THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Zachary immediately opened up himself to receive the ball when he heard Coach Johansen yelling. Mike Jensen, one of Rosenborg's defensive midfielders, spotted him and passed to him right away.

Zachary fought down rising frustration as he controlled the ball close to the center circle. He was well aware that only about five minutes were remaining until the end of the match. So, he knew he had to do his best to create a scoring opportunity as soon as possible. Otherwise, Rosenborg would fail to end the night with three points in the bag and fall further behind Strømsgodset, the team leading the Tippeligaen table.

Casting a glance across the field of play, he instantly noticed that Borek Dockal, Rosenborg's right-winger, had just stepped away from his marker on the right flank. With the help of the Zinedine-Pirlo Mental Juju, he judged right away that Borek was the best option to receive his pass at that moment.

So, without any dilly-dallying, he flicked the ball to his left and stepped away from a tackle from Morten Berre, Vålerenga's left-midfielder. He then kicked the ball hard with the outside of his boot to unleash a raking pass towards the right-wing. He didn't stop there, though, but pushed forward—towards Vålerenga's box, even before his pass could reach its intended target.

Borek Dockal utilized his incredible pace to race past Jan Lecjaks, Vålerenga's left-back, and connected with Zachary's through-pass. He controlled the ball mid-sprint with a deft first touch before continuing to spear into Vålerenga's box through the right flank.

"Borek!" Coach Johansen hollered out from the visiting team's technical area. "Quickly cross into the box. Don't hold the ball for too long..."

The Rosenborg right-winger quickly followed his coach's instructions. He floated a teasing cross towards Vålerenga's box just as he was stepping into the final third.

Nicki Nielsen, the Rosenborg number-9, who was always present in the opponent's box at the right time, reacted immediately. He escaped his mark and jumped high to connect with the incoming cross—and then plant a header towards the goal from around the penalty spot. However, his effort towards the inside of the right post was comfortably rebuffed by the keeper.

Before Nicki could react and pounce on the rebound ball once more, Simon Larsen, the Vålerenga center-back, cleared it further away from the box. He kicked it hard and high towards the center circle enlisting some passionate applause from the home fans.

Mike Jensen, Rosenborg's defensive midfielder, jumped high and headed the long ball to Stefan Strandberg, the center-back. Stefan received it and kicked it to Ole Selnæs, Rosenborg's defensive midfielder, who'd come on as a substitute.

Ole controlled the ball beautifully close to the border of Rosenborg's defensive third before passing it quickly to Zachary.

Zachary received the pass close to the centerline on the left flank and skipped past a sliding tackle with a deft second touch. Without a pause, he bolted towards Vålerenga's box before any of the opponents could react.

Morten Berre, the Vålerenga left midfielder, was soon upon him with a sliding challenge. But, Zachary simply flicked the ball to his left before skipping past the tackle and continuing towards the opponent's goal through the middle.

As his long strides ate away at the yards of space across the middle third, he looked up ahead, intending to find a teammate as an outlet for the ball. But then he heard Coach Johansen yelling from the sidelines.

"Try shooting from a distance, Zachary," the coach yelled from the sidelines.

Of course, Zachary concurred with the coach to try his luck from outside the box. He'd already noticed that the final third was jam-packed with plenty of players in blue. It was clearly a zone of focused, intense rival pressure resulting from Vålerenga's 'pack the bus' tactic during the final minutes.

With his high game intelligence, he judged that there was a little-to-no-chance Rosenborg could break down such a defense—and go ahead and manage to score in the remaining few minutes. So, he reckoned the best way to test the Vålerenga keeper at that moment was by utilizing long-range efforts or crosses into the box.

On coming to that conclusion, Zachary immediately decided to take action right away and unleash a long-range shot at goal.

But just as he was raising his leg to smash the ball towards goal, he felt a slight tug on his shirt. Without any moment of deliberation, he went down to the ground and started crying 'ref' soon after.

The referee immediately blew his whistle and awarded Rosenborg a free kick in a position around thirty-five yards away from Vålerenga's box.

"BOOO! BOOOOO! BOOOO..."

Zachary could hear the booing of the Vålerenga fans rising to a momentous crescendo as he picked himself from the ground. But he didn't mind them in the slightest.

He was in a good mood since he'd just increased his team's chance of scoring by winning a free kick in the final third. He was smiling on the inside and wasn't the least bit mindful of the fans. Instead, all that was on his mind was how to make the most out of the free kick.

"Zachary," Mikael Dorsin, the acting captain, said after walking up to him. "You're taking the free kick?" He asked.

"Of course," Zachary replied, picking up the ball.

"Good," Mikael replied, nodding. "But the set-piece position seems a bit far. Don't you think that we should maybe try floating the ball into the box for others to head?"

