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Chapter 439: The Last Option

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“He’s the king of Arsenal, and he’s saved the team. Thierry Henry!”

The Arsenal players ran towards their captain. This goal came at the right time and was incredibly important. As the game was six minutes into the injury stoppage time, Arsenal equalized the score of the game and tied the total scores for both teams.

Wenger leaped from his seat and opened his arms to hug Pat Rice.

The two thousand Arsenal fans who followed the team to Nottingham erupted into loud cheers. Amid their cheers, Nottingham Forest fans were caught in a brief silence.

Twain’s heart fell from high in the clouds down to the bottom. It was an unspeakable feeling. He bit his lip hard and stared at the Arsenal players celebrating on the field.

We were just about to win and progress into the final, and Henry scored a goal at the last minute! That f**king...

What were my players thinking at that moment? Did they think they were definitely winning? Their reactions were like a ninety-year-old man in the instant when the offense turned to defense!

The Forest players held their heads low and watched the other side celebrate.

George Wood looked down at his feet.

Just as he was about to tackle Henry from behind, he suddenly recalled Twain’s warning that with two yellow cards on him, he was likely to get a third yellow card for this foul, or even a red card. As a result, he reflexively retracted his foot a little.

And that little distance let Henry evade him.

He should not have retracted his foot. He should have directly tackled the opposing striker to the ground so that he could not break through and make the shot. However, his body did not listen to him.

Dammit, I said it so nicely and in the end, I’m still a coward.

He raised his head again and saw his dejected teammates around him. As his anger over his performance filled him with anger, he blurted out, “What’s the matter with you guys? We haven’t lost yet!”

Arteta looked up at Wood, who clenched his fists and roared loudly. Everyone turned their heads towards him.

“We haven’t lost yet! We still don’t know who’s been eliminated. What are you all doing?!”

Then he went to Arteta. “Don’t protect me, it’s not necessary.”

“But, George-”

“We’ll talk about this once we enter the finals.” He turned and ran towards the goal. He took the football out of the net and then ran all the way to the center circle, holding the football. He then placed the football on it.

“Let’s kick off!”

Twain, who saw the scene on the field, turned to Kerslake and said, “Whether or not we actually make it to the finals… At least we gained a real captain.”

Kerslake smiled but did not know what to say.

※※※

The game started again and Arsenal wanted to seize the last moments to wipe out the Forest team again while Forest wanted to score another goal in the remaining few minutes to get the advantage back. Both sides were at odds with each other and engaged in a fierce scramble in every corner of the field.

As a result, when the referee blew the whistle at the end of the ninety-minute game, the score between the two sides remained at 1:1.

“The total score stands at 2:2. Both sides have an away goal each, and it’s a tie. Now they have a thirty-minute overtime to decide the winner. If that still does not work, then a penalty shootout will be needed. It really is a dramatic game. Just when Nottingham Forest thought they were going to win, Henry tied the score at the last minute.”

Neither team entered the locker room to prepare for overtime. They were either sitting or lying down on the sidelines as the team doctors massaged them and they listened to the manager’s latest instructions.

“We are pressed for time, so I won’t criticize your distraction at the last minute.” The Nottingham Forest players gathered in a circle as Twain crouched in the middle with a grim expression and said, “In overtime, defense remains our primary objective while you look for opportunities to fight back. Luckily, we’ve been training for penalty kicks. If you can’t resolve the fight in thirty minutes, then drag out the game till then.”

On the other side, in Arsenal’s half of the field, Wenger stood in front of his players and paced back and forth as he said to them, “During overtime, just concentrate on attacking half of the field and ignore the other half. Try your best to score. If we can’t force it, we’ll compete against them with penalty kicks.”

※※※

With just a short five-minute break between the ninety-minute game and overtime, many players only had enough time to even out their breathing before they had to get on the field again to play the game.

George Wood stood up from the ground and Twain looked at him. Then he watched him return to the field without saying anything. He did not know what to say. It was pointless to say things like “don’t get another yellow card” when they did not even know if they could make it to the finals. What was the use of reminding him not to get a yellow card?

He just let everything take its natural course.

※※※

Once the first half of the overtime game started, Arsenal took advantage of the momentum from their recent equalizer to launch a siege on the Forest team’s goal, as if to settle the battle within those thirty minutes.

On the other hand, Nottingham Forest laid out their best and most familiar defensive array to greet Arsenal’s frenzied attack.

Twain made one last substitution. He replaced Leighton Baines with Gareth Bale. Baines had a muscle cramp from running and Bale’s stamina was good enough to stabilize the defense.

Throughout the first half of overtime, the Forest team’s counterattack was basically nowhere to be seen. Anelka wandered alone in front for a while and found that the football could not be passed over there. He looked at the tense situation in the rear. He hesitated a little before he decided to go back to participate in the defense.

