Chapter 579 Volume 4 Storm An End and a Beginning

The open-top double-decker bus dedicated to the celebration parade was parked outside the airport terminal. A large number of fans and reporters surrounded the Forest team and walked out of the airport building and boarded the bus.

Waiting with the bus were four police cars from Nottingham to escort them. This is the pride of the city of Nottingham, and it is not too much to dispatch the police.

A convoy of four police cars and an open-top double-decker bus slowly set out on the road amid cheers, and they will drive back to Nottingham from here.

After turning from the airport to the M1 expressway, the players found that the bus was followed by a special convoy. These convoys did not have unified vehicles, but there were cars of various models and brands, large and small. They all hung the red team flag of the Forest team. Although driving on the highway, there are still many fans leaning out of the car windows and waving their arms. Since the Forest team bus in front was not driving fast, the following convoy was also not fast, so they were not afraid of any traffic accidents... They were all the fans who welcomed the team at the airport just now. At this moment, they are going to escort the team back to Nottingham.

This was not the first time Twain had personally experienced this scene. After he and the team won the League Cup in Cardiff, they were escorted to Nottingham along the way.

It's just that there weren't so many people back then. After all, the English League Cup and the European Champions Cup are not at all the same level of honor.

The players were very happy to greet the fans following them in the car, and those fans kept honking their horns.

The convoy pulled over and slowed down on the expressway, and other passing vehicles had to make a detour.

People kept getting on the second floor of the bus to blow off air, waved to the fans, and accepted their praise and cheers. Someone kept blowing enough wind and came down from above.

Tang En has been down there and didn't go up. He was tired all day yesterday, and he was tired for most of the day today, and he will continue to be tired at night. He planned to take this time to rest.

He closed his eyes.

All of this was really like a dream, and he couldn't tell whether the dream was reality or the reality was just a dream.

※ ※ ※

After the game, from the locker room to the press conference, and then back to the hotel where they stayed, the entire forest team was extremely excited. Many of them won this honor for the first time - the European champion.

Even those who won the championship once did not expect to win it again at the end of their careers.

Van der Sar made his debut in Ajax. He participated in the European Champions Cup final when he played on behalf of Ajax in 1995. Coincidentally, their opponent was also AC Milan at that time, and there was also a "former Milan player" in the Ajax team at that time—— Rijkaard, and more coincidentally, it was Rijkaard who assisted Kluivert and scored a goal seven minutes before the end of the game to defeat AC Milan, who was then invincible at the time, and unexpectedly won the Champions League.

Van der Sar has never forgotten that day, the most glorious moment in his career belongs to that day. Later, whether in Ajax, Juventus, or the Dutch national team, he has never won such an honor.

Van der Sar was very excited to win the Champions League for the second time. He is thirty-six years old and has not had a few years in his career. His career started off well with the Champions Cup, and he hopes that the end of his career can also be completed with the Champions Cup.

He picked up the championship cup and rubbed his face on it, the cold feeling reminded him that all this was real, not a dream.

Van der Sar is just a representative of some people, many veterans are like this. Even a world-class striker like Ruud van Nistelrooy has never won the Champions League in his career. When he was abandoned by Manchester United, he chose Nottingham Forest just to avenge Manchester United and prove to Ferguson how big a mistake Manchester United gave up on themselves. Unexpectedly... He never thought that his unfulfilled wish at Manchester United would be realized in Nottingham Forest.

Holding the championship trophy, he didn't know what to say. He is the scorer with the most goals in the 52-year history of the Champions Cup (this data counts the Champions Cup qualifying round, and the Champions Cup main match scored the most goals. Madrid's Raul Gonzalez), but has not won a championship trophy, which is somewhat unreasonable.

Now Van Nistelrooy finally got rid of this embarrassment.

Forest team players who revel in hotels and bars, whether they are about to retire, just debuted, or those who have entered the golden stage of their careers, will have a glorious record on their resumes from now on—— Champion of the UEFA Champions League in the 06/07 season.

Just the sound of it sounds amazing.

But in fact they are more than this simple honor. You must know that this team was still struggling in the English Football Champions League (then it was called the First Division) four years ago. The financial crisis, the relegation crisis... bothered everyone in this team.

