THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

As he celebrated with his teammates, Zachary felt waves of happiness flow through him like warm ocean waves, washing away all his fatigue. He felt refreshed—both inside and out, even though he had been running all over the field.

He savored the memory of when he'd scored the goal. The feeling blooming inside him was like a blissful evocation of that moment when he'd watched that ball soar into the back of the net from 80 yards away. He yearned for plenty more such moments.

He longed to score more match-winning goals and experience similar delight as his career progressed. He could easily get addicted to such joy. He had come to learn that without happiness, life was meaningless.

The whole team, including the bench, joined in the celebration. Zachary hugged his teammates tightly, forming a sort of chaotic team huddle, singing excitedly. They didn't care one bit about the referee—who was trying his best to get them back on the pitch. NF Academy was two goals ahead, in the 98th minute, way past the designated injury time. They had 'definitely' won the Riga Cup final.

"Guys," Kendrick shouted, trying to break his teammates out of the jubilant mood. "Let's go back and finish this. We'll celebrate after the final whistle."

Zachary came back to himself after hearing Kendrick's voice. "Guys," he also yelled when he noticed that none of his teammates was trying to break out of the huddle. "Let's go back to the pitch and play the final few seconds of the match. We have all the weekend to celebrate after this final." He added at the top of his lungs.

When his teammates heard his voice, they didn't dawdle. They instantly returned to their positions on the field, waiting for the resumption of play. However, none of them could mask their joy. They all grinned like gorillas that had found themselves in a plantation of ripe bananas.

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee blew the whistle, and the gameplay restarted with a VfB Stuttgart kick-off. Felix Lohkemper, the VfB Stuttgart forward, raised his leg and kicked the ball towards the left-wing where Phillipp Mwene, the left-back, was waiting.

Zachary felt admiration for the VfB Stuttgart players as he watched their entire squad rush forward to attack once again. They hadn't given up even at the last minute. They swept towards NF Academy's half like a hurricane as if they wanted to get a goal that very second. Zachary was certain they would have scored if they had been allowed an extra minute of match time.

However—

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee blew his whistle before they could reach NF Academy's box. The Riga Cup final had finally come to a close in the 99th minute.

The NF Academy players started celebrating once more.

**** ****

Coach Johansen couldn't suppress a smile while watching his players celebrating their win after the final whistle. Watching the game from the sidelines had been like a ride on a roller coaster. His heart had leaped to his throat when VfB Stuttgart came close to scoring with their last corner kick. However, Zachary had gone ahead and done what he does best. He had turned the entire game around within a few seconds.

With the Riga Cup in hand, he possessed a slim chance of successfully applying for a better position at Rosenborg. He had heard that the club was about to begin a Back-to-the-Roots-Project aimed at taking back its place at the top of the league.

The management was not pleased with the club's performance after Coach Nils Eggen's departure in 2010. Rosenborg had only managed to finish third the previous season under the new head coach, Jan Jönsson. Both the chairman and sporting director were actively searching for a coach who understood the club and its players well. They wanted a manager who could work well with the current squad of locally grown talents to take the club back to the top. Coach Johansen was determined to contest for that position.

He didn't want to sit back and become manager for the reserve team the following year. He wished to be involved in the top league action instead. His goal had always been competing with the big names in the soccer industry. With a talented prodigy like Zachary, he felt he had a chance of taking Rosenborg back to the top in his first year as manager. That was if he could successfully get the job.

"Coach, you're not joining in the celebrations?" said a voice from behind him.

Coach Johansen inclined his head and noticed that Zachary had at some point sneaked behind him. "Won't you be joining the rest as well?" He retorted, patting the skipper on his shoulder.

Zachary smiled, shaking his head. "I'm taking some time to relax. But mostly, I'm hiding from those overzealous reporters. They've been chasing me all over the field ever since the game ended." He sighed.

Coach Johansen nodded. "But you'll have to get used to the press if you intend to become a pro."

"I know," Zachary intoned, nodding. "It feels so surreal to win the cup. But, I believe this victory is just the beginning for me. I hope to win more tournaments in my career."

Coach Johansen flashed him a smile. "Don't worry. We still have the SIA and the Norwegian Youth Cups in the summer. You might get the opportunity to snap up another trophy much sooner than you expect. That's if you maintain your current form."

Zachary shook his head. "I don't think I can still experience that sort of excitement against academy teams. I find facing academy players too easy. And, I'm worried I'll go into a slump if I don't get a bigger challenge. I can't wait for December to arrive so that I can join the 1st tier league."

