THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Kristin had been one of the first few fans to take up their seats in the stadium that evening. She was eagerly waiting for the kick-off as she enjoyed the cheery mood in the stadium.

"Welcome, everyone!" She heard the commentator say, his mellifluous voice booming over the chattering and cheering that'd been underscoring the entire stadium.

Kristin felt her spirits brighten on hearing the voice as it belonged to Kjell Roar Kaasa, one of her favorite commentators on the Norwegian football scene.

"Today is match-day 8 of the Tippeligaen," Kjell Roar continued. "It is an exciting meeting between the Troll Kids and the Boys from the North. Rosenborg Ballklub is facing off against Tromsø Idrettslag in a fixture that could have a marked impact on the progress of the two teams throughout this season."

"If Rosenborg wins, they'll have accumulated 16 points and will move on to the second position of the Tippeligaen table. They'll only remain in second place due to Strømsgodset's superior goal difference. On the other hand, if Tromsø wins, they'll have accumulated 13 points, enough to take them to the third position. That's at least until the rest of the teams play their games tomorrow. With me is Harald Brattbakk as the pundit for today's game. Harald!"

"Good evening, everyone," Kristin smiled on hearing Harald Brattbakk's voice. He was one of Rosenborg's legends. Very few could compare to him when it came to the goals he'd netted for Rosenborg.

"Coach Boyd Johansen has made a few changes to his squad from the weekend game," Kjell Roar said after a while. "Nicki Nielsen and Tore Reginiussen return to the starting eleven after that one-match suspension. Zachary Bemba, Rosenborg's new star, makes his first start for Rosenborg. The eighteen-year-old gets another chance to shine after his incredible performance on the weekend. Harald! What's your take on all this?"

"Well," Harald said. "The Rosenborg coach has done a good job selecting his starting eleven. All Rosenborg's starting players are on form and can easily beat any team out there in the Tippeligaen at the moment. At least, they're the better team on paper."

"Tromsø, on the other hand, is a hard team to defeat," he continued. "It's one of the most disciplined sides in the Tippeligaen. The boys from the North are good, especially when defending and disrupting the tempo of their opponents. I have this feeling that Rosenborg could find it hard to score any goals during this game."

"Do you have a prediction for us, Harald?"

"Not at the moment," Harald replied. "I can't make any predictions before the match begins. But if I were a gambler, I would be placing all my money on Rosenborg without a doubt."

"Of course, you would," Kjell Roar said jokingly. "With Rosenborg being your former team, I wouldn't be surprised."

Harald laughed at that.

"Okay, everyone," Kjell Roar hollered, his voice booming through the loudspeakers like thunder. "The referee has finally blown his whistle, and this incredible match between the Troll Kids and the Boys from the North is underway..."

****    ****

Nicki Nielsen kicked the ball back into his half as soon as the referee blew the whistle. Zachary received it at the edge of the middle third of the playing field—and without any pause, he passed it towards Mike Jensen, one of Rosenborg's holding midfielders. Mike didn't dawdle and flicked it on to Jonas Svensson, the other holding midfielder in Rosenborg's 4-3-3 double-pivot formation.

But by then, a few of the Tromsø players had already rushed into Rosenborg's half. They didn't allow Jonas to receive the ball without any pressure. Zdenek Ondrasek, the Tromsø center forward, ran at him as if his life depended on it. Jonas could only turn back and pass back to the goalkeeper because of the intense pressure from the opponent.

As soon as Lund Hansen, the Rosenborg keeper, received the pass from Jonas, Zachary ran into space and opened himself up to receive the ball in the midfield. To his surprise, the Tromsø players didn't try their level best to chase after him—but remained in their positions, marking the spaces before their defensive third.

Although Zachary found it odd, he didn't bother himself to understand why that was happening. Instead, he ran further into his half, making sure to dash into a position where the Rosenborg goalkeeper could easily pass to him without interference from any other player.

As he expected, Lund Hansen spotted him a moment later. Without any dilly-dallying, the goalkeeper passed the ball to him before any Tromsø player could close him down.