Nottingham Forest is a team with a tradition of creating miracles. Whether it was the era of Brian Clough or the current era with Tony Twain at the helm, they have achieved things that no one else could have imagined.

This night, Tang En did not restrain his subordinates, did not let them enter the room to rest until eleven o'clock, and did not forbid them to drink freely.

Because he himself was knocked unconscious by his colleagues in the hotel bar.

This group of drunkards in England even poured beer into the Champions League trophy and then shared the swig. In fact, not much was drunk into their stomachs, and more wine was left along their necks and poured all over their bodies.

Tang En didn't know how much wine he drank. He couldn't count it. Anyway, the wine glass was filled when it was empty, and it was filled when it was empty. In the end, these people simply grabbed the wine bottle and drank it with their necks up. Tang En believes that "to be happy in life, don't let the golden cup be empty to the moon" is an eternal truth. When the spring breeze is proud, you should drink. Apart from drinking, he can't think of any other way to celebrate that is most suitable and can vent his inner emotions. Wine is the greatest invention in the history of human civilization. Without wine, his life would be meaningless. Besides football, wine is his favorite.

Now that he finally had the opportunity to drink and drink in a fair manner, how could he let it go? After drinking and vomiting, he didn't know how much alcohol he had filled his stomach, but he clearly remembered the emotions at that time—very happy, very happy.

Beer, champagne, whiskey, wine, brandy, vodka...they want everything sold in the hotel bar.

On the second day, the manager of the hotel received a report from their bar that people from Nottingham Forest drank up all the wine in the bar yesterday...

The Greeks have seen the drinking capacity of the English.

That's why the team flew to London in the afternoon and not in the morning - because most people are still too drunk to wake up in the morning.

There was no George Wood among these crazy crowds. He was shopping outside with his mother, buying souvenirs. He's not interested in these celebratory drinks, he's not interested in parties, he just wants to be with his mom when he's not playing football, where she wants to go with her, what she wants to buy for her swipe card.

Wood has always felt that he owes his mother a lot, and now that he can make a lot of money, he wants to make it up.

Tang En also knew, so he didn't ask Wood to come to this party, but just asked him and his mother to be safe outside.

Everyone else on the team knew how much Wood loved his mother, so no one forced him to drink and party together.

※ ※ ※

When Tang En opened his eyes again, he was awakened by a huge noise.

He opened his sleepy eyes in a daze, and turned his head to look out the window. It was a building he was familiar with. The bus finally arrived in Nottingham. Going down... He was taken aback, and suddenly got up from his seat, without any sleepiness.

The eyes are all red, from one end of the street to the other, overwhelming red.

Wearing red Forest team jerseys and red Forest team commemorative T-shirts for the third time, fans crowded both sides of the street, waving their arms and flags, cheering and paying tribute to the players in the car.

The bus was moving very slowly. In the crowded street, although there were police cars clearing the way, it still seemed to be crawling...

The players all went up to the second floor one after another, but they accepted the cheers and salutes from the fans along the way.

"Wow, it's empty..." Tang En whistled.

It was so loud that he could barely hear himself talking. Here the voices of the fans are the only ones that can be clearly heard.

They were calling every Forest player's name. Those who are called stand up from their seats, wave their hands, and then get louder cheers and sit down contentedly.

It seems to be a military parade, but it is not the people in the car reviewing the street, but the fans on the street reviewing the "soldiers" in the car.

Tang En turned over. He saw Chris Rack running down from the top, and found that Tang En woke up and waved to him happily, shouting: "Come up! Come up!"

Tang En hadn't reacted yet, the fans' voices were too loud, and he couldn't hear clearly what Chris Rack was shouting.

At this time, he heard the fans shouting his name: "Tony! Tony! Tony Twain! Tony! Tony! Tony Twain!!"

He looked at Chris Lak's excited smiling face, and now he understood.

Twain and Chris Lark appeared together on the second floor of the hood. The fans cheered loudly when they saw him coming up.

Tang En leaned on the railing and waved to the crowd below. This position is higher than what he did just now, and he can see it more clearly. Not only this street, forward, backward, where he couldn't see the end... everywhere was red.

