400 If They Want War, We’ll Give Them War Part 2 (2/2)

Certainly, if his team eventually defeated the Rangers team, he and his players might have to consider that point. After all, this was a city that was crazy about football.

During their warm-up in the stadium, the Forest players could hear the hissing and verbal abuse from everywhere in the stands. They tried every means to disrupt their opponents as the home fans.

Having to play in this environment so far from Nottingham really made the Forest fans break into a cold sweat for the team they supported.

”Don't believe in that nonsense!” Twain told his players in the locker room before the game, ”We're not the Celtics. This is not their f**king 'Old Firm' game! It's just an ordinary Champions League round 16 match that does not represent anything. We're going to play today how we normally play.”

Before the game, the Scottish media announced that they were going to show England the Scots' passion for football. The pro-Rangers media also started to feed the city's frenzy, even citing some sensationalized data. In 1984, for example, the world was shocked by the Heysel Stadium disaster; but not many people knew that during the ”Old Firm” derby that year, there were two attempted murders, two slashing cases, one hatchet wounding incident, nine stabbing injuries and thirty-five group brawls.

There were even people shouting a murderous slogan: ”Football matches are modern warfare.”

They want Nottingham Forest to cower before the fight.

But Twain did not buy it.

”But I'm telling you these things, so people don't think we're afraid of them.” Twain raised his right arm and clenched his fist in front of everyone, ”If they want war, we'll give them war!”

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The competition was very intense. The showdown between the two competing teams could not compare with those of the powerhouse clubs such as Chelsea and Barcelona, Real Madrid and Arsenal, or Bayern Munich and AC Milan, but this still might be the most entertaining game out of the four Round 16 games held tonight in the terms of viewership.

Neither side played conservatively. They mainly played offense. In the first half, both teams had already scored three goals; the home team, Rangers, led by 2:1.

During the halftime interval, Twain grumbled in the locker room. Getting one away goal did not mean victory for him. He wanted a complete victory, from the goal count to the overall points.

”It's disgraceful that there are those who think that we should be happy with one away goal! This is other teams' pathetic thinking, not Nottingham Forest's! If the Scots think we're satisfied with this score and that they can relax in the second half, they'll be making a big mistake!”

”George! Destroy their offense at every point and every line to give us enough protection for our offense!”

In the second half, George Wood unceasingly darted around and appeared in every corner of the field to halt the opponent's attacks. The statistics after the game proved his efforts: his individual fouls totaled thirteen in the game. He was fouled against seven times and presented with one yellow card. He ran a distance of up to thirteen thousand kilometers and passed the ball sixty times with a success rate of thirty-nine times. He successfully tackled seventeen times out of twenty-one. His headers succeeded ten of eleven times and he made eighteen errors. He became the target of constant jeers at Hampden Park. But the more he was hated by his opponents, the more he proved his success.

The ESPN commentator was amazed at Wood's stamina. In this fast-paced and highly confrontational competition, he was still sprinting with his full strength until the last minute of the game, showing no signs of physical exhaustion. The closer he got to the end of the game, the more desperate his opponents felt about his sprinting.

The Rangers were finally worn down by Wood's extreme stamina, and they could not organize their offense as the ferocious George Wood could appear in any corner. He could suddenly show his cleats, do a ”reasonable collision”, or harass. When the attacking players faced him, they had to expend more physical energy than usual and brace themselves to break through the defense. It was simply too draining! Nottingham Forest's offense suddenly attacked in the last ten minutes of the game. While the opponent's physical strength was flagging, they scored two goals consecutively within seven minutes and turned the tides.

The boos in Hampden Park reverberated in Glasgow's night sky. Tony Twain's bright smiling face was magnified under the spotlight.

”... 3:2! Three away goals and one victory. Tony Twain's team is well on its way to entering the top eight of the Champions League!”