THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Zachary gave his all during the next few days of practice. He worked harder than ever to regain his peak fitness by following a strict and carefully planned exercise regimen.

His daily practice sessions included gym work, agilities, endurance training, team passing drills, and ball work. He worked at everything with hundred percent dedication and no complaints under the guidance of the Rosenborg coaches.

Zachary only encountered a few minor problems as he immersed himself back into the hectic team training sessions. He'd realized that his body control and dribbling skills had diminished considerably over the two months of recovery. So, he found it quite arduous to dribble past any of the Rosenborg first-team defenders. Moreover, on a few occasions when the defenders tried to tackle the ball from his feet, he would panic and sometimes end up losing possession. He subconsciously feared suffering another injury.

He was aware that it was just some mental trauma resulting from the injury. But even though he understood the core of the problem, he couldn't do much about it. So, he decided to switch his entire playing style to one-touch or two touch-passing without bothering to dribble past even a single player during training.

Whenever he would receive a pass, he would control the ball before immediately relinquishing it to a teammate without delay. He would then run into space the next moment and wait for the ball to return to him. With his high game intelligence, graded at A+ by the system, he switched to a playing style that limited the possibilities of coming into contact with the opponents in a matter of days. By the fifth day of training, he'd managed to evolve his game to fit his new state of mind so that he wouldn't be affected by his post-injury phobia.

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Saturday, 2nd November 2013.

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The sunset slowly but steadily blossomed upon the horizon as if a million scarlet blooms had ignited. On that autumn evening, Zachary was still on the training ground at Lerkendal training his set-piece technique.

"That's set-piece number forty into the back of the net," Paul Otterson yelled excitedly from the sidelines after Zachary managed to dispatch another free-kick into the top right corner. "Kendrick," the Swede continued with a bit of humor. "Why aren't you diving or trying to make any saves? You're just standing there and allowing Zachary to put more free-kicks into the back of the net. Don't you feel any shame?"

"If you think you can do better than me, you're welcome to come and stand in my place, between the posts," Kendrick yelled in a dismissive tone. "Otherwise, shut up and return to your training. Remember that you haven't completed the required gym work for today evening. Coach Johansen will demote you back to the under-19s if you keep on lousing around."

"Guys," Zachary yelled, placing another ball right in front of the box. He was preparing to send another free-kick over the wall. "It's already coming to 4:30 PM. Coach Johansen will be calling us for the prematch tactical briefing very soon. So, we can't afford to waste any time."

"Paul and Kasongo!" He turned towards his two friends. "You guys don't have to stand there, watching me taking free-kicks. You can utilize this time to do agilities or jog around the stadium. Or, you can even start on some simple passing drills together. Remember that time waits for no man. Okay?"

"Yes, sir," the two of them replied in unison as if Zachary was their coach.

"Then, off you go," Zachary said, shooing them away with a wave of his hand. "Go busy yourselves with your training and stop bothering us here. We'll link up again when we're heading to the tactics room later." His tone was sharp and commanding. The two of them could only smile ruefully before begrudgingly walking away to train in another part of the playing field.

"They are still as playful as ever," Kendrick commented as soon as the boys had moved out of earshot. "It's like they don't feel any pressure even when faced with the whole competitive atmosphere on the first team."

"I'm sure that they are under tremendous pressure," Zachary replied, shaking his head. "Joking around is their way of coping. Let's hope their playfulness won't affect their training in the long run." He sighed.

His three friends from his academy days had made tremendous progress while playing for the Rosenborg under-19 team over the first half of the year. As a result, Coach Johansen had invited them to begin training with the team at the end of August, just after he'd gotten injured.

Kendrick Otterson, the goalkeeper, had quickly gotten into high gear and easily adapted to the intensive atmosphere on the first team. He was very hardworking and had managed to improve his skills considerably over the previous two months. On the other hand, the other two, Paul and Kasongo, were still as playful as ever and not taking anything seriously. They weren't doing their best to improve their skills during their spare time. They would immediately lose all motivation as soon as the official training sessions ended.

Zachary worried that their skills would regress—and as a result, the coaches would demote them back to the under-19 team. That was a fate he didn't wish upon his friends.

