheartened Chinese Olympic team.

Bendtner came onto replace van Nistelrooy, and Arshavin replaced Eastwood. Rafinha was replaced by Chimbonda, and Wes Morgan replaced Piqué. The Chinese Olympic team could not threaten Nottingham Forest's defense now. Most of their faltering attacks were stopped by George Wood, who defended against them with ease.

Nottingham Forest scored two more goals in the final minutes of the game. Bendtner grabbed the ball in the penalty area to score a goal. Then he used his strong physique and followed up with a header shot to the goal.

By the time the Forest team scored their fifth goal, half of the fans had already started cheering and applauding the Forest players for each performance.

In contrast, Xie Yalong's face was gloomy with tightly pursed lips, looking as ugly as could be.

The players of the Chinese Olympic team still strove at the beginning, but toward the end, they realized that the difference in strength between the two sides was just too big, so they gave up trying. Their attacks were completely disorganized, and they struggled with defense.

Seeing the scene, Twain shook his head. "This is all they've got, and the FA actually gave them the goal to reach the final four of the Olympic men's soccer..."

"Are they crazy?" Dunn asked.

"Not crazy, this is their usual stance. If you were to hear the FA say we have to keep our feet on the ground and do something practical for Chinese football one day, you can call the mental hospital and ask them to send a car to the FA to get those people."

Dunn was amused by Twain's words.

Twain glanced at him. "Is that funny? Don't you think it's sad and indignant to encounter such a thing? The Chinese fans have lost their energy for anger and swearing. They can only express their emotions in a sarcastic manner. You see..." He pointed to the stands. "how almost all of them are starting to boo the Chinese Olympic team now. That's how they express their emotions. They are forced to the extent that they see no hope at all. Who would want to use this extreme way to vent? To boo the team that wears their own country flag on the chest. It's sad and pathetic."

Dunn was silent. His understanding and feelings about Chinese football lagged behind this "British man," but he could imagine what Twain's former attitude towards Chinese football was. Perhaps he cried, laughed, cursed, and hoped, too. But now, he coolly recounted other people's own affairs.

It was so sad and pathetic.

And so lamentable!

※※※

The commercial match ended with Nottingham Forest's 6:2 victory over the Chinese Olympic team. After the game, the Forest players walked hand in hand toward the stands to thank the fans, which was their tradition and what Twain asked them to do.

Initially, the players thought that since they had slaughtered the home team, those who booed them in the first half would boo at them even louder, but to their surprise, the Chinese fans stood up in the stands to applaud the Nottingham Forest players, who had played to their best during the match.

"To be honest, they understand the game very well." Sun Jihai muttered when he thanked the fans with his teammates.

The people on the other team felt bad. Xie Yalong stood on the podium and clapped out of courtesy. Some eager fans already rushed out a new sign and raised it up in the stands below the podium to show to the officials on the podium.

"Xie Yalong is a stupid c**t! The FA is a stupid c**t!"

The phrase captured what all the fans in the stadium wanted to say.

※※※

The post-match press conference was lively. Because Nottingham Forest was the first team to beat the host team to a pulp since China started commercial football matches, the game set the record for the highest score for a single game and net goal difference for a foreign team over a Chinese team.

In accordance with the traditional thinking of the Chinese people, guests who came to visit the host had to pay mind to the host's reputation. It was okay to win but it looked better for everyone to score fewer goals.

But Tony Twain and his Nottingham Forest team did not believe in that.

Twain's first remark astonished the Chinese reporters present. "I was not satisfied with the team's performance in the first half. We should have scored a few more goals, but I'm fairly satisfied with the current overall score. We showed the strength of a European champion in the second half."

Twain knew some of the Chinese media would feel displeased, but he had his own way to shut them up.

"Before the game, there were some media outlets that were concerned that the Forest team would not give its best to play in the commercial game, making the game less thrilling to watch, but now I think everyone can put their minds at ease. We're a professional team, and we upheld our work ethic. I'm very happy to give the Chinese fans such a wonderful game!" He smiled and opened his arms, looking very proud. "After the game, the Chinese fans gave my team a standing ovation, and I was deeply moved by that. It also showed that we have won the recognition and appreciation of the fans. The Chinese fans are..." He gave a thumbs-up and spoke in Mandarin, "Awesome!"

His words and conduct rendered the reporters, who were ready to make trouble, completely speechless.

Only Tang Jing was laughing. That's Tony Twain for you. You don't know if you should love him or hate him... But whether you like him or not, he's true to himself. The hearts that can't take it; he may just be the death of you.

I would have fought him when I was younger, but now I can only smile when I see him. I don't get worked up by him anymore because he's not directing it at me at all. Maybe he's directing it at the world?

The puppet, Mr. Dujković, had nothing to say as the match had nothing to do with him, but he had to step out after the game to accept everyone's rebuke. The salary given by the Chinese Football Association was not easy to earn. "They played very well, and we tried our best, but the difference in strength was too big, and we are powerless..." He rubbed his temples as he feebly answered reporters' questions, as if he was muttering to himself.

Twain glanced at him and did not think that the old man was pathetic.

