THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

"Okay, guys, let's head out for the pre-match dynamic warm-up," Mr. Rolf Aas, the fitness coach, yelled, walking around the dressing room. "Move it. Hurry up. We only have an hour to kick-off." He added, clapping his hands as he passed by players who were still dressing up.

On hearing the yelling coach approaching, Zachary quickly tightened his shoelaces, pushed his gentle shoes and backpack underneath the bench, and followed the rest of the players out of the visitor's dressing room. He had already donned his black Rosenborg tracksuit and green Nike boots. He was more than ready to begin warming up.

He marched confidently through the corridors, trailing behind a few of his teammates. He wasn't the least bit nervous. Even in his academy days, he had always found it easy to adjust his mental state before matches. While off the pitch, his mind would sometimes get clouded by fleeting thoughts. But every time he donned his match attire and boots, everything irrelevant would disappear from his mind. He would immediately begin thinking solely of the game at hand. He was glad to see he could achieve a similar state even before his debut as a professional.

"SHALALALALALALA oh Rosenborg, SHALALALALALALA oh Rosenborg, SHALALALALALALA..."

Zachary's ears picked up a loud chant sang in chorus by what must have been thousands of voices as he trekked through the corridors, heading to the pitch. He was surprised by the fact that it was the Rosenborg fans dominating the cheering. Despite being visitors at the Ruta Arena, they seemed to have taken over the whole venue. The chanting grew louder and louder until it reached a crescendo when Zachary and his teammates stepped onto the pitch and started waving to the passionate away fans. At that moment, cheers rose into the air like the greatest of celebratory fireworks displays. The Ruta Arena was already on fire even before the match begun.

Zachary was surprised once more by how quickly the prior relatively empty stands had been saturated with passionate supporters. It had only been fifteen minutes since he'd entered the dressing room, but all he could see around the stadium were countless fans in their team colors. Some had even crowded around the mesh surrounding the pitch since the stands couldn't absorb them all. They were a sea of smiles, a chorus of loud, spirited hearts—eagerly awaiting the beginning of the second-round fixture of the Norwegian Football Cup.

Zachary shifted his attention from the stands and continued walking onto Rosenborg's half of the field. In the meantime, he observed the Strindheim players who had long started their dynamic pre-match warm-up routine. Although they were only a second division team, they looked very imposing in their light blue training attire. They went about their warm-up with undivided attention under the supervision of their coaches. Zachary could tell they were a team intent on emerging victorious despite facing one of the Norwegian football giants.

"Nervous?" A voice sounded from behind Zachary. He turned around and noticed that it was Mikael Dorsin, the veteran defender who'd asked him the question.

"No, at all," Zachary replied honestly and returned to observing the opponents.

"Did you rest well last night?"

"Yes, I slept like a baby for eight or more hours. I'm more than ready for the game."

"That's great then," Mikael said, patting his back slightly. "This is your debut game. Try to link up well with your teammates. Don't act as if you're alone out there. Pass the ball around quickly, and you will be okay."

"Okay," Zachary replied. "I'll do my best to connect with my teammates out there. Don't worry."

"Then, I'm glad." Mikael nodded, smiling. "Come, let's warm-up together. We usually have a few minutes of personal stretching drills before the actual pre-match dynamic warm-up begins. Let's take advantage of these few minutes to sweat a bit. It'll be good for you when the match begins since you're on the starting eleven today."

"That's fine with me," Zachary said. He didn't have any reason to refuse the vice-captain. Mikael Dorsin was one of the other few first-team players, aside from Nicki, who had made an effort to keep interacting with him over the previous two months. The vice-captain seemed not to mind his off-handish behavior.

He always acted like the Rosenborg veteran he was. He was passionate about the team and kept track of all his teammates during every training session. Moreover, he was so experienced that he was like a coach on the field of play. Zachary only saw benefits in warming up with such a player.

So, for the next ten minutes, he accompanied the assistant captain on a simple warm-up routine. They didn't do anything excessive or complicated but only stretched and jogged on Rosenborg's side of the pitch.

Zachary soon became engrossed in the exercise, forgetting everything around him and focusing solely on getting his body ready for the match. Before he knew it, the fitness coach blew a whistle, indicating it was time for the official pre-match dynamic warm-up to begin. That part of the warm-up was led entirely by the fitness coach.

Everyone followed the fitness coach's lead as he guided them on every stretch and every movement in the routine. They started with a light jog and progressed into upper body stretches. They went through the arm circles, alternating them up and down before doing body twists. When they finished with the upper body, they focused on warming up their legs and lower bodies for the next twenty minutes.

Since the session was necessary for preventing injuries in the field players, the fitness coach was extremely strict with the starting eleven. He watched them like a hawk as they went through basic lunges, calf stretches, quad stretches, and other simple light dynamic routines useful for the lower limbs. He didn't allow any starting player for that day to relax or engage in conversation for the entire course of the exercise.

Zachary had gotten used to highly intensive exercises over the previous two months. So, he breezed through the workout without even feeling out of breath.

When the dynamic warm-up session finally ended, he picked up a ball—and then started juggling while moving slowly across the green. He mostly used his legs but sometimes utilized his head and shoulders to keep the ball under control. He was only trying to feel out the ball and prepare himself for the action that was about to commence a few minutes later.

Meanwhile, he could hear the cheers of the fans becoming more animated as the kick-off drew closer. But he ignored them and forced himself to focus solely on his ball work. He wanted to utilize every single minute of the session to ready himself for the match. That way, he could perform at his best when the game started.

"Okay, guys," he heard Trond Henriksen, the head assistant coach, yell after a few more minutes. "Let's head back to the dressing room. We only have about thirty minutes to prepare. So, wind up whatever you're doing." He added, moving around Rosenborg's half of the field.

Zachary immediately stopped his juggling and looked around. He couldn't believe that the 30 minutes of pre-match warm-ups had slipped by so quickly while he was immersed in his ball work. However, he reacted immediately and followed his teammates back to the dressing room. The team only had 30 minutes to prepare. So, he hurried, jogging all the way back, since he was eager to listen to the coach's pre-match address.