champion godfather

Chapter 588

Even though it was only July, Nottingham Forest had slowly closed the door on the transfer market. Twain decided to keep his team away from the turbulent rumors in the transfer market, and concentrate on preparing for the new season.Last season's Champions League is not the end for them. Before this achievement, there are still higher achievements waiting for them to pursue.

When the Forest team was still training in Moscow, Allen had already flown back to Nottingham to assist Evan in handling various matters of the new stadium construction plan.

The City of Nottingham and the Nottingham Forest Club jointly announced the real estate development plan in Clifton. In the small town of Clifton in the southwest of Nottingham, a large residential area and commercial area will be built, as well as a building that can accommodate 6 people. The new modern stadium.

Then, tenders were launched for the whole of Europe.

When the Moscow Railway Cup is about to start, the official website of the Nottingham Forest Club announced the tender results for the new construction of the stadium.

In the end, Wilson_Bowden, the fifth largest house builder in the UK, won the bid to be responsible for the construction and development of the new stadium and residential area.The most attractive point of their bidding plan is to save money. The adoption of new technologies and the new transportation infrastructure developed in cooperation with the city government can save about [-]% of the cost. In addition, the residential area around the stadium and a The football theme park can also bring huge returns to the club after it is completed-according to the plan, this is the case.At that time, the new Nottingham Forest Stadium will not only be a football stadium, but also a playground, a satellite city integrating catering, entertainment, home and leisure.

The initial funds for the new stadium come from bank loans and new TV broadcast income, as well as the Champions League bonus. As for the funds provided by the sponsors, they are used to maintain the team's daily operations.Therefore, Allen has to seek richer investors for this huge plan, so as to alleviate the club's financial shortage in the next few years.Twain, who had never cared much about the management of the club, was also very concerned this time.How many years did Arsenal make Wenger tighten his belt in order to build an Emirates Stadium?Dunn didn't want to be "Wenger's second".Allen was very happy with his savings in the transfer market this time, but Twain could not allow himself to save like this every year. In the future, Twain would definitely vomit blood when he saw outstanding players but had no money to buy them.

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Before the Moscow Railway Cup, Tang En's team played two warm-up matches in eastern Germany. One was a warm-up match between Cottbus and the local First Division team Cottbus. En sent reserve team and first team substitutes and young players as starters.

There was one person in Cottbus that Twain was somewhat concerned about, and that was the Chinese player Shao Jiayi, Sun Jihai's national team teammate.We are all Chinese, so when choosing an opponent for the warm-up match, it is natural to take care of it.So the Forest team chose Cottbus, who has been relegated every year in the Bundesliga.

Cottbus sent the main players to play, but Shao Jiayi was not in the starting list, he sat on the bench.

In the first half, Cottbus, who played with all the main players, led the European champion Nottingham Forest "second team" by two goals.

This achievement encouraged the entire Cottbus team, and also made the Cottbus fans who came to watch the game excited and the atmosphere of the stadium warmed up.This doesn't look like a warm-up match, but more like a Champions Cup group match that is related to who can qualify.

During the intermission, Twain made adjustments and replaced five people in one go, Van Nistelrooy, Arshavin, Petrov, Lennon and Kompany.

After the main force entered the field, the situation immediately changed.Originally, the Cottbus players planned to continue to expand their results in the second half during the intermission. The victory made them forget who the opponent in front of them was, and the cheers from the Cottbus fans also made them think that they were omnipotent at home. .

Only 38 seconds into the second half, Ruud van Nistelrooy scored with a header from a cross from Arshavin, tying the score at 1:2.

Dunn didn't stand up and waved his fists to celebrate. For him, getting into a team like Cottbus was too easy.

After falling behind, Cottbus wanted to continue to struggle. In 10 minutes, the Forest team scored another goal from Petrov to equalize the score.

This ball woke up Cottbus completely - this is a warm-up match, there is no need to do our best to win this game, and there is also no need to be upset and frustrated by the failure of this game, so he started to change players.

Cottbus changed more thoroughly than the Forest team. They changed nine people in one go, and Shao Jiayi was among them.

Next, it was the forest team's turn to continue making substitutions. Tang En also didn't care about the outcome. He mainly wanted to check whether the newly joined players had gradually integrated into the team after so many days of training.

