Chapter 942: Volume 7: Heart of the Lion King, Old Enemy

How many people still remember what Twain said in the newspaper after the World Cup in South Africa six years ago?

The Argentine won the world championship, and when the major media and football celebrities were all congratulating them, Twain made a discordant voice.

"I recognize Messi's three titles, but it's too early to call him the 'new champion'. Argentina can win the World Cup because they didn't meet England. Barcelona can win the European Cup, That's because Nottingham Forest isn't there..."

He questioned Messi's "new ball king" status, even though Maradona himself had given Messi the ball king hat. In Twain's view, a person who can be called the king of the ball must have absolute dominance in his era. His brilliance must eclipse everyone else and make him a benchmark of an era.

Messi is not yet at that level.

Because of George Wood, Nottingham Forest with George Wood can end Barcelona's dynasty ahead of time, and so can England with George Wood.

It's just a pity that Tang En has proved his words at the club level, but the England national team has never had the opportunity to play against the Argentine national team.

But don't worry, now's your chance!

On April 4th, at the Nottingham Crimson Stadium, England will usher in their friendly opponent - Argentina!

When choosing a warm-up opponent for the European Cup, the English Football Association completely listened to Dunn. So Tang En named Argentina.

Maybe others have completely forgotten what he said in the past, but he still remembers it.

"I'm going to show them if I'm talking big."

This match aroused great interest from fans of the two countries, and also attracted the attention of fans all over the world. Because the grievances between them are well known to the world.

Originally, there was no conflict between England and Argentina football, and they had nothing to do with each other. But in the 1986 World Cup, a man made a feud that lasted for decades.

And this man is now Argentina's coach - Diego Maradona.

Due to the 1982 Anglo-Amazon War, the two countries forged a bridge. The passionate young people who play football are always patriotic, so they also want to beat their rivals on the football field. The World Cup in Mexico gave the two teams such a chance-the quarter-finals, Argentina played against England.

It was a game that was permanently recorded in the history of the World Cup, and too many classic moments were born.

Argentina scored their first goal. Maradona, who is only 1.68 meters tall, successfully competed for the top in front of the tall England goalkeeper Hilton, and pushed the football in... Unfortunately, it was a handball. The referee did not see Maradona's concealed action, and the goal was ruled valid. Although the English players tried their best to argue, but to no avail, they had to accept the result.

Then Maradona hit the most exciting goal in the history of the World Cup-five people in a row. The other fans talked about this goal, only the English were indignant - they thought that if there was no handball before, the England players would not be disturbed emotionally, and naturally there would not be the subsequent "even pass". Five people".

Unfortunately, there are never ifs on the football field.

Because the Falklands War intensified the antagonism between the two countries, Maradona did not recognize his handball. In the end, he was forced to say, "That is God's punishment for the English. Diego's head". His refusal to admit his mistakes made the English very unhappy, and the two teams became enemies in this way.

Although the Falklands War has been over for a long time, the grievances on the football field have been inherited.

People like to say "football is war in a peaceful era", and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this sentence. For England and Argentina fans, every time their teams meet, it is a life-and-death battle.

In the 1998 World Cup in France, England and Argentina met again. Beckham's red card, Simeone's sly eyes and exaggerated performances, as well as Owen's emergence, Argentina's exquisite free kick coordination.

In the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, England and Argentina were divided into the death group. As a result, Argentina, which was regarded as the favorite to win the championship, did not even qualify for the group. Many people saw Batistuta in front of the TV screen. The tears in the live broadcast, and Beckham's self-redemption after scoring a penalty kick.

Every time England and Argentina meet, there is always such a spark.

They are a famous pair of enemies in world football.

When Twain was still an ordinary Chinese fan, he was very interested in this kind of match between enemies, such as England and Argentina, England and Germany, Brazil and Argentina... let alone rivals at the club level. Having said that, I can talk about it for a day and a night just by giving examples.

He thinks that what best embodies the essence of a football game is this kind of fierce confrontation and full of countless stories. So when the Football Association gave him a waiting list, he didn't even look at the other teams, and directly ticked Argentina's name.

If some teams want to meet them in international competitions, the probability is not high, it depends too much on luck. Since it was a warm-up match, he could choose opponents at will, and Twain naturally picked the team that could arouse his interest.

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Even if it was just a friendly match between Britain and Afghanistan, the media in England and Argentina paid close attention to it.

As the game drew closer, the media in England brought up the "Hand of God" to talk about things again, and the intensity was far greater than before.

In the past, Argentina's head coach was not Maradona, and the past was just used as an after-dinner conversation. It's different now. The coach who led Argentina to England was the Argentine national hero Diego Maradona who humiliated England with "Hand of God" and "Five in a row" 30 years ago.