"I don't mind the distance," Zachary replied, smiling slightly and observing the situation in Vålerenga's box. He noticed that the referee had already started organizing the wall in preparation for the set piece. "As long as it's within the final third, I can always find the target. So, don't worry." He added, tone confident.

"Okay, then," Mikael said. "Try your best then. I wish you luck."

"Thank you," Zachary replied. "But I'll need both you and Borek to stand with me on the ball. That way, we'll be able to keep the keeper guessing until I take the free kick."

"We can do better," Tobias Mikkelsen, the Rosenborg left-winger, chipped in after walking up to their position. "Since there is some distance to the goal, why don't we try out one of those routines we had previously practiced for set-pieces?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Mikael, the acting captain, said. "Since Zachary is taking the free-kick, he should be the one to decide on its strategy. The rest of you are only distracting him with your suggestions."

"Aye, captain," Tobias replied, smiling.

"So, Zachary," Mikael said, looking towards him. "Would you like to include some a simple routine before the free-kick, or will you take it directly?"

"I don't mind," Zachary said. "Let's do it."

"Good," Mikael said, smiling. "Let's show the Vålerenga keeper the power of teamwork during a set piece."

The four of them discussed several routines to use for the free kick. Both Tobias and Borek had a lot of suggestions. However, Zachary ended up rejecting most of them since they were overly complicated. He ended up picking a simple enough one, involving only three players, just as the referee finished organizing the situation in the box.

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee finally blew the whistle and motioned for the Rosenborg players to take the free-kick in the 87th minute.

At that instant, Zachary took a few steps back from the ball.

Meanwhile, Borek also moved back a bit before starting to run towards the ball once immediately afterward. His expression was dead serious as he lifted his leg and swung it down like he intended to take the set-piece himself. He even managed to fool the players in the wall to jump up and attempt to block his effort.

But instead of smashing the ball, Borek slightly flicked it to his left, where Tobias Mikkelsen was waiting. Tobias didn't do much—but just brought it under control, setting it up perfectly on Zachary's path.

Zachary immediately met the ball mid-roll and rifled a superb left-footed strike from around thirty-five yards away from goal. He was in a hyper-focused state since he'd just activated the Dead-Ball Specialist Juju prior to starting his run towards the ball. His risk analysis and spatial awareness stats had momentarily rocketed to the S grade, making him feel like he had everything under control at that moment. So, it was easy for him to find gaps in the defensive shape of the opponent and make use of them. Moreover, the skill had helped him to shut out all the booing from the Vålerenga fans. He was in his best state when he unleashed the missile towards the opponent's goal.

****  ****

"Oh, it's Zachary taking the free-kick," Kristin heard the commentator say. "Oh, my goodness me! Sensational! Why am I not surprised the ball is in the back of the net. In the 88th minute, Zachary Bemba manages to score and help Rosenborg take back the lead from a set piece. The score is 2:3 in favor of Rosenborg. What a shocker! That's a hattrick for the young Rosenborg number-33. What an incredible night for him..."

Kristin had already jumped up from her chair to celebrate. She jumped around in the living room as she mumbled the phrase: 'we're going to win' repeatedly—over and over again. She was like a little girl that had just seen Santa on Christmas Eve.

"Will you please settle down," Monica, her flatmate, said to her. "The replay is coming up. You're most likely going to miss it if you don't sit back down."

"Replay," Kristin's mumbled, her eyes widening with anticipation. She settled back into the sofa, besides Monica, to continue following the game. To her relief, the replay of the goal came up a few seconds after. She watched as Zachary's unleashed his stunning long-range effort and beat the keeper from thirty-five yards away. A soft smile had already outlined her face since watching the highlight in slow motion made it much more exciting.

"I think we'll be the champions this season," Kristin announced after watching the replay. "With the way the team is playing, that shouldn't be hard at all."

"With the way Zachary is playing," Monica corrected, smiling a bit. "That's a hattrick for him today, and he has managed to rescue the team from an unfavorable situation yet another time. If I were him, I would already be asking for a wage increment. But have you considered that Rosenborg might not be able to keep him at the end of the season?"

Kristin sighed, shaking her head. "Let's not think about that, now," she said before returning her attention to the match on screen.

Zachary's stunning goal wasn't the final highlight for the match. In the 91st minute, the Vålerenga center-back Giancarlo González made a terrible error of judgment and gave the ball straight to Rosenborg's center-forward Nicki Nielsen.

The on-form forward wasted no time smashing the ball into the back of the net to make the score 2:4 with only two minutes of added time remaining on the clock. The Rosenborg players then went on to hold on to their two-goal lead and end the night with three points in the bag.

****  ****