Zachary received the pass from Lund Hansen in Rosenborg's defensive third. However, he wasn't without pressure. Thomas Bendiksen, the Tromsø number-8, closed in on him right away.

But Zachary controlled the ball well and exchanged a couple of one-touch passes with Mike Jensen and Jonas Svensson to maintain possession. For the next few minutes, he played like a maestro, running into spaces, receiving the ball, and playing short-but-precise passes as he helped Rosenborg dictate the game's tempo.

With those simple passes, the three Rosenborg midfielders managed to bring the game under their control. As a result, Rosenborg started to dominate possession as they passed the ball in the backfield, trying to draw the Tromsø players out of their defensive shape.

Nevertheless, the boys in blue jerseys didn't take the bait. Instead, the Tromsø players remained highly organized and maintained their 4-2-3-1 formation as if they weren't the least bit interested in winning the ball back. Only the one forward and the three attacking midfielders tried to put pressure on Zachary and his teammates. The rest stayed back, defending in front of their defensive third, without ever actively chasing after the ball.

"Push forward," Zachary heard Coach Johansen bellow from the sideline when the ball went out of play for a throw-in. "Play the ball forward or into the wing when you get a chance. Don't just play in our own half. Take the pressure to their side. Remember, this is not a contest for possession but goals." The coach yelled at the top of his lungs. He seemed angry and agitated by his team's performance even though they were dictating the proceedings.

On hearing the coach yelling, Zachary instantly opened himself up—by escaping from his mark. He wished to carry out the coach's instructions immediately.

He understood the coach's point as Rosenborg had not even once managed to penetrate Tromsø's defensive third and approach their box. The Tromsø players had properly marked all the spaces around the Rosenborg forwards ever since the match began.

They seemed to be sitting back and concentrating on defense without bothering so much to hinder Rosenborg's control of possession. Because of that, Zachary hadn't managed to find any defensive gap in their formation that he could exploit and deliver the ball to the forwards.

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee blew the whistle, signaling for Rosenborg to take their throw-in. Mikael Dorsin, the Rosenborg left-back, threw the ball along the line—towards Tarik Elyounoussi, the Rosenborg left-forward, without any delay.

Tarik controlled it with his chest while shrugging off Hans Norbye, the Tromsø right-back, with his brute physique. He then spun with the ball hooked to his left leg and passed the ball towards Zachary, who'd long started running in sync with him through the middle.

Zachary controlled the ball, skipping past Ruben Jenssen, the Tromsø holding midfielder, as he stepped into the middle third of the playing field. Without even a single pause, he unleashed a return pass towards Tarik Elyounoussi, who'd long escaped his mark and was already racing across the left touchline like the wind.

Tarik controlled the ball with a deft first-touch, pushing it further forward as he continued racing across the left flank. He managed to step into Tromsø's defensive third in a matter of seconds. However, there, he found an impenetrable roadblock of Tromsø players. They'd already organized themselves into a suitable shape to deal with the speedy Rosenborg winger.

Tarik could only pass the ball into the middle since going forward would most likely result in him losing possession.

Zachary, of course, had long been anticipating Tarik's pass. With a deft first touch, he controlled the ball like an expert—and without any delay, continued pushing on towards Tromsø's box.

But he was soon closed down by Ruben Jenssen, one of Tromsø's holding midfielders. The Tromsø midfielder had already retraced his steps to defend against Rosenborg's lightning-fast attack. Ruben was upon Zachary in seconds, denying him the chance to travel with the ball for more than a yard of space.

Zachary looked around to find a teammate as an outlet for the ball. However, the highly disciplined and tactical Tromsø players had already checked all the Rosenborg forwards and attacking midfielders around him.

The Tromsø players had left one man to keep him in check while the others closed down any gaps around his teammates. Zachary could immediately tell that they were trying to counter his passes with zone marking. They wanted to eliminate all the available ball-receiving options so that they could render his passing skills useless. That way, they would be able to deny him many chances of impacting the game.

Despite that, he didn't panic since he'd long gotten used to running and dribbling in almost every match during his academy days. He wasn't the least bit scared of facing the Tromsø players head-on.

****    ***