"The disturbances have gone away," Zachary said after noticing that both Kasongo and Paul had started running laps around the stadium. "Let's get back to training. I need to take twenty more free-kicks before Coach Johansen calls us for the tactical meeting."

"I'm ready when you are," Kendrick replied from in between the goalposts. "This time, I'll do my best to stop you."

"Dream on!" Zachary said, grinning at the goalkeeper. The next moment, he abruptly raised his leg and smashed the ball, sending it spinning—on a curving path towards the top left corner. He'd employed his high-level Bend-it-like-Beckham Juju to take the free-kick.

"You're not scoring this time," Kendrick roared, leaping high and stretching himself into a full-body dive. He was really trying his best to thwart Zachary's attempt at goal. However, all his efforts were just in vain. The ball flashed by his outstretched hand by mere inches, homing into the back of the net.

"That's free-kick number 41 into the back of the net," Zachary said, imitating Paul Otterson's voice as Kendrick picked himself from the ground after failing to make the save.

"Your conversion rate with set-pieces is out of this world," Kendrick commented, shaking his head. "I feel sorry for all the goalkeepers who'll have to face against you during the upcoming matches. Let's continue."

"Okay," Zachary said, smiling and placing another ball before the eighteen-yard box. Without taking a breather, he continued taking set-pieces even when the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon in the west. He only concluded his session when Coach Johansen summoned the team to the tactics room for the prematch briefing at 6:00 PM.

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"Good evening, everyone," Coach Johansen said, smiling and sweeping his gaze across all the players in the tactics room. He was in a good mood since training had progressed without issues over the past few days.

"Good evening, coach," the players replied, more or less in unison.

"Tomorrow evening, we'll face off against Viking Stavanger in our second last fixture of this Tippeligaen season," Coach Johansen said, tone pensive. "It's a game we have to win if we wish to become the Norwegian champions tomorrow. We can't falter at this crucial point of the season. Are we together, guys?" He yelled.

"Yes, coach," the players replied, their voices brimming with enthusiasm.

"That's good," Coach Johansen said, nodding. He could tell that the morale of the team was at a very high level. The players seemed highly motivated, probably because they were only a step away from clinching the Tippeligaen trophy.

"We've spent the entire week going over the game plan," Coach Johansen continued with a smile, lowering his voice. Nonetheless, it still carried to all the twenty-four players in the tactics room. "So, I won't waste time discussing the tactics again this evening. Instead, I'll announce the squad for tomorrow and then send you home for the night. I want all the players on the squad to have ample time to rest today night. Are we together?"

"Yes, coach."

"Good," the coach said, unfolding his notebook. "We'll use the 4-2-3-1 formation, and our starting line-up is as follows. Daniel Örlund will be our goalkeeper. Tore Reginiussen, Mikael Dorsin, Eric Bailly, and Yerry Mina will play our defense."

"In our defensive midfield, we'll have Mike Jensen and Thomas Partey while Zachary Bemba will play as our only attacking midfielder. Our wingers will be Tobias Mikkelsen and Alexander Söderlund, while Nicki Nielsen will play as our center-forward."

"That's it for the starting line-up," Coach Johansen said, looking around. "I expect all the players on the starting line-up to put up their best from the very first minute. I don't want to see any of you slacking off on the pitch. Are we together?"

"Yes, coach."

"That's good," the coach said, half-smiling. "Moving on. On the bench, we'll have Lund Hansen, Cristian Gamboa, Stefan Strandberg, Ole Selnæs, Mix Diskerud, John Chibuike, and Pal André Helland. That's it for the substitutes." Coach Johansen glanced up from his notebook.

"Tomorrow," he said, letting out a breath. "Let's do our best to against Viking. We're at home at Lerkendal, so there shouldn't be any reason for us to underperform. We have to win, and we have to win by a landslide. We must destroy Viking Stavanger tomorrow and emerge as champions. For we are ROSENBOORGGG!!!!" He ended his speech with a cheer.

"WE'RE ROSENBOOOOORGGGG, ROSENBORG..." The players chimed in, singing at the top of their voices in chorus. They were in high gear and highly motivated for the game the following day. They were eager to be crowned champions.

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