THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

The game restarted right after Zachary had finished celebrating the goal with the rest of his teammates. Roman Vasilyuk, the center-forward in FK Minsk's 4-2-3-1 formation, immediately kicked the ball back into midfield, sending the stadium into raptures.

Even though FK Minsk was trailing a goal to nil, Zachary's ears could still pick up the loud and rhythmic chanting of the home fans within the stands of the GOKTsOR Stadion. It seemed that conceding a goal had not dampened their morale in the slightest. They were still as passionate as they'd been at the start of the game, cheering on their team like there wasn't a tomorrow.

Zachary blocked out all the noise and focused solely on the pitch. He believed he could get a few more golden opportunities to create goal-scoring chances for his team. That was because he was playing against opponents unfamiliar with his capabilities.

Moreover, he was in tip-top shape that day. He even felt that his agility had improved by leaps and bounds. It was fast-rising towards the S-grade bottleneck. Probably within less than a year, he could make another leap in his abilities and advance another attribute of his to a higher grade. But that was if all the other factors remained constant.

A steady surge of confidence burned within him, fuelling his performance in the game. With a calm mind, he'd decided to give his all for the remainder of the match.

Whenever Rosenborg would lose possession, he would rush back into his half and defend with the rest of his teammates. Other times, when there was a chance for a counterattack, he was the first to race across the green to the other side of the field.

He was determined to help his team qualify for the group stages of the Europa League. He had no intention of being penalized for failing to achieve even a single milestone of the system's Europa League serial mission. He was the perfect example of a hardworking player on the field for the entire match. He could have even given the future N'Golo Kanté a run for his money when considering his work-rate alone.

Rosenborg enjoyed long spells of possession with him in the midfield. He linked well with Mike Jensen and Thomas Partey, the two defensive midfielders in Rosenborg's 4-2-3-1 formation, to dictate the tempo and create a few more goal-scoring chances.

With an insatiable appetite for destruction, Zachary initiated another Rosenborg counterattack in the 74th minute, late in the second half. He raced back to Rosenborg's half and executed a perfect sliding tackle, winning the ball from Vitali Kibuk, the FK Minsk attacking midfielder. He immediately passed to Thomas Partey, the Ghanaian defensive midfielder in open space some few yards away.

But he didn't stop at that. He quickly turned and raced along the touchline towards the other side of the field even before Thomas Partey could receive his pass. He was like a bullet train on the rails, his long strides eating yards of space as he shrugged off the opponents tracking him. He was only hoping Thomas had already developed the vision to pick out his run and send him on his way towards the goal.

Thomas Partey, the young defensive midfielder destined to achieve great things with his football career a few years from then, didn't disappoint. He managed to unleash a defense-splitting pass over the zone of intense rival pressure — into the space ahead of Zachary on the left flank. With that well-timed ball, he managed to take out almost all the entire FK Minsk defense from the equation.

Zachary couldn't help but smile as he watched the ball bounce a few yards ahead of him. He was delighted that his bet on the young Ghanian defensive midfielder had paid off. However, that didn't slow him in the slightest. He met the ball with his head and flicked it forward, continuing his run towards the FK Minsk goal like a human version of a hurricane.

He was intent on destroying and snuffing out all the chances of FK Minsk making a comeback. So, he gave his all to up his speed as he started cutting into the pitch.

Sergey Sosnovski, the FK Minsk center-back, came to close him down after a short while. But Zachary didn't even bother to slow down to draw in the defender. Instead, he fed the ball past him before beating him for pace and continuing towards the box, speed like the wind.

However, the next instant, he realized that he'd taken a heavy touch while beating the last defender. The keeper was already rushing out of the goal and would probably get to the ball before him.

Zachary felt a sudden flare of frustration as he realized he might not manage to score. But he immediately crushed it and upped his speed, continuing towards the keeper like a racehorse. He'd decided not to give up the chase, at least not until the keeper had claimed the ball.

The time seemed to freeze the next instant since he was on a straight collision course with the gigantic keeper, who was nearly as tall as him. But, he hardened his resolve and observed the keeper closely — while continuing his mad dash.

As if in slow motion, he watched the keeper stretch out his hands, readying himself to collect the ball. It was at that moment that he stretched out his left boot to make the slightest touch on the ball, which was about to find its way into the keeper's hands.

He then braked instantly, stopping himself from colliding with the keeper while still keeping an eye on the ball.

A soft smile lit up his face the next instant as he realized that his simple touch had been enough to nudge the ball away from its course towards the keeper's hands. It had rolled past his side before coming to a halt a yard or two before the goal line in FK Minsk's box.

It was then a fair ball for anyone to claim.

Zachary sprung into action immediately with the agility of a cat that had caught the scent of some catnip. He circumvented the goalkeeper with all the haste he could muster before pouncing on the ball with a sliding tackle.

He managed to reach its position just a couple of milliseconds before an FK Minsk defender could get there. He then nudged it into the back of the net with an outstretched boot to score Rosenborg's second goal in the 75th minute.

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