THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Intense waves of delight flowed through Zachary after he scored the goal. When he saw the ball nestled in the back of the net, joy overcame him. A wide grin softened his often-intense facial features.

Before unleashing that shot, he had thought he'd been the most content after making it into the starting eleven of Rosenborg and stepping onto the pitch to play his debut game. But he'd been mistaken as nothing beat what he felt after netting the goal. So, he ran towards the corner flag and pumped his fists repeatedly—to let loose and not go mad with pure bliss.

He finally understood why players always celebrated like they'd gone mad after scoring. Over the past two months, he had built up some pent-up frustration because he couldn't make the squad. Moreover, he always felt like an invisible line was separating him from his Rosenborg teammates since he hadn't participated in any matches yet. However, after having played and scored, he felt the frustration dissipate. He could finally relax and let the deep sense of contentment from scoring swell within him.

"Way to go, man. That goal was out of this world." Nicki Nielsen was the first to run up to him and slap (not pat) his back to congratulate him. "Whatever you took before the match, just give me some," he added jokingly, throwing an arm around his shoulder. The other players also came and patted his back slightly to celebrate the goal.

Zachary felt the sense of alienation he'd previously felt among his teammates start to vanish. He was surprised by their team spirit. He hadn't interacted much with them over the past two months, but they'd still regarded him as a teammate during the match. They hadn't isolated him and had even celebrated the goal with him. He finally felt like he'd fully integrated into the team.

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee blew the whistle, signaling the players to retake their starting positions. The match restarted soon after with Strindheim's kick-off.

Zachary didn't let the feeling of brief success cloud his head. He understood he would have to put up a better than a perfect display to make it into the Rosenborg starting eleven. Providing an assist and scoring a single goal against a second division team was probably not sufficient for that. He needed to show his coaches and teammates that he was reliable and had a surefire ability to win matches. Only then would they stop taking him for granted.

So, he got rid of any redundant thoughts and forced himself to focus solely on the game. He continued playing simple football, passing, running into spaces, and receiving passes in the midfield. He didn't do anything complicated like trying to dribble past more than two opponents, as he'd always done in the academy. When a Strindheim player attempted to close him down, he would release the ball immediately. He felt like he was becoming more in control of the midfield as the game progressed.

As the match proceeded towards the later stages of the first half, Zachary noticed that the Strindheim players had arrayed themselves in a 4-5-1 formation instead of the 4-3-3 they'd played in at the start of the game. Both their right and left forwards had moved a bit backward into their half in order to better deal with Rosenborg's nonstop attacking spells. It also seemed they wanted to limit the impact of the Rosenborg midfield on the game. So they'd narrowed their formation by pinching into the spaces and crowding the midfield.

However, their strategy couldn't stop Rosenborg's dominance. The Rosenborg midfielders no longer tried to play the Tiki-Taka style in the middle of the field—but instead started playing the ball wide as quickly as possible. Whenever Zachary or any other Rosenborg midfielder was on the ball, they would always pass towards the wings—thereby releasing the left and right forwards. That way, Rosenborg was able to continue dominating the game through wing play.

Another goal-scoring chance soon arrived for Rosenborg in the 33rd minute. Tore Reginiussen, Rosenborg's center back, intercepted another long-range pass that had failed to connect with the Strindheim forwards deep in Rosenborg's half. He headed the ball back towards the middle of the crowded midfield.

Zachary went after the ball right away. He jumped high and out-muscled Preben Hammersland, the Strindheim attacking midfielder, before heading the ball towards Ole Seln?s, Rosenborg defensive midfielder.

Ole controlled the ball beautifully before passing it towards the flanks where Brede Moe, the right-back, was lurking. Brede ran with it along the touchline and dashed past Christopher Moen, the Strindheim left-forward, before unleashing a cut-back pass into the middle of the pitch where Fredrik Midtsj? was waiting.

Fredrik Midtsj?, Rosenborg's left-midfielder, controlled the ball well, skipping past Emil R?kke, one of Strindheim's defensive midfielders, in the process. Without any pause, he then relinquished it to Zachary, who had just positioned himself behind him.

Zachary received the pass and played a couple of one-twos with both Ole Seln?s and Fredrik Midtsj?—as the three of them continued to spear deep into Strindheim's half.

The Rosenborg midfielders were on fire. They were not just passing the ball quickly among themselves—but intelligently and quickly interchanging positions—so that they could create space and passing lanes for others to exploit. They were merely using their superiority and fluidity of positioning to overcome their opponents. They managed to generate overloads in one section of the field, forcing the defense to tilt unevenly to the right side. Thanks to that, Jaime Alás, Rosenborg's left-forward was left unmarked.

Zachary, of course, spotted him as he received a return pass from Ole while stepping into the final third towards Strindheim's box. So, without any delay, he chipped the ball over the zone of intense rival pressure. Since he'd used the tip of the boot, the ball flew in an impossible arc—over many of the Strindheim defensive players—before landing in the left flank, where Jaime Alás was lurking.

Jaime Alás controlled the ball without any hardship and without facing any immediate pressure. He then fed it forward and raced towards Strindheim's box like a bullet train. He was so fast that he managed to reach the edge of Strindheim's box in mere seconds.

He raised his leg like he was about to unleash a shot, causing all the Strindheim defenders to jump up or slide towards him to block the ball. But instead, the left-forward kicked the ball backward, letting lose a cut-back pass into the middle of the box.

Nicki Nielsen was there in the box as always. However, he didn't react to the ball since it had been—played behind him. Instead, it came straight to Zachary, who had just stepped into the box. He'd started sprinting from the midfield as soon as Jaime Alás had controlled the ball on the left flank. That way, he had created for himself another perfect scoring opportunity.

However, the Strindheim defenders reacted instantly and blocked all his shooting angles. Zachary still raised his foot to shoot but slowed down slightly a moment later. Out of the corner of his eye, he'd noticed John Chibuike also arriving into the box.

So, he made a snap decision right away. He continued swinging his leg downwards as if he was about to unleash another missile of a shot. All the defenders before the Rosenborg goal jumped or slid in to defend the ball once again. However, they were soon disappointed.

Zachary missed the ball intentionally, letting it continue onwards towards John Chibuike, the Rosenborg right forward—who was completely unmarked.

John Chibuike didn't hesitate to lash home from inside the box. He hit the ball precisely into the bottom right corner, and it nestled in the net. The Strindheim defense couldn't even react. They had been owned and bullied by Rosenborg's fluid passing and positioning.

3:0.

Rosenborg had managed to score the third goal in the 36th minute. The stadium exploded into cheers once again.

**** ****

Coach Johansen watched the game from the technical area. He was satisfied with the performance of his players since they had dominated Strindheim in all areas of the field.

But he was also pretty surprised by how Zachary had dominated in the midfield. It had only been a few months since he graduated from the academy. However, the boy had already evolved his game to fit the professional stage in such a short period. He no longer ran and dribbled the ball for long distances like he'd done back in the academy. Instead, he'd developed his passing and game vision to another level. His new playing style was the best fit for a professional team since football wasn't a one-man's game.

Coach Johansen had been worried that Zachary would try to show off and blunder during the game. He'd feared that the boy would make one of those signature runs of his and maybe attract an injury. But it seems he'd been worried for nothing. The boy was simply a genius and had already evolved his game to another level.

Coach Johansen was quite pleased and shocked by Zachary's performance. A soft smile outlined his face as he continued watching the game until the referee blew the whistle for half-time. By then, the score was still 3:0 in favor of Rosenborg.

**** ****