Generally speaking, even though there was no rule that stated that it was necessary, overtime in football matches did present a very interesting phenomenon. During the thirty minutes of overtime, the performances of the two teams would be divided into two extremes in the first and second half of the overtime. Taking this game as an example, Arsenal aggressively attacked now in the first half. Then Arsenal would not have any spare energy to carry out another attack in the second half. It would be Nottingham Forest’s turn to attack.

This might be because when the game was at this point, the stamina of both sides prevented them from carrying out another thirty minutes of offense. They could only choose to rest for one half or attack one half of the field.

Arsenal attacked for fifteen minutes and did not gain anything. The Forest team’s defense was very well organized. The score remained at 1:1. The Forest players knew that their time had come.

There was no break in between the first and second halves of overtime. The teams directly exchanged sides and the players could only buy some time to give themselves a break by slowly crossing the field.

At this juncture, both Arsenal and Nottingham Forest players had reached the limit of their stamina.?The intensive competition schedule and successive challenges left everyone exhausted. They slowly moved their pace across the field. Only one person was the exception.

George Wood ran with his head held high to the other half of the field. As he brushed past Fàbregas, the Spaniard could even feel a gust of air sweep past his cheeks.

※※※

At the start of the second half of the game, the Forest team pressed on to attack according to convention. No one really wanted to drag the game to the penalty shootout, which was a risky way to determine the winner.

Everybody pressed ahead and Gareth Bale was frequently involved in the offense. Only George Wood remained in the back to protect everyone’s rear.

Almost everyone thought that Arsenal would not have any extra energy to pose a threat to the Forest team’s rear defensive line after fifteen minutes of frenzied bombardment. George Wood looked a little silly, watching the other people play from the back. Looking at Nottingham Forest’s offensive momentum, Arsenal would deplete all the physical energy they had left just on defense alone. How could they jeopardize the Forest team’s goal?

Eastwood’s shot was saved by Lehmann. The German goalkeeper did not choose to drive an ineffective long pass ahead. He threw the ball with his hand to launch an attack!

The football came to Fàbregas’ foot in the blink of an eye. Without waiting for the Forest players to react, Fàbregas passed the football to their captain, the most trustworthy striker, Henry.

Then while most of the Forest players, still in the front field, were stunned by this sudden change, Henry had already adjusted the direction of the football and began to dribble the ball towards the Forest team’s goal!

“This is Arsenal’s counterattack! The Forest team’s too aggressive in their attacks. They forget that Arsenal still has Henry, a speedy and extremely dangerous player!”

“Dammit!” Twain jumped up on the sidelines, “I told them to find the time to fight back! Not to press up for a siege!”

“Don’t worry, Tony. George’s at the back,” Kerslake consoled.

“That’s what worries me the most,” Twain muttered.

※※※

Henry glanced back. His teammates could not run anymore and there were very few people who followed. At the same time, even though the Forest team was desperately running back to defend, they were clearly out of energy, just by looking at their running postures. In that case…

Henry turned his head back to look at George Wood up ahead of him.

Just the two of us left?

“Thierry Henry and George Wood! The clash of the captains…”

Wood did not have to look around to know the situation. There was no one else on the rear defensive line other than him and two other center backs. When the Forest team was in the thick of its offense, everyone rushed up without regard, hoping to be the hero who helped bring the team to the finals in the last moments.

He did not go up, not because he could not run anymore or because he was not interested in offense, but because he saw Henry cruising near the center circle. Why was Henry not leading by example as the captain, the only one there when everyone went back to the penalty area to defend?

He could only think of one possibility, and it might soon become a reality: Henry was the ultimate weapon in Arsenal’s counterattack. His return to Arsenal’s side would be tantamount to giving up.

The cunning Wenger wanted to use this opportunity to score the goal that could reverse the score right up until the last minute!

Henry was well aware of George Wood’s capabilities. He would be entangled with him once he got nearer to him. At that time did not know what this attack would become. Therefore, the key to this counterattack was to absolutely make certain not to get close to Wood. He could not give him a chance to entangle with him.

Wood knew Henry was fast and physically strong. When he looked at his current running posture, his running legs were still powerful. He knew he could still speed up, and break through him with speed. He must not let him pull away from him. Once he was allowed to widen the distance, he could use his speed to force a breakthrough. He must get closer to him to tangle with him.

Henry jabbed the football to the left and wanted to slash across for the breakthrough. George Wood moved parallel to meet him.

Henry began to accelerate and Wood began to accelerate too, following Henry close at his heels so that he would not escape from his range of control.

Suddenly Henry made a sudden stop as if he were going to break through in another direction. Wood braked as well and was cautious of the other party’s next move. Henry did not change direction. It was only a change in his pace. He saw Wood slow down and immediately sped up to make use of the opportunity to shake off the other player.

However, Wood’s physical condition was so good that he almost started at the same time as Henry. He did not manage to evade this time.

“Henry’s going to be entangled with Wood! The distance between them is very close. The Nottingham Forest players are on their way. As long as he is able to slow down Henry, Wood’s defense will succeed… Whoa!”