In the end, the two sides changed 11 players, replacing all the players who played at the beginning. Nottingham Forest defeated Cottbus 4:2, proving that their strength as the European champions is genuine.

Next, the team found an amateur team in the local area to warm up. This was a fully closed warm-up match. In fact, it might be more appropriate to say that an intra-team match was played on the training ground without spectators or media.In the end, under Tang En's constant adjustments, the Forest team swept the opponent 9:1. Tang En was still not satisfied - because his team conceded a goal.After the game, the defenders were criticized on the bus back to the hotel.

After the end of these two warm-up matches, the Forest team flew back to Moscow again and began to prepare for the Railway Cup.

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The draw ceremony was very simple, because it was just an ordinary pre-season invitational match. Everyone knew what this form of competition was for. Except for the media of the countries where the four teams were located, it did not attract much attention.

The end result was quite interesting.

The head coaches of the four teams sat side by side on the stage. Tang En sat with Real Madrid's new head coach German "Madman" Schuster, and AC Milan's head coach Carlo Ancelotti sat with the head coach of Lokomotiv Moscow. Yuri Pavlovich sat together.

After the host draws lots, the result is announced to the media in the audience and the head coach on the stage.

Everyone watched the forest team and Real Madrid being drawn together, and they all laughed knowingly.This is not the first time the two teams have met. The first match between the Forest team and Real Madrid in the Champions League directly led to the dismissal of the former Real Madrid coach Brazilian Luxenberg and the ex-club chairman Florence. Deno's resignation.

In the past few years, it has been reported from time to time that Real Madrid is interested in George Wood of the Forest Team.Just this summer, Twain just rejected Real Madrid's offer of 2000 million euros to Franck Ribery.

It was also this summer that David Beckham chose to join Nottingham Forest freely after ending his four-year contract with Real Madrid.No one thought that he would face off against his former club so soon.

Twain was also a little surprised by this result. He even felt that this was arranged by the organizers to create a gimmick that would interest the media and the public and attract popularity.

He and Schuster, who was sitting next to him, looked at each other. Everyone knew that the media were waiting to see a good show, but they were unwilling to let the people below get what they wanted.

At the press conference for the draw ceremony, Tang En was asked about his opponents in the first round. He did not answer the question directly, but only praised Real Madrid and congratulated them on winning the La Liga championship. The answer that can be said by using the brain does not satisfy the media.They went to ask Schuster again, and Schuster, who has become the head coach of a wealthy family, also seemed very cautious. His answer was exactly the same as Tang En: Congratulations to the Forest team for winning the European Champions Cup, claiming that the Forest team is a matter worthy of respect .

Such an answer disappointed the media too much. It seems that if the Forest team and AC Milan are drawn together, maybe there will be more topics?

If the Forest team can break into the final, then this scene is not too far away-I am afraid that no one here thinks that AC Milan will lose to Lokomotiv Moscow, except for their coach Yuri Pavlovich.

In front of the three strong teams, the host is like a supporting role at this moment, and no one cares about it.

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On July 26th and 27th, the first two rounds of the Railway Cup officially started (the plot needs to be held slightly earlier).The first game is the highlight of the strong dialogue - Nottingham Forest vs. Real Madrid.

One is an upstart who has just become the champion of the Champions League, and the other is a traditional giant that has won the most championship trophies in the 52-year history of the Champions Cup.Both teams are full of stars, the stars are shining, and there are topical figures like Beckham, which makes this game attract everyone's attention.Compared with this, although the organizing committee put the second game on tomorrow, the match between AC Milan and Lokomotiv Moscow is doomed not to steal the limelight of this game.

It's just a normal invitational game, because with Beckham it's different.In the rosters of both teams announced before the game, Beckham was impressively listed, but not in the starting roster, which made many media and fans very upset.

So the media took the trouble to ask the coaches of both sides any questions about Beckham.For example, they asked Real Madrid coach Schuster: "Is it a mistake to sell Beckham?" "Is Beckham not helpful to the team at all?" Player, is he good? Was the treatment he received last season fair?" As for Twain, it was even easier: "Why isn't David Beckham in the starting roster?"

This annoys Schuster, because the Beckham matter has nothing to do with him. He has never coached the Englishman for a day. The new head coach is okay.He is a little upset that he has to accept such harassment just because he is the head coach of Real Madrid now.