The ancient city of Nottingham seemed to be dyed red overnight.

"Look!" Chris Lack said excitedly, pointing to the bottom, "It's a grand occasion every twenty-seven years!"

Tang En smiled: "Don't worry, David, there will be more often in the future. You can watch it as many times as you want."

"Hey, I know you have this ability, Tony." Chris Lak punched Tang En.

Tang En stepped forward, took the trophy from Wood, and then held it up high. His action caused screams from under the car.

Someone handed Dun En a microphone, which was connected to the bus speaker, so he could speak in the car. His voice has become hoarse in the past few days, and the speech at the airport has already been performed at a super level... At this time, he still wants to talk, and he can't do it without borrowing the microphone connected to the speaker.

He coughed into the microphone, the sound was amplified several times by the speakers in front of the bus, and could be heard from far away. Seeing that Tang En had something to say, the fans in this area fell silent.

"I, Tony Twain, thank you for your support. To be honest, I was very excited when I saw this scene. You can't see the end..." He waved his hand, "Half the people in Nottingham have come out, right?"

After a pause, he continued: "When I was the acting head coach of Nottingham Forest, I once said to a few good friends in the bar. I don't care if the scene looks good, and I don't care whether to use offense or defense to win. No matter how this forest team played before, my goal is simple - to win. I said that a team that can't win is worthless, and a manager who can't lead the team to win is a fucking sucker !” He raised his voice word by word.

These remarks quickly received enthusiastic feedback from the people below, who all expressed their agreement.

"I've also told my players, saying... What is Nottingham Forest football? It's winning, winning football! I'm happy, today, to use this trophy to prove that everything I said before is not. You're bragging." He raised the trophy with one hand, turned his head and stared at it affectionately. "Twenty-seven years later, she's back with us. But here, in front of so many people, I promise you—this won't be the last orgy!"

He handed the trophy back to Wood, raised his hands and shook his head.

"As long as I'm in this position, we can repeat it. Now, let's go to City Stadium tonight and celebrate!"

After speaking, he put down the microphone, waved his fist again, and went down.

He had a sore throat and was afraid to continue talking.

In the past few days, he kept yelling, talking, smoking and drinking, and his throat couldn't stand it anymore.

※ ※ ※

The car moved slowly, but finally arrived at the municipal square at 5:00 pm. The whole team waited for the municipal building opposite the square to celebrate with the fans gathered here. This scene will make the eyes of many old Nottingham Forest fans moist, because 27 years ago, the Forest team won the Champions League for the second time here, so they celebrated with the fans.

Later, on the day to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Forest team winning the European Champions Cup, the Forest team organized a simulation of the original parade, and the end of the event was celebrated here. Although many people came at that time, the future of the Forest team in the First Division was still uncertain at that time, and the people who came were not excited except for nostalgia.

Because whenever people think of the glory of the past, they will find that the reality is so cruel-the European champions who have won twice in a row can only hang out in the second-tier league.

This time is different. People who come here may still remember the past, but most of the time they only cheer for the forest team in front of them.

The silver cups they hold in their hands are not replicas, but genuine championship trophies, which can no longer be real.

Coming down from the terrace of the municipal building, the Forest team had already changed into their suits again at this time. They will have dinner with the mayor. This is a formal dinner. The players put away their hippie smiles, and had dinner with the mayor and other senior government officials in a serious manner.

Evan Dalgety could handle this kind of situation with ease. Twain and the players are suffering, such a serious scene is a kind of torture for them.

The mayor praised the team's outstanding contribution to the city of Nottingham. When toasting, he said emotionally: "It was Robin Hood who let the world know about our Nottingham, but now it is you, all the soldiers of Nottingham Forest, who let us know about Nottingham. The world knows us anew!"

Everyone raised their glasses to thank the mayor for his praise. The atmosphere was harmonious.

Dinner wasn't too long, as the Forest team had to go to the City Stadium to prepare for the evening's celebratory party.

Dunn led the team away, while Evan Dalgety and Alan Adams stayed. They wanted to have a private discussion with the mayor about the location of the new stadium. If you can get government support and some preferential policies for the purchase of land, then you can save a lot of money for the club in the new stadium construction plan.

