Chapter 928: This Is Counter-Attacking Football

It was going to be the very first time that Messi plays a match at Nottingham Forest’s new stadium. Messi was a little curious to see what the stadium was like. After all, there were not many stadiums in the world that could be regarded as a ‘five-star stadium’.

Messi bent over to touch the grass beneath his soles the moment he stepped onto the pitch to do his warm-ups.

People might think that Messi was doing some kind of ritual when he touched the grass. However, those who are familiar with him would find his behavior odd, since he never touches the grass when he steps onto the pitch.

The only ones who understood Messi’s actions were Messi’s teammates, who were very familiar with him. They teased him at once, “The quality of the grass is great. It’s definitely not like that rotten field that we played in previously.”

The horrendous way in which Barcelona was treated at the City Ground Stadium a few years ago is well-known around the world, and it is still a topic of idle conversation even till this day.

Messi’s teammates knew very well what Messi was trying to do.

Messi ran forward by two steps. That bumpy feeling that he experienced before did not emerge. The ground was smooth and the quality of the grass was superb. The only flaw that he observed was that the grass was a little short.

Three seasons might have passed since that ill-fated match at the City Ground Stadium, but Messi has never once forgotten what it felt like to play on that horrible pitch. He spent half of his energy trying not to pick up an injury in that game.

Tony Twain is the most rotten and despicable manager he has ever met in his career. He would never play under a manager like him who would come up with that kind of idea just to win the match. To Messi, Twain’s every action insulted the holy and beautiful image he had of football.

As for George Wood, Messi had mixed feelings towards him. He admits that it would be great to have Wood as a teammate, but the way Wood would lunge at his feet whenever he tries to defend made him feel very uncomfortable.

Messi would feel chills at his knee every time Wood charges at him. However, he also felt exceptionally excited every time he has to battle with Wood, because Wood is the kind of player that he has to go all out to defeat.

Besides winning the championship, a big source of pleasure to all good football players like Messi is to battle with other good players on the pitch.

Ever since that match, Barcelona has never faced off with Nottingham Forest a second time. This is the very first time that Argentina plays against England as well.

Messi was eager to finally face off with Wood once again and defeat both him and Twain this time round.

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The fans got to work the moment they entered the stadium. First, they put up banners and portraits of the players at the stands. Thereafter, they began to sing songs at the top of their voices. Most of them were singing songs related to the England national team, but some were singing songs that were meant to cheer on the Nottingham Forest team.

Twain had chosen to play the match at this stadium because he wished to pile immense pressure on the Argentina players by drawing on the enthusiasm of the football fans in Nottingham.

It might just be a friendly match between the two countries, but Twain certainly did not want his team to lose to Argentina.

His desire to win has nothing to do with the Falklands War or the 30 year feud between England and Argentina.

He just wanted to deliver his promise. Nottingham Forest defeated Barcelona in the past, and now it was England’s turn to defeat Argentina.

The captain of the England national team, George Wood, held onto a small triangular-shaped country flag as he stood in the middle of the pitch. He was waiting for Argentina’s captain, Messi, to come over and initiate the exchange of country flags.

John and his gang could not help but praise Wood as they watched him from the stands. “He really looks and acts like a leader…”

“Ha! I knew he would be successful when I saw the way in which he kept Fàbregas out of the game at Wilford that day!”

“Stop boasting! I knew this lad would be a brilliant player in the future when I saw how he had the guts to raise his fists at the first team manager Collymore back then…”

The group of men began to brag about how they had the foresight or the discerning eye. The only person who did not join in their discussion was Fat John.

He smiled as he listened in on their conversation. He reminisced about the scenes from 12 years ago. Back then, George Wood was still a youth player that no one knew about. Nottingham Forest was struggling in the EFL Championship, and Tony Twain was a miserable youth team manager.

Who would have thought that there would come a day where Nottingham Forest would become a Treble-winning team, and that Tony Twain would become a famous manager who is now leading the England national team?

Who could have expected to see George Wood shake hands with Messi while being dressed in the jersey of the England national team and with the captain’s armband over his sleeve?

