607 McClarens good luck (1/2)
There was no England game on November 17th, but a broadcast by English television stations would be watched by countless people. Russia had an away challenge against Israel. The outcome of the game would determine England's eventual fate in its advancement.
If Russia won, then the two teams would have played the same number of games and Russia would lead by one point. England would face Croatia in last round of the group while Russia would face the weakest team, Andorra. From the looks of it, it was certain that Russia would win. In that case, even if England won against Croatia, it would not be able to avoid the misfortune of being knocked out.
Therefore, Russia's away game against Israel would be the focus of all of England.
Twain sat in front of the television to watch the game. He was not concerned about whether England could advance or not. He had no interest in the fate of the England team. It was just that he had two players from his team in Russia's starting lineup. Since English television stations were going to broadcast it, he might as well inspect the two players' performances.
Even though Akinfeev was a substitute for Edwin van der Sar on Nottingham Forest for the time being and had only played in the EFL Cup, that had not affected his position as the main goalkeeper in the Russia team in any way. Hiddink had once expressed his displeasure at Twain putting Russia's number one goalkeeper on the bench, but Twain pretended not to hear it and did what he wanted. He had originally wanted to promote Akinfeev. Who could have thought that Edwin van der Sar's form would be so good that not only he did not lose his fighting spirit, but he was also fired up by last season's Champions League victory? He continued to be in top form this season. Since a goalkeeper's position valued experience and Edwin van der Sar was in a good shape, Twain naturally put him in the starting position.
Arshavin, another member of the Forest team, was currently the captain of the Russian national team. He wore the number 10 jersey and was the core of the team's offensive organization on the field. In the game England had an away loss to Russia, Arshavin scored one goal and even assisted his teammates with a goal. He played actively in the entire game, giving England's rear defensive line of star players a headache.
In Nottingham Forest, he was luckier than his fellow Russian because he received numerous appearances, as well as goals and assists because Eastwood was always injured. The English fans were also gradually more familiar with him. During his rookie season in the English Premier League, his performance could be scored seventy points. It proved, once again, that Tony Twain had a good eye for players. In fact, Arshavin's skills were very much in line with Twain's tactics — his speed, flank attacks, and plug ins from the back. Moreover, Arshavin's style of play fit well with the pace of the English Premier League and was not as unadaptable as Grosso. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please clickfor visiting.
With the two Russian players playing in the Premier League, the English commentator was familiar with them. However, he did not say anything nice about Russia. He wanted Israel to win from the start of the game.
Although the game was between Israel and Russia, the leading figures seemed to be England and Russia.
Before the game, the Chelsea chairman, Abramovich, promised to reward everyone with 100,000 pounds as long as Russia could defeat Israel! And during Russia's home win over England, Abramovich walked into Russia's locker room after the game and gave out a 500,000 reward to each national footballer on the spot!
As a result, due to the Mourinho incident, as well as Twain's swearing incident, the English media was almost entirely against the Chelsea boss because of their national honor.
The Russian was in action, and so were the English people. Before the game, the entire English team had launched a multi-faceted PR campaign: the national team players lobbied and campaigned their Israeli teammates at their respective clubs in the hope that they would not throw the game for the sake of their friendships. Crouch's and Gerrard's Liverpool teammate, Benayoun, could not be in the game due to injuries, which was a blow to the English people. Chelsea's center-back, the Israeli, Ben Haim, was also ”tempted” by Joe Cole. He revealed, ”These days, my English teammates have been putting pressure on me. Cole said that as long as I beat Russia, I can choose where to go for a holiday and he will foot the bill. I don't know if he's joking, but I'd like to try it. Hopefully Israel will get a good result because I also want to help Mr. Abramovich save money.” The Israeli midfielder, Tamir Cohen, also had an English complex. He said, ”My father, Avi used to play for Liverpool and he loved Liverpool and England.”
The English media continued to publish articles urging UEFA to closely monitor the game; UEFA's official partners, which were some of Britain's biggest companies, were also busy, hoping to help Israel defeat Russia.
However Israel and Russia were the teams that were actually going to be playing.
”I don't care what the English or the Russians say.” The Israeli manager, Kashtan, said in an interview before the game, ”I just want my team to perform well.”
Obviously, he was a little disgruntled that the real protagonist had become a supporting actor, but his remark reassured England.
As expected, ten minutes into the game, the Israelis took the lead on their own home ground. The British commentator was thrilled, as if England had scored the ball, constantly chanting the name of the goalscorer.
For his part, Twain just shrugged.
In the 60th minute, Russia finally equalized the score. The television broadcast immediately quieted down. After a while, the commentator's voice piped up again, sounding extremely frustrated.
What would happen if Russia and Israel drew? England had to beat Croatia to secure its advancement. England would be better off if Russia lost to Israel. Then they just needed to draw with Croatia to advance.
A draw would ensure that they could advance.
Twain took his eyes off the television screen as he recalled past events...
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On the television, the game continued thousands of miles away in the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. Russia equalized the score after they stepped up the offensive. They also could not put the hope of advancement in the final round on Croatia, who had advanced ahead of time, to carry forward the spirit sportsmanship. Only an away victory over Israel would put the fate of their advancement in their own hands.
On the other hand, the Israelis seemed to be content with the result of a draw with Russia. Their attack was not fierce and even gradually withdrew with the intention to hang on to the one point. The English commentator impatiently shouted, ”they definitely won't be able to hold if they start defending so early! Conservative play usually doesn't end well!”
Unfortunately, the Israelis could not hear his shouts and withdrew into the penalty area to contend with the Russians, as if they did not want to win the game. Twain started to imagine that there had to be a lot of drunk English fans who were currently admonishing the Israelis.
Unexpectedly, there was a sudden change in the game at the last minute. In the 92nd minute, the score was still at 1:1. The English commentator had given up. He listlessly started the formality of introducing to the audience what England would face under such circumstances —”We must have a home win over Croatia in the last game so that even if Russia and Andorra have a lot of goals, it won't affect our advancement... Yes, that's the case...”
He had not finished speaking when he saw the Israelis suddenly rally.
”What? This is... Omer Golan!” the commentator, who saw the replay shot, screamed with excitement. ”Omer Golan! Golan, I love you! He created a miracle! This is a last-minute goal! A fatal shot from the Israeli! So deadly that the Russians are screwed!! The Israelis beat the Russians at home! They have lived up to the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play! They are the pride of professional football!”
This commentator almost yelled ”they are possessed by Divinity.”
Seeing the commentator this excited, Twain felt acid surge in his stomach. He did not want to see such a comedic scene again, so he lifted his hand to turn off the television.