Now that the Forest team has just won the Champions League and has become the king of Europe that has attracted worldwide attention, it is obviously the best time to make this request. Another reason that is particularly beneficial to the Forest team is that the current mayor is a loyal supporter of Nottingham Forest. Four generations of his family have grown up watching the Forest team play football. From an emotional point of view, he should also support the Forest team's plan to build a new stadium.

※ ※ ※

The news that the Forest team held a celebration party at night has long been known in Nottingham, and everyone also knows that this is an opportunity to say goodbye to several people.

Albertini is retiring, and Paul Gerrard has announced his retirement. At this moment, it is really good to go to the City Stadium to see them off.

At night, the city stadium is brightly lit, just like any home game, crowds flock to the stadium. The glare of lights on the main entrance of the City Stadium is reflected on the surface of the Trent River, and the microwave is rippling. The City Stadium in the water is illusory like a palace in a dream. This 109-year-old stadium exudes modern brilliance in the night.

There are still police around the stadium to maintain order, but the police force is a little less than when it was a flat game. Because there are no visiting team fans who may cause riots this time, no one can buy tickets except for real Forest fans.

A police car was parked at the end of Trent Bridge, and the young policeman stood alone outside the car, smiling at the Forest fans passing by him.

The broadcast in the police car is introducing the current grand occasion of the city stadium to the audience. It is said that there are almost no seats inside.

The young policeman looks at the fans passing by and always thinks—is his former partner now among them?

※ ※ ※

The Forest team invited some celebrities and stars to the celebration party, but none of them were the protagonists, they were just Forest team fans with a special status.

The protagonist tonight is still the team, the players, and the coach.

After everyone entered the arena, the outside of the stadium slowly cooled down, and all the lights inside the city stadium were also turned off, leaving only a few lights to create the atmosphere of the stage.

After the simple theatrical performance, the on-site host - John Mortensen began to introduce the upcoming Forest players to the guests.

At this moment, the players of the forest team had changed into commemorative T-shirts and stood at the entrance of the corridor. The big guys looked at each other, and they all saw excited smiles on each other's faces.

These two days were really unforgettable for them.

The first name called was George Wood. As an outstanding player from the forest youth team and the next captain, he was the first to appear on the stage.

He ran out to a warm applause and cheers from the Forest's fans.

The spotlight on the ceiling came down, and the beam of light enveloped Wood, accompanying him to run from the aisle to the middle circle of the court.

Next, the Forest players were called out one by one, and everyone would be warmly welcomed when they ran out. This is different from the celebration in Athens. This is a night that belongs entirely to Nottingham Forest. No one will think about how their opponent is, and no one will worry that the wanton celebration will make the opponent feel lively.

The Nottingham Foresters, with their lead singer, can use all the methods they can think of to celebrate this championship, celebrating unscrupulously and insolently, without worrying about someone gossiping.

Tang En and the members of the coaching staff were waiting in the tunnel to appear. There were fewer and fewer people around him. Everyone would come and hug Tang En before they were called by name and ran out.

In the tunnel, the sound of the live broadcast and the tsunami-like shouts of the fans could be clearly heard.

Tang En's face was full of strange smiles, and there was never a moment of tired expression.

When Anelka's name was called, the fans still cheered enthusiastically, but Anelka's smile was a bit awkward. He didn't hug Tang En or even shake hands, and just ran out like that.

Tang En didn't care either, he didn't even pay attention to this matter, he was just chatting with Tang at that time. It was Tang who reminded him, looking at Anelka's back, he shrugged: "He has the best performance."

Then, Paul Gerrard was called.

This time the fans were a little louder than before. Although Paul is just a substitute goalkeeper, everyone still remembers his performance after he was ordered in danger in the Champions League final last season. Don't blame him for the two conceded goals, he has done well enough.

Paul Gerrard turned around and embraced Dunn. "Thank you boss, I can win a championship in my career...I never thought it would be such a good thing!"

Tang En smiled, didn't say anything, just patted him on the shoulder. He didn't know what to say.

Gerrard turned and ran onto the pitch.

Now, among the players beside him, Albertini is the only one left.

Dunn turned his head to look at the Italian.

