THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

The following Friday.

The autumn afternoon sun bathed Lerkendal Idrettspark in its warm light.

In one of the training grounds in that iconic sports facility of Trondheim, the NF academy faced off against the Rosenborg senior team.

The match had almost no suspense or tension.

Whether it was the teamwork or quality and experience of players, there was no way the NF academy could triumph over the Rosenborg senior team. Even the majority of academy players harbored no illusions of winning the game.

Rosenborg Ballklub was a giant among the clubs in Norway. The team had won 13 consecutive titles—10 under manager Nils Arne Eggen between 1991 through 2004. Rosenborg had even participated in the European Champions League and defeated big clubs like AC Milan. There was no way that 1st-team players of a club with such a rich history could suffer defeat at the hands of a fledgling squad from an associated academy.

Stories of David defeating Goliath were rare in team games like soccer. The game proceeded as expected, with the Rosenborg senior team completely suppressing Zachary and his teammates.

Rosenborg subscribed to an attacking philosophy similar to what their second team had done, faced with the academy, the previous Friday.

Rosenborg's gameplay was driven by teamwork rather than individual brilliance. They moved the ball around the pitch with precise passes and positioned themselves following a textbook perfect 4-4-2 formation. Their team chemistry was remarkable, with each player seemingly aware of their teammates' position, even without looking towards them.

Zachary was outplayed in the midfield—just because the Rosenborg midfielders could easily pass the ball around him without needing to square off against him. Fredrik Winsnes and Bořek Dočkal (Rosenborg's central midfielders) passed the ball quickly into the wings before Zachary got any chance to close them down. They were disciplined and tactically aware, always making sure that they did not leave their defense exposed. Zachary found almost no space to exploit during the match.

Rosenborg was attacking with a maximum player count of four, the wingers always moving forward to support the two strikers. They worked in tandem with the wing-backs, creating 2-versus-1 situations when advancing towards NF academy's half.

On several occasions, they let loose teasing crosses into the NF academy's box, creating problems for the academy team. The inexperienced academy defenders couldn't halt the advance of the speedy wingers and backs.

Steffen Iversen and Rade Prica, the strikers, lead the attack in Rosenborg's 4-4-2 formation. They weighed heavily on the defenders, coordinating their movements between each other to throw the academy defense out of balance. The two were lethal with a good sense of positioning, always outjumping and beating the academy defenders to the crosses—from the wings.

Rade Prica scored two goals with headers after latching on to teasing crosses delivered by the swift wingers in the 12th and 20th minute. Steffen Iversen added to the academy's sorrow by scoring in the 40th minute. He smashed the ball, past Kendrick Otterson, into the back of the net—after he'd latched on to a lofted pass into the box.

By the end of the first half, the academy team was already three goals down. The Rosenborg team had a ball possession of about 80%, by Zachary's estimation.

**** ****

"You guys played a shitty game," Coach Johansen complained to the players in the dressing room. Zachary and his teammates were in the half-time break, listening to the coach's instructions.

"Especially the wing-backs. I'm not happy with your performance. How could you allow wingers to release all those crosses into our box?" The coach frowned at Öyvind Alseth and Martin Lundal.

"Their wingers are not making any fancy runs or dribbles. Just try blocking their crosses, and everything will be fine." The coach scowled at the two wing-backs.

All the players remained silent as they waited for their Coach to continue. Some chugged down water from their bottles while others sat languidly, with bleary-eyes, on the benches in the dressing room. They fanned themselves with their sweat-drenched shirts. The NF academy players looked overly exhausted despite only playing a single half against Rosenborg.

"The game isn't over yet," Coach Johansen continued. "I want to remind you that you'll get a chance to join the Rosenborg squad if you perform well in this game. You should have noticed Trond Henriksen, the assistant coach of Rosenborg, on the touchline. He isn't here just as a coach of the first team, but to scout for potential seedlings to be nurtured by the club. So, you have to perform well or ready yourself to join third-tier clubs." The coach paused, letting his gaze roam over the players.

"One more thing," the coach intoned. "We'll be using your performance in this game to determine which players will be released by the academy in this year's review. And, we are also selecting the main squad for the Riga Cup. If you do well, you'll get the chance to head to Latvia and test your skills against academies from the rest of Europe..."

The Coach continued using both promises and threats to motivate the players during the half time break. Zachary sat on the floor in the corner, munching on some fried peanuts. He had wanted to compete against the senior players of Rosenborg. However, his teammates lacked the physical capability and technical skills to challenge the experienced top league players.

Zachary had to find a way to score, or he would fail a system mission and lose 160 Juju-points as a penalty by the system.

Before the match, he'd accepted a mission to score a goal during the game. The rewards included 80 juju points, enough to buy him a few elixirs in the system shop. He wanted to purchase a few doses of the physical conditioning elixir to help train his agility to the next level in the following few months.

Zachary had realized he could become a formidable player if he could improve one of his physical stats to the S grade. His agility stat was the current focus for improvement.

If he could further increase his speed, he would possess the required arsenal to destroy defenders even at the professional level. Being suppressed by the Rosenborg players in the first half had only strengthened his resolve.

The Zinedine Visual Juju relied a great deal on teammates to work its magic in a match. With strong teammates, he could stand out with his passes and vision, heavily impacting the game. However, if his teammates performed below par, he too would be affected. Zachary needed skills that could enable him to perform despite the condition of his teammates. Dribbling and speed were his best options at that moment.

"Zach," Coach Johansen called out to him, breaking his reverie. "Are you with us?" The coach frowned.

"Yes, coach," Zachary replied, correcting his posture by sitting upright. He didn't want to give his coach the impression that he had given up on the match.

Coach Johansen looked at Zachary sharply. "Swap positions with Kim and play on the left-wing during the second half. Leave the defense for the rest and concentrate solely on attacking. You'll get a few chances to run at the defenders. Use them wisely and try to test their keeper before the game ends." The coach instructed.

"Coach, what about the midfield?" Magnus asked, on hearing the coach's instructions. He was the defensive midfielder and was right to be worried about Zachary's swap. Removing Zachary from the midfield would increase his workload for the game.

"Kim will play with you in the midfield," Coach Johansen replied. "Your only role is to defend and prevent the Rosenborg players from threatening our box through the middle. If you happen to win the ball, release it towards Zachary in the wings. We need to score at least one goal before the match ends."

Magnus frowned but kept silent. The coach's words in the dressing room were law.

"Kasongo." The coach turned to the short guy. "I need you to keep falling back and help in the defense against their wingers. You can switch wings with Zachary if there are opportunities he needs to exploit via the right-wing. Understood?"

"Yes, coach," Kasongo replied.

**** ****