※※※

Wood felt the grip on his hands tighten. He looked at the short man before him.

Excitement gleamed in Messi’s eyes as he raised his head to stare at him.

Wood understood what Messi’s gaze and gesture meant. Thus, he tightened his own grip on the latter’s hand as well.

Kaka is already 34 years old this year and has already grown old. Unlike him however, Messi is only 28 years of age and is right in his prime.

The pair’s silent battle ended quickly. They could not possibly hold onto each other’s hands forever after all. The press would start circulating bad rumors about them the next day if they did.

Wood lost during the coin toss and England was going to be the team to take the kick-off. That was exactly what Twain wanted for his team.

The night was windy and cooling. It was the perfect weather to play football in.

Players from both teams have already gotten into their respective positions on the pitch. Everyone was waiting for kick-off.

Likewise, Twain was waiting for the match to begin as he stood by the side of the pitch. Another man who was waiting by the side just like him was the manager of the Argentina national team, Maradona.

The referee blew his whistle once, and the match between England and Argentina that has garnered much attention worldwide commenced.

※※※

Twain’s tactic for the match was to play counter-attacking football. He wanted his team to sit deep and hit Argentina on the break.

His decision to play counter-attacking football surprised many. He might have played counter-attacking football often when he was in charge of Forest, but ever since he became the manager of the England national team, he has generally gone with an attacking style of football. The team often ended matches with scores like 4:0, 3:2, or 3:1, and they also scored a total of 32 goals throughout all the qualifiers that they played in so far. These results all highlighted a shift in Twain’s playing style.

Twain completely changed the conservative image that people had of him from his days as Forest’s manager, and he successfully won over the picky fans by playing attacking football.

Yet, he chose not to continue with what he has done so far in this match against Argentina.

Is he perhaps scared of the Argentina team that is made up of players like Messi, Agüero, Higuaín and Mascherano?

Let us take a look at England’s starting line-up for today.

In the front half, Twain chose to go with Rooney, Agbonlahor, Walcott and Stewart Downing. All four players are players with pace, and they were also the players responsible for the team’s offense. Both Rooney and Agbonlahor are players who would not track back to defend during a match. They would always stand at the front of the pitch and wait for the ball to be passed over to them from the back.

Twain did not get any of his defenders to mark any of the Argentinian players. Even Argentina’s most threatening player, Messi, was not constantly marked by George Wood either.

England chose to make use of a defensive strategy known as zonal marking in the match instead. Whenever an Argentina player picked up the ball in England’s defensive third, he would definitely be surrounded by at least two England players. One would be in charge of snatching the ball from him, and the other would be on stand-by by the side. If the Argentina player kicks the ball slightly further away from himself, the other player would be there to intercept the ball at once.

This was a strategy adopted by Forest back then. It was a strategy that frustrated their opponents to no end, and its effectiveness did not seem to have diminished now that it is being utilized by the England national team.

Argentina’s players were troubled by England’s defense. The tiniest mistake that they make could lead to them losing the ball, unless they somehow managed to glue the ball to their feet.

Higuaín learned that first-hand when he tracked backwards to receive the ball. He was not able to receive the pass from his teammate perfectly, and the ball bounced off the tip of his foot and flew about five meters ahead of him. Usually, Higuaín would be able to regain possession of the ball easily by taking one big stride forward. But, his method did not work this time round, and the ball was quickly intercepted by England’s fullback, Richards, who had been on his trail.

Messi initially thought that it was going to be a contest between the captains and that he would get to battle it out with George Wood one-on-one today. However, he did not expect Tony Twain to deprive him of that opportunity to face off with Wood.

When Messi picked up the ball, the players closest to him all charged at him. He tried his best to get past the first defender, but the second one suddenly appeared near him. He quickly retrieved the ball that he had kicked in front, but the first player suddenly turned around and lunged at him, and that caused him to keep going around in circles at the same spot.

He tried his best to shake off the defenders again and he succeeded in making his way into England’s penalty box. But, once he was inside the penalty box, he realized that he could neither pass the ball nor move forward. After a moment of hesitation, he soon found himself surrounded by England’s players.

