THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Rumors about Zachary changing his football allegiance from DR Congo to Ivory Coast continued floating around the internet throughout the Christmas holiday. But of course, most football fans, especially in Europe and South America, took them in with a grain of salt as they were yet to hear any official statement from Zachary's publicity team. Moreover, they couldn't conceptualize why Zachary would change citizenship from one African country to another.

As far as the fans were concerned, all African nations were 'weak ants' that would not go far in international football competitions. So, why would Zachary initiate the cumbersome process of switching citizenship to another African country? Why would he escape one hopeless nation and join yet another? Why not join powerhouses like France, Belgium, or the Netherlands that could increase his chances of gunning for the world cup? Most fans outside of Africa were that skeptical about the rumors concerning Zachary's alleged change of citizenship.

The days went by quickly, with neither Zachary's team nor the Ivory Coast officials confirming the news. And as Christmas Day approached, most football fans worldwide began to dismiss the rumors about Zachary's change of nationality as pure lies. But then December 26th, the day known as Boxing Day, arrived, and everything was made clear by a hint from Sidy Diallo, the Ivory Coast Football Federation president.

During an interview with a reporter from The Guardian, the president was asked whether the rumors about Zachary were true. Sidy Diallo, the man himself, smiled and replied, "The tittle-tattle about Zachary Bemba switching citizenship to Ivory Coast is obviously false. His mother is from Ivory Coast, so the boy is not changing his citizenship status. He is simply returning home after spending some time away. I don't get why that is a surprise."

"Mr. President!" The Guardian reporter said after quickly catching the hint. "Does that imply that Zachary will represent Ivory Coast during international football competitions? Will he play for the Ivorian national football team during the upcoming African Cup of Nations?"

"I can't speak about what will happen in the future as I'm not God," the president replied. "But I can say with a hundred percent certainty that Zachary Bemba is in the process of returning home. We're processing the necessary documentation, and he should be ready to join us for international friendlies later in the year. As for the AFCON, that won't be possible unless something unexpected happens. That's all."

The clarification from the Ivorian Football Federation president finally cleared the air, and fans and critics around the globe began to believe the gossip about Zachary changing his football allegiance to Ivory Coast. They then took to the internet and started discussing the matter on various social media platforms.

"At least he didn't switch to one of the filthy rich European or Arab countries," a netizen commented in response to the post concerning Zachary's change of nationality on The Guardian's page. "He can still promote African football while playing for a country that obviously has more chances to go further in international competitions, like the World Cup."

"I feel sorry for DR Congo," another netizen commented with regretful emojis. "They have lost so many exceptional players to rich countries. Players like Romelu Lukaku, Christian Benteke, Vincent Kompany, Michy Batshuayi, and Steve Mandanda could have all teamed up to make a dream team for DR Congo. But alas, all those talented players were snatched up by rich countries. And now, another upcoming and talented prospect (Zachary Bemba) has already been snatched. Moreover, it's not by a rich European country but another African country! Shame! Shame! Shame!"

"I'm not complaining," another netizen commented. "I'm from Ivory Coast, and I can't wait to see Zachary team up with midfield general - Yaya Touré."

"I don't care what anyone says," a critic posted. "However, Zachary is just a typical greedy player. He has betrayed his homeland and sold his services to another team with big bucks. Truly a disappointment..."

In the meantime, Zachary was still 'enjoying' his Christmas holiday in Doha, Qatar. He didn't care in the slightest about the internet debate about him since he was busy undergoing targeted training to overcome the side effects of the S-grade agility-enhancing elixir.

He had consulted Bjørn Peters, his fitness trainer, who had readily designed a training routine to match his goals. And throughout the Christmas holiday, he had been following that very routine to stabilize his 'Body Control' and 'Balance and Coordination' stats while also improving his dribbling skills. He was so focused on his training and naturally had no time to concern himself with the chatter and rumors on the web.

Every morning, Zachary would start his day with a light morning jog. Then, after breakfast, he would go through a light gym session before eating another light snack and heading to one of the indoor training turfs near his hotel.

On the training turf, Zachary would go through several agility and coordination drills, which included Side Shuffles, Carioca Sideways Runs, Lateral Ladders, Shuttle runs, Cone Work, Ball Work, and other similar routines. Then, after enjoying a sumptuous lunch at his hotel, he would rest or go on a tour around Doha for the rest of the day before going to bed early and then resuming the same routine the following day.

Zachary was in beast training mode. He was consistent in his endeavors, and by January 1st, 2015, he had already accomplished some incredible results. His 'Body Control' and several other stats had already jumped all the way past the previous S grades and risen to the SS grading. For sure, Zachary's stats were improving at a much faster rate than he could have previously expected.

Zachary was so astonished by his rapid progress, but at the same time, also encouraged to continue with his training. He couldn't rest on his laurels before he digested all the benefits of the S-grade mental-conditioning and agility-enhancing elixirs he had consumed over the past few weeks. He was super motivated.

Zachary turned his entire training focus to his dribbling skills after overcoming the side effects of the S-grade agility-enhancing elixir. He spent most hours of his next two days on the training turfs in Doha while tirelessly going through Cone Weaves, Zigzag Slaloms, Diagonal Dribbles, Square Turns, Shuttle Runs, and several other exercises to improve his dribbling.