Dunn is the same as Schuster.He didn't want the media to focus only on Beckham, which would cause some people in the locker room to resent him.So after he answered "why Beckham didn't start" because of injuries, he refused to answer any other questions about Beckham.If a reporter opened his mouth to say "David Beckham...", Tang En would turn around and pretend not to hear the question. Until someone asked "How about Nottingham Forest..." he would answer relevant questions with a smile.

Because of Beckham, the head coaches and the media of both sides were a little unhappy before the game.

Many people who watched the game at the scene also came for the stars, and most of the female fans came for David Beckham.With Beckham not in the starting lineup, Nottingham Forest received unanimous boos from the fans when they played.

There were even a large number of female fans holding large posters of Beckham, screaming Beckham's name, and demonstrating to Twain.Although the current Forest team has many superstars, the only influential player like David Beckham is Beckham himself.

Tang En wouldn't care about the feelings of those fans, he wasn't serving them.

This is not an ordinary warm-up match. This is a cup match with championship rewards. You can't deal with Real Madrid like you did against Cottbus. Dunn basically sent out the main lineup of last season in the starting lineup of this game, only in the forward position. As for Eastwood's minor injury, Twain let Arshavin replace Eastwood out of caution, and at the same time let Bendtner and Arshavin start.

Ruud van Nistelrooy sat on the bench with his good friend David Beckham.

Real Madrid did not send out the main lineup that won the championship last season. The new coach naturally has a new lineup.Their captain Raul is not in the starting list, replaced by teenager Soldado.

The game has entered a fierce rhythm from the beginning.Compared with Real Madrid, which has just finished physical training, the Forest team, which has been training together for nearly half a month, is more aggressive.Arshavin was especially excited because he played in front of Russian fans.

In just 3 minutes of the opening, the Forest team used a corner kick to break through the gate guarded by Dudek.

Arshavin's corner kick landed accurately on Pepe's head. All this central defender with excellent header ability and jumping ability had to do was take off and shake his head, and the football broke into the net!

Leading Real Madrid made those Nottingham Forest fans who came from afar very excited. Although they are small in number, their momentum is not small.This is a very, very die-hard fan, no matter where the Forest team plays, they will follow and cheer for the team at the scene.Their leaders had been Michael Bernard, and now they were John and Bill, a fat man and a skinny man.

After taking the lead, the Forest team did not give up the offense and turned to defense. On the contrary, their offensive momentum became stronger.The forest team, known for their conservativeness in Europe, did not appear, and their attack made people feel that the side wearing the red jersey was Real Madrid.

Throughout the first half, Real Madrid did not enter the rhythm of the game. They were dragged away by the forest team. The forest team's fast pass attack and the pressing from the front made Real Madrid very uncomfortable.At the end of the first half, Nottingham Forest's frontcourt press finally paid off. Their press made a return pass error in Real Madrid's defense. Petrov suddenly started, inserted into Real Madrid's defense at high speed, and broke the pass. The ball, and then tricked Dudek, hit the far corner successfully.

2:0, Nottingham Forest leads by two goals!

The score and the first half made the TV commentators on the scene have to sigh, and it is no longer possible to classify Nottingham Forest as a "dark horse" or a "shooting star".The football power map in continental Europe will definitely be re-divided because of this strong player's qualifying.

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again. Schuster made some adjustments in an attempt to restore the situation.He replaced the Argentine striker "Rabbit" Salola, who joined for free from Barcelona. At the same time, after 45 minutes of warm-up and adaptation, Real Madrid also entered the state, and the offense began to improve.

Soon, in less than 10 minutes, Guti scored two goals to help Real Madrid equalize the score.

Dunn started to make substitutions. He sent Ruud van Nistelrooy and David Beckham on the field at the same time.

Seeing Beckham appear on the sidelines, countless neutral fans in the stands cheered against Nottingham Forest for the first time, and those harsh boos before turned into enthusiastic cheers and applause.There was even a round of applause from the Real Madrid fans - who had deep respect for the England man who helped his team regain the league title, and who fell down and kissed the Bernabeu in his farewell ceremony The scene on the turf is still fresh in my memory.

At this moment, when Beckham stood on the sidelines, he became the only protagonist of the game.

"David Beckham is going to play! When he announced that he was leaving the Bernabeu to join Nottingham Forest, no one expected that we would see him make his debut against his old club so soon."