When he finally found a gap that he could make use of to pass the ball forward to his teammates, the assistant referee raised his flag.

Offside!

Messi then tried to make his way into the penalty box and shoot for goal himself during his subsequent attempts. However, a brick wall stood in his way every single time. A total of three defenders would mark him every time he got close to England’s penalty box.

Messi might get past the defenders here and there, but even he could not repeat the same feat every single time.

Hence, he decided to change his strategy and attack down the flanks instead.

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Some of his teammates, such as Higuaín and Agüero, chose to shoot at goal from an angle after receiving the ball. Of course, those shots were all easily saved by Joe Hart, because all he needed to do was to narrow the angle in which the shot can be made.

Sometimes the Argentina players have to run over to the flanks to receive a pass from Messi when he puts too much force behind it. After they receive the pass, they would choose to cross the ball into the middle of the pitch. This is a very common attacking strategy used in football. However, most of their shots were all intercepted and kept out of play by the big and burly England center-backs, because Argentina lacked the players who could put the strategy to good use. Agüero is 1.72m and Tevez is 1.68m tall. Both are too short and they can’t receive the crosses from their teammates. Higuaín might be 1.84m tall, but he is not good with headers. Thus, he is unable to score from those crosses as well.

If Argentina wants their forwards to be able to reach the ball, the height of the crosses have to be lowered. However, if they lower the height, the crosses cannot make their way past England’s defense. Conversely, if they increase the height, the crosses might be able to make their way past England’s center-backs, but the forwards would have to spend a lot more effort to reach the ball, and that will make their resulting headers much weaker and ineffective.

Many of their headers are also either too high or are not even on target.

Clearly, the Argentines are not well-suited to play such an attacking strategy.

Argentina then tried to make short and quick passes down the middle of the pitch. However, they once again encountered obstacle after obstacle.

England’s defense has two layers to it, and the fans are able to see that clearly from the stands. Their defense was just like a water filter. They are able to clean out Argentina’s attacks till there was nothing left.

In the end, Argentina had to resort to long shots at goal. Most of their shots were on target and there were only some that had been blocked by the defenders with their bodies. It was the most decent form of attack that Argentina was able to make, but sadly, Joe Hart was in a good form for the match, and he was able to save each and every shot that threatened his goalpost.

Of course, once in a while, a golden opportunity would emerge right before the Argentina players.

“Joe Hart did not manage to keep the ball in his hands!!”

Agüero sprinted forward like a cheetah. He nearly got a leg to the ball if it had not been for George Wood’s tackle…

Agüero slammed into Wood’s leg and then fell onto the ground. As he laid on the ground, he hit the grass repeatedly, visibly upset at how he had missed the opportunity to score a goal.

40 minutes had passed in the first half. England barely had any shots on goal, and the spectators spent 80% of their time watching as Argentina surrounded England’s goalpost and attacked them furiously.

Argentina was clearly way ahead when it came to shots made in the match so far.

The commentator was displeased with what he saw. England and Argentina are bitter rivals. How can they allow Argentina to have all the momentum of the match?

“There Tony Twain goes again… England is definitely not the underdog, but neither is Argentina a pushover. Twain can’t just give up on attack completely and focus solely on defense. Argentina might not have scored after 15 shots, but that does not mean that they would not score after 20 or 25 shots. There’s no future for England if all they do is defend but not counter-attack!”

Right as the commentator finished his words, the camera zoomed in on Twain. He was expressionless as he stood by the side of the pitch. No one knew what was on his mind at that moment.

Twain is confident in his team’s defense. But, does he really intend to come out of the match with a 0:0 score? Does he think that everyone would accept such a result?

The commentator was upset with Twain, but the fans at the stadium were not. They have grown used to watching Twain play in such a way, and they knew very well that their team is inching towards victory every time the match goes into a stalemate.

Cheers would erupt at the stands every time England went on the counter-attack. It did not matter if the counter-attack was successful or not.

The atmosphere at the Crimson Stadium pleased Twain.

This is exactly why Twain chose the Crimson Stadium as the venue for this match. He knew that the fans here understood him, and that they would not boo their own team easily.