Just when everyone thought Henry had no other way, he suddenly pushed the football diagonally in between Wood’s legs!

Immediately after, he stopped and turned to break through from the other side of Wood’s body!

“He knocked the football past Wood! Terrific!”

Wood was not prepared for Henry’s move. When he finally reacted, the other man had already bypassed him.

What did it mean to let Henry just break through like that?

There were still Pepe and Piqué. Perhaps things were not bad enough for him to have to do that. Wood thought hard as he looked up to see Fàbregas and Robin van Persie, desperately running forward.

Three against two?!

Wood knew what this meant.

He quickly turned and saw Henry’s back. It looked like the other man had not completely thrown him off. This was his last chance. He saw Henry preparing to speed up.

Wood clenched his teeth and rushed up. Without waiting for Henry to speed up, he slammed hard from the side at the back.

Unable to protect himself in time, Henry was completely knocked off balance. As he stumbled, he kicked the football out by ten meters. Then, he could no longer maintain his balance. He staggered and ran a few steps before falling to the ground.

Boos broke out from the Arsenal fans in the stands as they desperately tried to silence the Nottingham Forest fans’ shouts.

When Twain saw Wood knock Henry to the ground, he stood up from the technical area. More agitated than he was, Assistant Manager David Kerslake kept muttering unclear obscenities.

“This was a foul! No doubt about it!” cried the commentator. “When faced with Henry’s sharp breakthrough, George Wood could only stop him with a foul.”

Henry helplessly sat on the ground while Fàbregas ran to the referee and did a gesture of pulling out a card.

The Forest players ran over and surrounded the referee. Arteta even rudely pushed Fàbregas out while the Arsenal players came to Fàbregas’ aid.

The scene suddenly became chaotic.

Wood stood out of the crowd and looked at Henry, who was still on the ground, pulling up his socks. He then looked at his teammates bickering with the opponents in the crowd. He did not go up to defend himself. He did nothing except stand outside and watch as if he had had nothing to do with the incident and was just an indifferent spectator.

The players on both sides finally separated after some difficulty, and Henry also got up from the ground. Wood’s collision had not hurt him.

Kerslake was still swearing under his breath next to Twain, who had calmed down. Like Wood, he was mentally prepared for what was about to happen.

We can’t escape this, no matter how hard we fight against the referee, blame Fàbregas for adding fuel to the fire, or swear. It won’t change a thing.

The referee separated the crowd and saw Wood standing outside. He lowered his head to pull a yellow card out of his trousers pocket and presented it to Wood.

Wood raised his eyes to glance at the yellow card, and then turned to walk away.

The close-up footage of the televised broadcast followed Wood’s back, with the captions at the bottom of the screen: “With the yellow card, George Wood will miss the next game.”

※※※

Kerslake stopped swearing and covered his face. On the other hand, Twain still stood on the sidelines, with his arms across his chest. With a dark expression on his face, he looked as cold as an ice sculpture.

Anything that could go wrong would go wrong—Murphy’s Law.

Twain had had this hunch; he’d always had it, but he had been unwilling to admit it and reluctant to think about it for fear that it might become a reality just from thinking about it. Therefore, he had tried to think about the positive side of things. But this terrible outcome had still happened.

“George Wood had succeeded in stopping Henry from this deadly breakthrough. But… the price that he paid was his absence in the next game. If the Forest team can really beat Arsenal and make it to the finals, he will have nothing to do with it. Look at the expressionless look on his face, doesn’t he know that he’s got a third yellow card?”

How could he not know? But this was his own choice. Since he had done it, why would he regret it and be too worked up to control his emotions? He chose to accept the price calmly.

He certainly wanted to have the opportunity to be in the finals. After all, that was the highest pursuit a professional player could have besides the World Cup. But if he had to choose between losing the Forest team’s ticket to the final or losing his personal ticket to the finals, he would rather choose the latter. If the entire team lost its qualifications for the finals, it would make no sense for him to avoid a yellow card. This was not really a multiple-choice question. It was obvious that this was cause and effect. If the team did not qualify, he did not qualify individually. To give up the team’s interests for his own benefit, the result would be a ridiculous outcome where nothing was left to be gained.

Twain sat down and turned to see Albertini punch the back of his seat.

“Demetrio.” He waved his hands to beckon Albertini over. “Don’t infect others with your mood. See, George is calm. The game isn’t over yet. This isn’t the time to be distracted.”

Albertini sat next to Twain and looked at Wood on the field. “Chief, do you know what the UEFA Champions League finals mean to a professional player?”

“Of course, I know. But you should say that to George instead,” replied Twain without turning his head. His tone did not fluctuate the slightest. “Demetrio, I have to thank you. You’re an excellent team captain and now you have brought out an equally good team captain for the Forest team.”

Albertini was not pleased with Twain’s compliment. He bit down hard on his lips and stared at the field.