A reporter from England ran to ask Diego, how would he evaluate the original handball after 30 years?

Maradona pretended to be surprised: "Has it been thirty years? Ah, that is really a very good memory when I think about it now..."

"Aren't you guilty of cheating to score points?"

Maradona shook his head and said: "No. We are enemies with you on the football field, and defeating the enemy by any means is the ultimate goal. I still feel that my original approach was correct."

Even though the former football champion is fifty-five years old, his temper and character are still a headache.

"If my handball was seen by the referee and the goal was canceled, I would have no objection. But he didn't see it, so the goal was valid. It's that simple." Maradona faced many English reporters, Shrugged and spread hands.

An English reporter really couldn't stand Maradona's "brazen" attitude. He asked a very sharp question: "Mr. Bad head? So we can often see those well-known Argentine stars use hands instead of feet and heads to help their team score goals. For example, your son-in-law Aguero, and your favorite Messi ..."

Maradona was a little unhappy, but fortunately he didn't have a shotgun at hand. He just said with a sullen face: "'Hand of God' is very common in South America. It is not a patent for Argentine players. In addition, I don't think it is very common for Argentine players to play handball..."

He refused to answer further questions, pushed the reporters away, turned and entered the house, and slammed the door shut.

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Dunn was holding the newspaper, and there was a report on the reporters "sieging" Maradona. The reporters in England were happy to describe Maradona as a bastard who was hated by the whole of England. For example, he refused to admit that it was against the spirit of sports competition that he scored with his hands in the first place, and he also repeatedly declared that if he did it again, he would still choose that way.

An Englishman would gnash his teeth at these remarks, wouldn't he?

Tang En was laughing out loud.

"I like him, ha!" Tang En didn't care about the expression of Shania next to him, his words sounded very ambiguous.

"Then you can hug him and show love to him face to face." Shania pouted.

"But I won't be friends with him." Tang En shook his head, "Two mavericks and rebellious people will only lose when they get together. Such people can only be seen from a distance." He looked at Shania next to him, "You won't be jealous of men, will you?"

"I even ate vinegar from football, what can't I eat vinegar from men?" Shania pouted.

Tang En smiled and hugged her into his arms.

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The English media even went to Argentina to ask Maradona what he thought of an event that happened 30 years ago.

So they also "happily" recalled Tony Twain's despicable things. For example, making the city stadium look like a rotten vegetable field, trying to plot against their core, the new football champion Messi, and using despicable means to eliminate Barcelona.

He also declared that "Messi can end with a broken leg in five minutes." Of course, these are words purified by the Argentine media. His original words are actually "If I really want to use that method to deal with Messi, I can guarantee that he will not be able to stay on the court for five minutes." .

See, even the Dutch can't stand it anymore. Cruyff once publicly criticized Twain for killing football and art. He also called on FIFA to pay attention to the protection of fewer and fewer football artists today. "Why are there fewer and fewer players who can bring us joy now? This is obviously related to everyone's imitation of Nottingham Forest..."

After the Champions League final, he publicly supported Pepe, who was sent off because of a crazy beating, and declared, "If there is a reason for beating, I think beating is fine. If it were me, maybe I would do it too."

The Argentine media are fond of talking about Tony Twain's "bad deeds". In fact, they usually don't pay attention to Tony Twain at all. If it wasn't for this game, they wouldn't care what Twain said or did.

Just as the Argentinian media were frantically smearing Twain, a new advertising poster appeared in the center of Buenos Aires.

This is an advertising poster for Ray-Ban sunglasses. The man in the picture is no stranger to Argentines, because his photos have frequently appeared in street newspapers during this time——Tony Twain is dressed in black, holding a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses, leaning against the iron On the railing of Zhizhi Bridge, looking into the distance, he looks very cool, just like a gangster godfather.

Next to him is the slogan: Ray-Ban, the real man's choice.

A few days later, a new poster was erected not far from the billboard in the same downtown area. This time the brand featured on it is Gillette razors. The spokesperson was still Tony Twain. He held a Gillette razor that shone with a cold green light, and put it on his lips, while he himself looked at the bustling crowd and traffic below the advertisement. Posters processed in black and white have a "cool" feel.

The slogan of the advertisement is: show your sharpness.

Then the third billboard was erected again, this time it was the famous British shoe brand Dr. Martens, and the spokesperson was also Tony Twain. Wearing the personalized shoes mentioned by Dr. Martin, Tang En doesn't look like a football head coach, but more like an explorer. He is not wearing the black suit of the previous two advertisements, and the underworld boss's appearance is far away from him. , a casual jacket and jeans, matching Dr. Martin's men's shoes. This attire made him look many years younger than his actual age, Tang En liked this youthful attire.