※※※

Messi soon realized why the grass at the Crimson Stadium was short…

England intercepted Argentina’s ball once again towards the end of the first half.

They have gone on the counter-attack numerous times in the match so far, but they did not make many shots on target and they hardly threatened Argentina’s goalpost as well.

However, things were different this time round.

The England players did not make a long forward pass straight away. They decided to slowly build up play from the back.

Wood observed the situation on the pitch after receiving the ball. He noticed that the Argentina central midfielders positioned near him were hesitant to charge at him and snatch his ball away. Wood then turned his body and made a move that suggested he wanted to pass the ball towards the flanks.

Mascherano saw Wood’s body movement and instantly turned his body towards the flanks. He wanted to charge at the player Wood was going to pass the ball over to.

But, the movement from Wood was a feign. He quickly retrieved the ball with his right foot before kicking it forward with his left. He then began running down the middle of the pitch!

Wood was very fast with his run. He was at the center circle in an instant.

Argentina’s players immediately scrambled backwards to defend, whereas the England players all ran forward to provide support for Wood.

Deafening cheers erupted at the stands once again. The England fans finally saw the scene that they have all been waiting for.

“Run straight for goal, St. George!!”

Downing, Walcott, Rooney and Agbonlahor all ran towards four different points on the pitch. Argentina’s defenders had no choice but to disperse to try and mark each and every of them.

Wood observed the situation before him as he ran forward at breakneck speed. He noticed that there were quite a few players marking Walcott. It couldn’t be helped since Walcott is too famous as a player.

Wood passed the ball over to the left flank with the outside of his left foot. Mascherano slid towards the ball to try and intercept Wood’s pass, but he underestimated the speed in which the ball would travel. The short grass on the pitch had caused the ball to travel faster than usual, and the ball had already rolled past Mascherano before his foot got to it.

The ball then rolled over to the left flank, and Downing was the one to receive it as he ran up from the back.

Mascherano wanted to climb back up to his feet and continue with his defense, but he knew it was too late.

Wood had accomplished his mission. However, he did not stop running forward. He wanted to assist his teammates in their attacks, and he also wanted to put pressure onto Argentina’s helpless defenders by creating the misconception that he is looking to do a long shot at goal.

Downing went head on with Argentina’s burly center-back Federico Fazio, who had run up to him to defend against him.

Fazio was physically strong and was also good with headers, but he was not a player with a lot of pace. He stuck a leg out to intercept the ball and he managed to get a touch on the ball. The ball bounced upwards and hit Downing on his leg before flying forward towards goal.

His touch ended up helping his opponent in his attack…

Downing ran forward at the fastest speed that he could muster. He successfully regained possession of the ball and kicked it towards the middle of the penalty box!

But, neither Rooney nor Agbonlahor could get to his pass.

Is this going to be yet another futile counter-attack?

The ball made its way towards the area near the penalty spot. There was not even a single Argentina defender near it.

Downing fell to the ground after completing his pass. However, he did not appear to be disappointed that Rooney and Agbonlahor could not get to his pass. He stared at the penalty box with excitement gleaming in his eyes.

“It’s George Wood!”

He was right to have continued his run earlier.

Wood appeared right before the ball, and there was not a single Argentina player near him right now.

That is to be expected. Why would the Argentina players mark a player who did not even have the ball?

Wood smashed his leg against the ball!

Argentina’s goalkeeper Óscar Ustari got a hand to the ball. However, he was not able to change the trajectory of the ball because there was too much power behind Wood’s shot.

The ball swerved slightly and flew into the back of the net!

1:0!

Argentina had 64% possession and 17 shots in the first 42 minutes of the match, but they did not manage to score a single goal. Conversely, England only had 5 shots in the game so far, and they were already leading by a goal.

This is what counter-attacking football is all about!

The proud former World Cup champions could only hang their heads in shame as they watch the England players embrace each other and celebrate their goal.

The goal might have come as a surprise to the Argentina players, but the England players knew all along that it was only a matter of time before they would score a goal. In fact, they actually thought that the goal had come a little too late…