778 José And Tony (1/2)
The city of Milan, Italy was famous worldwide for its fashion. But, in the hearts of the football fans, the city had nothing to do with fashion. There was only one reason why the city's name was known around the world—football.
The word ”derby” in the sporting world was first used in horse racing, but it was football that carried it forward all over the world. There were many wonderful classic derbies in the football world, but no derby was more attention-grabbing than a derby between two sides from the same city.
In Spain, the El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona shone brightly, but in the minds of the players and fans the real derbies were the Madrid Derby between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid and the Barceloní derby between Barcelona and RCD Espanyol. The same city derby was always the most eye-catching match, such as the most intense city derby in the world—the ”Old Firm” derby of Glasgow, Scotland.
It was no exaggeration to say that the derby created football. If football had not had a competition like a derby that was dominated by antagonistic and hateful sentiment, perhaps it would not have developed as much as it had today. That state of mind had acted like a catalyst.
Milan in Italy had the same kind of city derby and was one of the few cities where two world-class powerhouse clubs existed. The powerhouse clubs, AC Milan and Inter Milan had long been renowned around the world due to their respective brilliant achievements.
AC Milan had an era of three musketeers and Inter Milan had also dominated for an era. Both teams were no weaker than the other. Sometimes the east wind toppled the west wind, and sometimes the west wind overpowered the east wind. Twain had become tired of reading about the war of words between the fans on both sides when he was still a Chinese man.
In fact, there was a possibility that no matter how hostile the fans of the city's two teams might be to each other, they might at least join forces when they were up against Nottingham Forest. Both teams had suffered the painful lesson of being beaten by Nottingham Forest in important games. By contrast, the AC Milan fans had been hurt even more. Twain had not only often spoken rudely to their red and black legion, but he also had a terrible personal relationship with Ancelotti. Furthermore, on the night of the 2007 UEFA Champions League final in Athens, they beat AC Milan who had reached the final for two seasons in a row but had returned home empty-handed each time.
Inter Milan's feud with Nottingham Forest was limited to the quarterfinals of the Champions League in the 05-06 season when Nottingham Forest eliminated Inter Milan to eventually reach the final only to lose to Barcelona. It was just a normal game, which would not lead to too much of a vendetta. Later, Inter Milan eliminated Nottingham Forest. From the point of view of the Inter Milan fans, it was an equally ordinary game. The team that played better won. It was as simple as that.
Unfortunately, they all thought wrong. Who knew that Nottingham Forest had such a mad dog in charge? A media outlet in England once evaluated Tony Twain's character in such a manner: ”He's the kind of guy who will crouch down like a dog and bite back once he is bitten by a dog.”
Tony Twain and Mourinho had a long-standing feud in the Premier League, and now that Mourinho had arrived at Inter Milan, the old feud between both sides would naturally be passed on to the Italian club. Moreover, Inter Milan had thrashed Nottingham Forest before. The personal grievances were all stirred up. With Tony Twain around, it would certainly be stirred up. He was the best at stirring things up.
To this day, Inter Milan had the mind to continue their feud with Nottingham Forest until one day Tony Twain stepped down from his position as manager.
”I think this matter is incredible, I don't understand it.” The trainee reporter who came with Pierce Brosnan frowned. ”If Nottingham Forest lose again, there is reason enough for their two teams to continue to entangle. But what if Nottingham Forest win? Isn't Inter Milan going to be unforgiving? Even if Mourinho is such a man, Moratti is not a president who likes to provoke his opponents. He will surely keep a tight grip on Mourinho's mouth. In fact, Mourinho has settled down a lot since he came to Italy...”
Brosnan smiled and shook his head while he said, ”You really don't understand, because you really don't know what kind of person Tony Twain is. If he loses, he's going to fly into a rage. But if he wins...” He chuckled. ”He's going to insult Inter Milan at the press conference and show off. He will act like the kind of person who will cause the other people to want to pounce on and beat him up.”
His partner really could not figure this out. ”But why would he do that? Is it good for him to offend so many people?”
”You can take it that this is his personality. You can also recognize that he is playing psychological warfare with his opponent.”
When Pierce Brosnan uttered the words with a serious face, the trainee reporter suddenly had a whole new level of respect for Brosnan. ”You're really a reporter who has followed Twain for so many years. Mr. Brosnan, you truly understand Tony Twain!”
Brosnan shrugged and gave a self-deprecating laugh, ”When you think you know Tony Twain very well, you will be wrong again. I'm afraid he doesn't even know himself...”
The two men stopped their conversation on this pointless topic which was not improving the mood and watched the Inter Milan manager, José Mourinho, walk to the front of the interview stage.
After the interview with Twain, the reporters flocked to hear what Mourinho would say about his opponent. This group of people was so efficient.
”Ask any questions you have, gentlemen.” Mourinho, who had just arrived from the training ground, was still wearing an Inter Milan jersey. It made his figure look slightly bloated. Maybe he lived well in Italy. He crossed his legs in his seat and chose a posture that made him the most comfortable while he faced the reporters.
”Tony Twain had just commented that Nottingham Forest came to Milan to seek revenge. What do you think of this, Mr. Mourinho?” The first reporter to ask a question was from La Gazzetta dello Sport.
”Only a loser will think about revenge. I don't care about this because I'm not a loser.” Mourinho grinned. He seemed to sketch out in his head how flustered and exasperated Tony Twain should be. It made a deep impression.
A hint of confrontation had emerged in just the first question, which made the reporters secretly gleeful. Whenever Mourinho and Tony Twain met, they would never waste valuable time at a press conference asking such questions about the tactical arrangement of the players. It would only lead to the exciting scenes slip away in vain.
Mourinho had clearly relished being able to lead his team to a 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the past. He smiled at the reporters as he waited for the second question.
The man who stood up next spoiled his good mood.
Pierce Brosnan raised his hand and asked, ”Mr. Mourinho, Tony Twain asked me to relay a message to you.”
Mourinho gave a snort but did not stop the reporter from speaking.
”He said, ”The Tony Twain whom you can't defeat, is here again.” Do you have any opinion on this?”
Some of the reporters laughed. Mourinho's face became slightly ugly.
”I never care about that boring record. I care more about winning the championship.”
If Twain were around, he would definitely speak up to ridicule him right away. ”I have won just as many titles as you, Mr. Mourinho.”
Unfortunately, he was not here, so Mourinho could continue undisturbed. ”I never take the initiative to talk about a person who has not defeated me. It is a very disrespectful behavior...”
If Twain were next to him, he would say, ”That's because such a thing has never happened.”
”Some people only see the past, but what I care about is the future and the game in two days' time...”
If Twain were next to him, he would say, ”I'm still going to defeat you in two days' time and let this 'thing of the past' continue.”
If Twain were next to him, it could well be the case that the two men would engage in a real-life fight.
Mourinho did not want to answer Brosnan's question because he had finally recognized who the man in front of him was. He was the reporter for the Nottingham Evening Post and was known as Tony Twain's mouthpiece. He was always on the same side as Twain and spoke for Tony Twain because he had become famous for his coverage of Twain. It was said that Twain had instructed this person and did not allow him to write a bad word about him. The extent that Twain had dictatorship over this reporter could be seen. He even interfered with the freedom of the press. The crimes he committed were simply innumerable!
”Can you talk about your relationship with Mr. Twain? When you were fired by Chelsea FC, Twain had verbally abused Mr. Abramovich during a television interview,” an ESPN reporter asked.