However, the words of the advertisement matched Tang En's work style and personality very well. It's no wonder that Dr. Martin asked Tang En to sign a contract as an endorsement:

confidence. Stubborn. never give up.

Advertisers are not worried at all that Tony Twain's bad reputation will damage these two world-wide brands. Because the main sales strategy of these two brands is to highlight a distinctive personality in this mediocre society, a topical figure like Tang En who has recently become popular in Argentina is really the best spokesperson. Just like the villains of movies are often liked by many fans, Tony Twain will definitely find a bosom friend here.

In fact, Maradona's character is also very suitable for the requirements, if his body shape and appearance are better...

The Argentinian media must have been very depressed when they discovered those advertisements, because their efforts to hype them brought Tang En more income from advertising endorsements...

Even the English media repeatedly rebroadcasted Twain's large advertisement in Buenos Aires as social news, as their counterattack.

This incident did amuse the onlookers, but not everyone found it amusing.

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When Twain was the head coach of the club, such situations were relatively rare. Only happened to players who left Nottingham Forest for his team.

That is: when Twain and the opposing team had a big war of words, how could the ex-Forest players feel...

For example, before the match between the Forest team and Barcelona, ​​when the two sides attacked each other, Piqué was very embarrassed.

Now most Nottingham Forest players have the opportunity to "enjoy" such treatment.

As long as they are not England's international players, they will have the opportunity to fight against England on behalf of their national team. If Tang En didn't know which muscle was wrong and started a war of words, then as a player who used to be in the trenches with Tang En, he would feel very embarrassed.

This time it was the turn of the unlucky Gago.

There are very few Argentine players in Nottingham Forest, only Gago. In the battle provoked by the media from both sides this time, how could he be forgotten as the only Argentine who had received Twain's teachings?

But fortunately, he doesn't have to continue to experience such suffering, because he was not called into the national team by Maradona, and he doesn't have to play in this friendly match. Since there is no competition, there is no need for him to accept those embarrassing questions. He declined to comment on the game because he will not be participating in it.

Those headaches, let his national team teammates face it...

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Argentina did not fly to England as a whole team. Maradona arrived in Nottingham with players from the Argentine domestic league, and then flew to Nottingham after the international players who played in European leagues finished their respective leagues. Assemble with the team.

As Argentine players who also played in Spain, Messi and Higuain or Aguero arrived in London together, and were immediately surrounded by "enthusiastic" reporters.

"Messi! Messi! Can you answer a question?"

"What do you think of Tony Twain, Messi?"

"It is said that he once tried to break your leg during a game. Is this true?" Rumors are really scary...

"Messi, will you play against England? Is it true that Barcelona only want you to play half-time?"

Those who don't know the inside story will think that those who surround Messi are crazy fans.

Messi didn't want to answer such questions. He lowered his head, covered his face with his hands, and squeezed out quickly. The two teammates who arrived on the same plane with him were like bodyguards, sandwiching him in the middle.

After finally getting rid of the group of crazy reporters with the help of airport security, Messi was still a little scared.

"It's just a friendly match, not a World Cup match. Why do those people..."

"Have you forgotten who our opponent is? England and Tony Twain." Aguero complained from the side. Messi's popularity is too high, and Chi Yu himself is in trouble. He was originally a star-studded celebrity, but when he squeezed out, he almost smashed his sunglasses. Now he can't wear them properly, and he looks so embarrassed. After adjusting it for a long time, it was still crooked. He simply stuffed the sunglasses into his backpack.

Higuain also said beside him: "This game can't be regarded as an ordinary friendly match... In England's home court, you must be prepared to be booed throughout the game."

They hurried to the car sent by the Argentine team to pick them up, before they let out a sigh of relief.

"Anyway, I only played halftime..." Messi didn't care about the boos.

"Hey, so those media rumors are true?" Higuain was a little envious. Being able to be asked by the head coach shows that he is very, very important and is absolutely indispensable in the team. I obviously don't belong to that kind of player.

"Mr. Guardiola is afraid that I will get hurt."

Aguero smiled next to him: "Then it's better not to play for a minute. Have you forgotten who your opponent is?"

A name instantly appeared in the minds of the other two people, and his lifeless face appeared together with the name, as if carved out of wood, lifeless, but you must not take it lightly. There are many people who fell at his feet. If you don't want to get injured in such a friendly match, you have to be careful.

Messi was excited instead.

"George Wood!" He clenched his fists.