Maybe those neutral fans cheered him because he is a world-renowned football star, a popular lover in the eyes of women, a handsome guy, a gentleman in England... because of his fame.But the cheers and applause from the Real Madrid fans was the best affirmation of Beckham's performance last season. Regardless of previous suspicions, Beckham turned the tide at the last moment, helping the team reverse Barcelona and successfully reach the top.This applause is because they were moved by Beckham's professionalism. In their eyes, David Beckham is not the "entertainment star" who is printed on advertising posters and appears on the front pages of gossip tabloids, but a A real "professional footballer".

Tang En looked at the situation and smiled.He was genuinely happy with what his friend had achieved.

Seeing Beckham play, the happiest person was not the fans in the stands, nor Tony Twain, but Ruud van Nistelrooy standing beside him.

This is the first time two people have worn the same team's clothes in a game after four years - excluding the kind of warm-up match with Cottbus that can change [-] people.

Since Beckham left Manchester United, the "King of the Small Box" Ruud van Nistelrooy's goals dropped sharply, and the limelight on the Premier League scorer list was completely robbed by Henry of Arsenal.This cannot be simply attributed to Van Nistelrooy's age, declining state, and increasing injuries. Another reason that cannot be ignored is that Van Nistelrooy, who is used to Beckham's passing, after his good friend left, A little dazed.

It's all right now, David is back again, and the "King of the Small Restricted Area" who horrified his opponents will also be resurrected.

Twain was well aware of the friendship between the two of them, and how this friendship helped the team.So when assigning rooms for the training camp, he deliberately assigned Ruud van Nistelrooy and Beckham to a room, allowing them to catch up on the past, and then cooperate tacitly on the court to help him attack the city.

Beckham replaced Lennon and Van Nistelrooy replaced Arshavin.

The second substitution surprised Schuster. He originally thought that Tang En would use Van Nistelrooy to replace Bendtner, who was also a high center forward, but he didn't expect it to be Arshavin...two center forwards?This is really rare...

The first time Beckham touched the ball was a 45-degree diagonal pass to the penalty area and almost assisted Van Nistelrooy. If it wasn't for Van Nistelrooy's header that missed a little bit, the score would have been 3 : 2, Nottingham Forest took the lead.

Seeing this attack, Schuster suddenly realized that Twain wanted to use Beckham's precise crossing ability from the side to implement a high-altitude bombing tactic.

Everyone knows that Real Madrid's defense has poor air defense capabilities. Facing a center with a strong body and outstanding header ability, even Cannavaro, the 2006 World Footballer of the Year, has nothing to do.Now the club is still in the transfer market looking for a good central defender with a good header, but progress is slow.In this game, Schuster relied on Cannavaro and Ramos to play central defender, and handed over the right to the young teenager Miguel Torres.

It seems that Dunn is also very aware of Real Madrid's weaknesses, so he used this set of tactics aimed at victory - he doesn't seem to have the intention of relying on this game for training, he doesn't want anything else except victory.

The female fans in the stands holding large posters of Beckham screamed loudly, shouting Beckham's name, applauding his performance in this attack.Among these people are native Russians, as well as "die-hard fans" of Beckham who came from Germany, England, and Spain.

Amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the female fans, Beckham ushered in his first free kick in the game after joining the Forest team - still excluding the warm-up match that allowed 11 players to be substituted.

Beckham's free kick missed the goal, but flew out against the crossbar.The forest team's two goals before did not impress Tang En, but because of this goal, he knelt down on the sidelines with his head in his hands, annoyed and frustrated.

Then Real Madrid also won a free kick.Beckham and Roberto Carlos left the team one after another this summer, plus Figo and Zidane who left before, all the free-kick takers who were originally talented are now gone.Real Madrid's free kick was taken by Guti. The ball shot by the "Golden Wolf" was too accurate, lacking in speed and arc, and it was easily picked by the well-positioned Van der Sar.

Next, Ruud van Nistelrooy took the ball a little to the right of the front of the penalty area. He should have split the side in time, but chose to force a breakthrough.In the end, he was stopped by his opponent with a foul and once again won a free kick for the Forest team.Or... another free kick for Beckham.

He personally stuffed the ball into Beckham's hands: "Warm up and find the feeling."

Beckham shrugged and said with a helpless smile, "If you split the sides just now, I would have passed from the right. Bendtner was waiting in front of the goal."