Zachary worked himself like a maniac, and by the end of January 2nd, he finally digested all the benefits of the S-grade agility-enhancing elixir. He pushed his dribbling skills stat to the SS grading and returned to his hotel feeling like a king.

Later in the evening, after enjoying a room service dinner, he washed up and packed his luggage in preparation for his return back to Turin the following morning. He finished everything by 8:30 PM and settled on his bed in his nightwear. He was ready to check his training progress on the system interface before entering between the sheets to rest for the night.

"System!" Zachary called out in his mind. "Please bring up the breakdown of all my attributes."

"DING"

"Command received. The breakdown for the user's attributes will be coming up shortly."

The dim fluorescent light illuminated the hotel room's interior while highlighting the smile on Zachary's face. He inhaled deeply before focusing on the information that had just manifested on the crystal-like display that had appeared before him.

****

*USER STATS (Breakdown)

->Physical Fitness (Av. Rating: S+)

Balance and Coordination: SS

Agility: SS

Strength: S+

Stamina: S+

Endurance Points: 17,500/18,000 (S+)

->Soccer Technique: [Av. Rating: SS]

Ball Control: SS

Dribbling Skills: SS

Passing Accuracy: SS

Body Control: SS

->Game Intelligence: (Av. Rating: SS)

Spatial Awareness: SS

Tactical Knowledge: S+

Risk Assessment: SS

->Mental Ability and Mindset: (Av. Rating: S+)

Soccer Passion: SS

Composure and Mental Strength: SS

Coachability: A+

Self-Motivation: SS

->X-Factor (Av. Rating: SS)

Consistency Factor: SSS

Luck Factor: SS

Supernormal Factor: S+

Match Winning Factor: SSS

****

"This is crazy!"

Zachary was both shocked and excited beyond measure after perusing through his stats. Happiness resonated through him. He even jumped from the bed and executed a series of wiggly dance steps in his hotel room.

Ever since the time he consumed the S-grade mental-conditioning elixir, his stats had been rising like a rocket. First and foremost, his game intelligence had soared to the SS grading. Then, he performed incredibly well during the Supercoppa and won the S-grade agility-enhancing elixir, which continued enhancing his stats. His agility had later risen to the SS grading after roughly ten days of training, and he had also pushed his dribbling skills to the same grade.

But that was not all.

In addition to improving his agility and game intelligence, he had also gained a boost in all his football skills, thus pushing his Ball Control, Dribbling Skills, Passing Accuracy, and Body Control to the SS grading. His other attributes, including Mental Ability and X-Factor, had also evolved and risen to the same grade. He was a totally different version of the player he was a month ago.

"But what happened?" Zachary wondered. "System! Why are my stats experiencing a meteoric rise within a short span of just weeks?"

"DING"

"The user's rapid progress boils down to three phases," the AI replied. "One, the user gained unmatched confidence after winning the Golden Boy award. And with that, there was an associated increase in mental ability and a culmination of ball skills."

"Two," the Ai continued, "The user utilized the S-grade mental-conditioning elixir and pushed his game intelligence to the SS grade. With the increase in the game intelligence, the user finally met the conditions to evolve his game after a period of dedicated training. And that also allowed the user to utilize all his skills in the most effective way."

"Three, the user triumphed over Napoli during the Supercoppa and won his first silverware with Juventus. He also won an S-grade agility elixir from the system, which pushed his already close-to-breakthrough agility to the SS grade. And with the breakthrough, there were even more benefits. The user evolved all his ball skills and Balance and Coordination stats to the SS grading. All in all, the user should note that the origin of everything is the increment in the game intelligence attribute. And as long as the user can improve his game intelligence to another level, he will always be close to achieving breakthroughs in other aspects."

"Oh!"

Zachary finally saw the light. Most of his stats that had experienced a dramatic rise over the past few weeks depended on the game intelligence stat. Be it Ball Control, Dribbling Skills, Passing Accuracy, and Body Control — they all required high spatial awareness, impeccable risk analysis, and exceptional tactical knowledge for perfect execution. It was a simple truth as a player wouldn't be able to utilize spaces well to execute dribbles or unleash pin-point passes without a matching level of intelligence.

Of course, physical fitness also mattered. For instance, after Zachary consumed the S-grade agility-enhancement elixir, he evolved his agility to the SS grading. He then gained the ability to make movements quicker, and that allowed his ball skills to improve to a higher level. He was now able to react to an incoming ball faster or swiftly change directions almost instantaneously to escape a tackle. All in all, everything boiled down to his marked increase in game intelligence coupled with his SS-grade agility.

"Sweet! With these stats, I can finally refine my ball skills to an unbelievable level. Maybe, I'll be able to match those once-in-a-generation players within the next half of the season."

Zachary's hopes had already soared into the night skies of Doha. Inhaling deeply to calm himself down, he dismissed the system interface and finished his preparations for his trip back to Turin.

Then, at around nine, after chugging down some warm water, he jumped into bed and soon entered the warm embrace of a relaxing slumber. He had finally finished his Christmas holiday training, and all that remained was for him to return to Turin and wow all the opponents and football fans alike.