He has already seen Demi retire once, but he still has an indescribable emotion in his heart.

He wanted to open his mouth to say something, but he heard his name being called from the radio outside.

"Next...let's welcome—" Mortensen dragged out his voice, as if he was still intentionally leaving suspense. In fact, he was just giving time for the fans to play.

Sure enough, the fans in the stands began to shout the names of the last two people who hadn't played yet:

"Tony! Tony!"

"Demi! Demi!"

"Demi, it's time for us to play." Tang En lifted the trophy on the ground and handed the other hand to Albertini.

Albertini took it and nodded.

Then the two carried the trophy together and stepped into the court amidst overwhelming shouts.

"Tony and Demi!"

When Mortensen called the players who played before, he used their full names without exception, but this time he used two representative nicknames. He knew, and the Forest fans knew, that Nottingham Forest only had one "Tony" and only one "Demy".

The cheers became louder and louder, and finally they merged with the applause into a huge torrent, sweeping away. Tang En and Albertini held up the trophy in their hands as they walked, and it shone dazzlingly under the lights.

When they walked into the team, the players waiting at the side swarmed up and lifted the two of them together with the trophy, and the atmosphere of the stadium reached a climax.

"Cheers to the champions—!!" Mortensen howled into the microphone.

He did not comment on the Champions League final, he was a commentator for the BBC and was not qualified to comment on the Champions Cup. But this also gave him an advantage, that is, he can drink beer and watch TV in his own home, cheering for the Forest team to his heart's content, without having to consider the commentator's tendency.

After arguing for a while, the players finally put the two of them down. Tang En placed the trophy on the prepared stage, and then took the microphone.

"I have a lot of people to thank, but at this time today, I have to thank only one person." His voice can be clearly heard throughout the stadium.

He went to Albertini.

"You know? When I decided to start Demi before the final, someone asked me: 'Are you crazy? That old guy can't play anymore, and you start him in such an important final. ?!' Some people said to me: 'We understand your feelings for Demi, but this is the final, you can't make fun of the fate of the whole team because of personal feelings!' And the result?" Tang En shrugged and pointed behind him The championship trophy said. "I want to say that without Demi, it is not certain whether we can win this trophy!"

"About half a year ago, I said to Demy, 'I'll send you a real farewell match'. The Champions League final... It's not my handout to Demy, it never was, I think Demy's state and level Enough for that final, so I let him start. I am very happy because it was an important decision in my coaching career and it brought us a silverware Champions League!"

Those in the stands cheered in agreement.

"I always think it's too early for Demi to retire at thirty-five years old. You can still play for at least two more years. But I can't persuade you. I can silence reporters at a press conference, but I can persuade I can't miss you." Tang En looked at Albertini, and Albertini just smiled. "No one here wants you to go." He waved to the players around him. "But we respect your decision. The only thing that makes me happy is that I can give you a championship trophy as a souvenir at the end."

After speaking, he handed the microphone to Albertini, who knew he had something to say.

Albertini took the microphone, and he said to his teammates: "Thank you."

Then he turned and looked up at the stands around him.

"I would also like to thank you, Forest fans. I don't want to lie, except for the Milan fans, you are the cutest group of fans I have ever seen. When the boss went to Italy to find me three years ago, I never I thought that I could win the championship in the last game of my career... I am no longer a child who likes to dream. But, I really had a dream-the three years here have made me I will never forget it. In the last three years of my career, I had a great manager, a great team, a great team, and you..." He pointed to the stands, "A great crowd of fans. "

There was a huge applause from the stands, and the applause came from all directions, like a pair of invisible hands, tightly hugging their captain Dmitrio Albertini.

The applause made it impossible for Albertini to continue speaking. In fact, his voice was a little choked up at the end of his speech just now. The surrounding teammates came up to hug him one by one, and the younger Rubell even cried.

When George Wood and Albertini embraced, he felt a slight strain on Demy's hand. "I'm leaving, Giorgio. It's up to you." Albertini whispered in his ear.

Wood nodded.

He still didn't know how to say his parting words. Eastwood was so eloquent that he could make Albertini laugh, but he couldn't.