"Don't rush things, or you'll stumble," Coach Johansen intoned, half-smiling. "You're still at the stage where you're growing fast. You can use the remaining few months to hone your skills. You won't get much time for that when you go pro."

"That's my plan," Zachary replied, his tone firm.

**** ****

In the stands, Emily smiled when she received the recording of Zachary's match from her hired cameraman. The footage of Zachary's extraordinary performance in the Riga Cup final would give her plenty of bargaining power while negotiating deals.

She felt like she'd been Zachary's agent for over a year yet she had known him for only a week. When they had their first meeting in the coffee shop, they'd clicked as agent-and-client right away. She could barely believe her success at being the first to grab Zachary's signature. She was determined to do her best for her client.

When the cameraman left, she returned her attention to the pitch. The organizers had begun setting up the temporary podium. In the meantime, the NF Academy players ran around the pitch, singing, jumping, and performing weird dances—to celebrate their victory. One of the players was even somersaulting.

Emily wondered where they could have gotten that extra stamina after playing for more than 90 minutes in an intensive final. They looked very energetic despite acting like sick—tired goats only a few minutes ago—before the final whistle. If they'd showed the same stamina in the closing minutes of the match, they would have won the finals easily, without any hustle.

She strained her eyes, searching for Zachary. But she couldn't find him in the celebrating group. She let her gaze roam around the pitch, passing over the VfB Stuttgart players—who were in somber moods after losing the final. Her eyes continued scanning the field—until she saw him standing close to his coach in the dug-out.

[What is he up to when the rest of his teammates are celebrating?] She couldn't help but wonder. He seemed to be having a serious conversation with his coach—like they were preparing for another match. That was 'truly' unusual behavior right after winning a final.

**** ****

Zachary continued making small talk with Coach Johansen, hiding from the reporters, until his teammates dragged him away to join the celebrations a few minutes later. He half-heartedly joined the group of jubilating players, running around the pitch to share in the joy of their victory.

However, the tournament organizers cut their celebrations short soon after. They had finally finished setting up the podium. The awards ceremony would commence right away.

A marching band played some catchy Russian or Latvian tunes as the Tottenham players, dressed in white tracksuits, came onto the pitch to receive their medals. They received their bronze medals first since they had come third in the tournament.

Without wasting much time, the VfB Stuttgart players followed suit and received silver medals. They were a sad bunch, probably still in a sour mood after losing the final only thirty minutes ago. Zachary empathized with them. He would have been in a much worse shape had he lost the final.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Zachary heard one of the commentators announce, the voice coming to him from one of the loudspeakers—that'd been set up in the pitch after the match. "Let's welcome the 2012 Under-18 Riga Cup Champions. Please put your hands together for NF Academy from Norway." The voice added, drawling in a heavy Spanish accent. It had turned dramatic towards the very end.

The stadium burst into thunderous applause as the NF Academy players marched towards the podium to receive their gold medals. Zachary and his teammates were all bursting with excitement and glee. Their grins stretched from ear to ear as they received prizes from the Riga Cup president. A jubilant mood was in the air. Even the always-somber Coach Johansen was beaming like a little girl meeting Santa.

Zachary moved on to the podium last and first received his medallion before receiving a massive 50,000 Euro mock-check from the president.

After that, it was the moment—the climax of the Riga Cup Tournament. It was finally time for the NF Academy captain to receive the championship trophy.

Zachary felt his eyes begin to moisten when he held the trophy high above his head with both his hands. That was his first tournament victory since winning an under-14 tournament way back in his past life. It meant a lot to him. It was his first proof that he was en-route to becoming a great soccer player.

But the victory wasn't for him alone. He couldn't have emerged victorious if not for the contribution of his teammates. So, he turned around and handed the trophy to Magnus, the assistant captain.

Magnus grinned and jumped around like a little kid as he raised the trophy high amid the thunderous cheers. He then descended the podium and ran off with the trophy to celebrate with the other NF Academy players.

"DING"

Zachary was about to follow but then stopped suddenly. The system interface had abruptly manifested in front of him after the familiar notification had sounded in his head.

Zachary couldn't resist the temptation to glance at the translucent blueish screen.

****

# 1 new messages

->You have played most of the matches in a highly competitive tournament with prize money at stake. The system has collected enough in-game data to grade your X-factor accordingly. Please click on the notification for more details.

****

[Finally.] Zachary thought, smiling. He'd waited for his X-factor stat to change from the F grade since forever. He was eager to check out how his talent would change after factoring in the X-factor.

Nonetheless, he willed the system interface to close since he was still standing amongst a crowd on the podium. He would explore the changes to the system interface back in the confines of his hotel room.