If I were him, how could I endure such humiliation? I would have yelled at the Football Association long ago, and then walked away. You can go find whoever is willing to play along. I'm not going to do as you say!

※※※

At the end of their last assignment in China, the players were given a break for the night. They were free to go out and do what they like before 11:30 P.M..

Tony Twain was invited by Allan to his room again. There were some things that they had to make clear.

Unlike the last time, the club chairman, Evan Doughty, was present in the room.

"The atmosphere doesn't feel quite right." He did not rush in. Instead, he clung to the door frame, looked inside at the two men, and asked tentatively.

"Ah, Tony, Tony. What should I say about you?" Allan shook his head and sighed. There were times when he could not get angry with the manager. During the game, he was so angry that he could not wait to look for Twain to question him in person. But seeing him like that, all the yelling he was prepared to do had vanished.

Twain laughed. "It's okay. I know why you're looking for me. Actually, Allan, don't blame me for lying to you. If I had refused, the itinerary and various activities you had arranged would have been affected. Isn't that the case when you calmly think about it?"

Allan did not need to think calmly to know for sure that it was true. When the team's most important two departments had a conflict, it was inevitable that it would affect things. If everyone was fighting, many of the scheduled activities might have been cancelled.

In order to come to China, he studied the many European teams that came to China to make money in the last few years. For example, in the summer of 2005, Real Madrid visited China for the second time. Originally, all the players were scheduled to go on China's national television to record a program with Real Madrid fans from all over the country, but due to a direct clash between Real Madrid's commercial and athletics departments, the trip was canceled because the athletics department strongly objected to the exhausted team participating in the television show. The end result was Real Madrid missed the live recording of the show, leaving a very bad image in the minds of fans across China.

With Real Madrid's deep-rooted position in football and wealth, they did not take the little effect to heart, but Nottingham Forest, who had just stepped into the Chinese market, could not be careless.

"I'm not an impulsive person. I thought about it. I promised you because I did not want to influence your other plans, but I really couldn't promise. It offended my bottom line. I don't know what your thoughts are, Allan, but for someone who cares about honor, a matter like this is like asking me to sell out the team. I couldn't do that, and my players could not agree. You weren't in the locker room at halftime. Everyone thought we played badly in the first half and they did not want to end the game like that..." He shrugged and did not continue.

Allan stood there and did not know what to say.

When Twain saw that he did not speak, he continued, "Allan, you know this team. The whole world probably knows what kind of team Nottingham Forest is. I don't blame you at all and I did not mean to deliberately go against you, but the Chinese Football Association's request was too much. I could not accept. It's their fault. None of us did anything wrong. They didn't follow the rules of football, so they had to pay the price and lie in the bed they made. I know better than you do about the Chinese Football Association. They have become accustomed to manipulating games and leagues domestically. And now they think they can manipulate us?"

"But Tony. We are going to open a football school in China. This definitely can't get around the Chinese Football Association. You're now..." Allan finally had the ability to think, and he spoke harshly.

Twain smiled very happily. "Are you worried that I have angered the FA? No, I haven't. Allan. You don't know enough about the organization. The only person who was enraged by me was the president. Rest assured his term is ending soon. By the end of this year... it's not yet known what will happen when the next one comes along. It's too early to say what's going to happen." He winked. "The presidents of the Chinese Football Association are transferred from other institutions to dredge up enough achievements for a few years before they are promoted. They don't care about how Chinese football is."

Evan clicked his tongue in astonishment. That kind of thing was really new to him.

Hearing Twain, Allan slightly softened his tone. "That is unbelievable."

"Ha, if you dig deeper into this organization, you'll find more incredible things. Some things will make you feel like it shouldn't happen on Earth at all."

But Allan soon discovered a new problem, "Wait a minute. If they change to another leader, does it mean that my previous efforts have gone to waste?"

"The bigger picture of the agreement negotiated with the organization should not be affected. As long as the relationship is not at an impasse, it will not block the other minor areas for us." Twain thought about it.

Evan, who had been watching, put his hands together and smiled. "Okay, Allan, this matter has been settled. I did say that Tony must have his thoughts. To tell the truth, I think the suggestion put forth by the Chinese Football Association is silly, but fortunately Tony did not follow suit."

Allan feigned anger. "So after all this, it's my own issue?"

"Ahem..." Evan hurriedly coughed. "This trip to China was perfect, Allan. There were some people who thought Chinese commercial football games were over, but we hyped it up. I've heard that Chelsea is already considering a formal visit to China. These are the best affirmations for you."

Twain chimed in, "yes, that's right. You're the best I've ever seen in this area."

"You only deal with the managers, Tony." Allan was not angry. "Anyway, what you did today made me lose 'mianzi.' Yes, 'mianzi.'" Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

After spending some time in China, he could understand what "face" meant.

Twain pretended to not understand. "What's that?" Noodles?"

"Don't act silly, Tony."

"Well, ok, to make up for your 'mianzi,' I've decided to treat you to noodles." Twain raised his hands in surrender.

"Spaghetti? I'm so sick of it."

"No, Japanese ramen!"

The second stop of the Nottingham Forest's East Asia gold rush project was Tokyo.