"Ah!" Ruud van Nistelrooy scratched his head in surprise, "I just think about free kicks. It's been four years since the two of us left, and I'm not getting used to it...hehe."

Beckham gave him a push, "Go and wait for the follow-up shot."

"No need." Van Nistelrooy muttered and walked in.

Beckham put the football on the ground and waited for the opponent to line up the wall.

In front of my eyes is a white wall of people, and the clothes they wear are very familiar, because just two months ago, he was still wearing that jersey to celebrate the No.30 league in the history of the team at the Bernabéu Stadium What about the champion?He is still very familiar with some of the faces on the opposite side, because he has played and lived together for several years.

I really didn't expect...so soon, we met again, and they were still opponents.

He had never experienced such a scene.After moving to Real Madrid, Real Madrid has never met Manchester United in the Champions League, and he will not know what it is like to face his former club. Now he knows.

When he chose to join Nottingham Forest, he was actually mentally prepared for this.Because joining the Forest team is different from joining Real Madrid, the same in the English Premier League allows the Forest team to have at least two chances to play against Manchester United every season.

Back then, in order to take care of his mood, Tang En included "Beckham does not have to play against Manchester United" in the contract, but Beckham personally rejected this clause.He said that he is a professional player, and a professional player should have professional ethics.

Just like what Ruud van Nistelrooy said when he stuffed the football into his hands: "Warm up, get the feeling"...

Beckham backed away, ready to take the direct free kick that was only 20 meters away from the goal.

Casillas, who was replaced in the second half, bowed his body in front of the goal line, lowered his center of gravity, and stood ready.As a teammate who has played and trained with Real Madrid for four years, he is very familiar with Beckham's free kick ability and dare not be careless.

There were as many as six people in the human wall, completely blocking the area in front of Beckham.He stepped back, glanced at the wall and the goal behind him, and started to run.

David Beckham's run-up from the free kick was not long. He stepped in front of the ball in two or three steps, then leaned to the left, raised his right foot, opened his arms to maintain balance, and his waist and abdomen muscles drove his body to twist.At the moment when he hit the ball with his right foot, Beckham's body was tilted almost parallel to the ground, and the left ankle supporting his whole body looked as if it was about to be twisted... At this moment, the swung down The right leg hit the middle and lower part of the football accurately like a whip, bursting out with huge energy.

The football flew into the air, bypassed the jumping Real Madrid wall, drew an obvious arc in the air, and hung towards the near corner of the goal!
Iker Casillas rushed towards the football, but when he saw the football suddenly appearing from behind the wall, it was too late to make any moves. In addition, the slight disadvantage in height made him not enough to reach out in the air...

The football rubbed against the inside of the goal post, stuck to Casillas' fingertips, and flew into the goal!

There was a huge cheer erupting from the stadium stands, louder than any of the previous four goals.There is no doubt that this is a goal that satisfies the audience and is worth the ticket price-Beckham, who has attracted much attention from the public, scored a goal, and it was the goal of his former club.

"David Beckham! Although it was only an invitational match, it was an exciting goal! He pierced through the gate of his former club Real Madrid! He didn't hesitate at all, clean and tidy!"

"His excellent form continued in the last stage of last season, but now it's not Real Madrid that benefits, but Nottingham Forest! Tony Twain signed a world-class player without spending a penny. This deal is really a bargain !"

Beckham didn't celebrate his goal in front of the Real Madrid fans and players, he just opened his arms and clenched his fists, and then was rushed into Ruud van Nistelrooy's arms.

"David! David! Haha...David!" was all the Dutchman could say.

Seeing the man surrounded by Forest players celebrating a goal, Schuster thought it was foolish for Calderon to let him go.Everyone else can leave, this person is really wronged...

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Nine and 10 minutes of the game ended. La Liga champions Real Madrid lost 3:4 to European champions Nottingham Forest and lost their qualification to advance to the final.

Although in the final game, Forest's Ruud van Nistelrooy and Real Madrid's Saviola each scored a goal, making this game a wonderful goal battle.But in the hearts of all those who watched the game, David Beckham's iconic free kick was the most eye-catching. Those fans who bought tickets to watch the game live, with satisfaction Leaving the Lokomotiv Moscow Stadium with a fresh look, seven goals and the return of a world-class player, it was an exciting night.

(End of this chapter)