In the past three years, Albertini has been with him, teaching him how to become a qualified professional player, how to become an excellent midfielder, and how to become a competent captain. He is used to the training life with Albertini by his side, and the feelings and emotions are indescribable. If you have to describe it, it's like a good friend who has been with you for many years suddenly wants to travel far away. He wants his friend to stay, but he can't deprive him of his freedom.

Or should I say, "Good luck, Demi"? But I don't fucking want to say that at all...

He let go of Albertini, stepped aside, bowed his head in silence, and made room for the other teammates.

Not only the players, but also the coaches of the coaching staff stepped forward to hug the Italian, thanked him for all his contributions to the team, and extended his deepest regards to his retirement.

The last person who stepped forward to hug Albertini was Tang En.

"I have a sentence for you, Demi." Then Tang En read a poem in Chinese, "Mo Chou has no confidant in the future, and no one in the world knows the king."

"What do you mean?" Albertini could not understand Chinese.

"That means...uh..." Tang En wanted to translate this sentence in poetic and beautiful English, but he found that he couldn't do it. "It's just that... you're the best player in the world. Maybe some people disagree with me when I say that, but never mind, I think you are what you are! Never mind what ignorant people say, now I'm a champion, I say Forget it!"

Obviously Tang En couldn't explain the meaning, so he wanted to use this method to get away with it.

Albertini had long been used to Tang En's tricks, and he recognized it at a glance, and then smiled at the embarrassed Tang En.

Instead, his smile relieved Tang En, so the two looked at each other and laughed.

Laughed until tears came out...

After laughing, Tang En wiped the corners of his eyes, and he saw that Albertini's eye sockets were also red.

"Demi."

"Um?"

"It's time to say goodbye..."

"Um."

At the same time, a piece of music sounded on the radio in the stadium. It was a famous song "Time_To_Say_Goodbye" sung by the famous soprano Sarah Brightman and the famous Italian blind male singer Andrea Bocelli.

The melodious voice sung in Italian carried a bit of the tragic farewell, and an indescribable emotion stirred and spread in the chests of everyone at the scene. It is really appropriate to use this song to say goodbye to Italian veteran Dmitrio Albertini. Tang En admired Mortensen for being able to choose this song.

Albertini did not expect that he would hear an Italian song at this time, and it turned out to be this one. He froze for a moment, listened attentively, then pursed his lips, his eyes turned red.

In the singing, he seemed to have looked at his career again. He had a wonderful start... He wanted to continue like this, playing in Milan until he retired. Unexpectedly, he guessed the beginning, but not the ending. At the end of his career, he was kicked out. Atletico Madrid, Lazio, Nottingham Forest... These teams have all served as his stop. If it weren't for the second spring of his career at Nottingham Forest and the unexpected victory of winning the Champions League, how many people still remember him who chose to retire at this time?

He wanted to be loyal to Milan, but was kicked out. What could be more cruel than this? If he had a choice, he would rather exchange this championship cup for a chance to be a loyal minister.

is it possible? impossible.

The city stadium, which had been noisy all night, fell silent the moment the singing sounded, and everyone turned their attention to the person shrouded in spotlights.

In the sad singing, the Italian Albertini slowly raised his hands. He pursed his lips, his eyes were red, and said goodbye to his 18 years of turbulent career.

Tang En and everyone looked at him and applauded him, paying tribute to him. While doing all this, he hides in the crowd, with the players, unnoticed, so no one sees the tears in his eyes.

Goodbye, Demi.

Your story is over, mine has just begun...

(Volume 4, The Storm ends)

※ ※ ※

PS, this is the end of the fourth volume of the storm. The Godfather of Champions has basically written one-third of it. Thank you for your support along the way, and you will need your continued support for the next journey.

In the past few days, people have been asking in the book review area, is this the end of the novel?

The Godfather of Champions is a complete story, and I won't end it at Twain's most glorious moment, let alone now is far from the most glorious moment. I will continue to write, and I hope everyone can continue to support it, and see how Twain can create a storm of his own in European football and even world football.

Finally, if this championship makes everyone feel good, let's vote! I don't refuse any recommendation tickets or monthly tickets, and I accept them all!

COME_ON, BABY! YES!