THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Rosenborg BK 2:  IF Elfsborg 0

In the audience, the fans were extremely excited. Rosenborg had managed to score the second goal in the 83rd minute through Nicki Nielsen, the striker who'd just returned from an injury. The whole stadium was boiling with excitement as the home fans cheered at the top of their voices to celebrate the goal.

"That run by Zachary from the left-wing was something else," a young man, probably in his 20s, said. He was a die-hard fan of Rosenborg, who never missed any matches at Lerkendal. "It's a pity that he missed the goal in the end."

"What are you saying?" Another fan responded, his eyes narrowing. "Zachary never misses. It's just the keeper who performed abnormally and managed to save the day. But in the end, he ended up gifting Nicki Nielsen with an opportunity to score the second goal."

"I'm just saying that it would have been good if Zachary scored the goal," the young man responded, trying his best to make himself heard over the din in the stadium. "But it's all good since we're about to qualify for the knock-out stages."

"Which team will we face in the round of 32? Hopefully, it won't be one of those powerhouses that have just dropped from the Champions League."

"The draw for the next round will be held next week," the other fan said, stroking his thick beard. "We'll have to wait until then to find out about our next opponents."

-----

The game resumed after the goal celebrations. The IF Elfsborg players switched to a higher gear and started launching wave after wave of attacks against Rosenborg. They even started utilizing a Tiki-taka style of play, coupled with phenomenal bursts of brilliance through the wing, to sustain their attacking pressure. Obviously, the Swedish giants hadn't given up even though they were trailing by two goals in the 85th minute.

However, the Rosenborg players continued playing like champions throughout the remaining minutes. They made their formation compact and simply focused on defending with all they had in the final stages of the second half. As a result, they prevented the Swedish giants from scoring even a single goal until the final whistle sounded after four minutes of added time.

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Pays de la Loire, Nantes, France.

Since it was already the second week of December, a festive atmosphere was already in the air in this historic city of France.

Christmas lights were all over the place, blinking on and off in a multitude of colors. They shimmered like gems out of a fairy tale as they cast an ethereal feel upon the wide streets.

The other decorations, including the humongous Christmas trees, were so well-paced all over the city. They could easily tempt almost any intelligent soul to hum a Christmas hymn if they so happened to trek through the city, especially late at night.

However, there were always a few exceptions to every case.

Mr. Christophe Bernard, the head scout of FC Nantes, wasn't feeling the least bit festive, even as he walked through the wide streets of Nantes that night. He would often sigh or frown while slowly navigating the sparse human traffic on the sidewalk. He was clearly not in a good mood.

He'd just watched another Rosenborg match a few hours earlier. Once again, he'd witnessed Zachary Bemba, a player who he had let slip through his fingers, perform like the best of Maestros.

Back in Lubumbashi, he'd been sure that Zachary would never be able to grow into a phenomenal player due to his hidden injury. As a result, he'd opted to go with the four other young talents, instead of Zachary, after the trials.

Yet, a little more than three years down the road, Zachary, the player he'd ignored, was already performing splendidly in the Europa League. On the other hand, the players he'd selected were still struggling to make it onto the official roster of the Nantes reserve team. He couldn't help but wallow in melancholy when he recalled his decision back then.

"Bzzt Bzzzt! Bzzt Bzzzt!"

His phone started vibrating just as he approached the subway entrance a little while later. He couldn't help but frown ever so slightly after fishing it out of his pocket and glancing at the screen. That was because the person calling was the sporting director of FC Nantes. For sure, it wasn't to deliver good news, especially at such a late hour of the evening.

Be that as it may, he braced himself and decided to accept the call since it was his boss on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Mr. Christophe," the director said in French as soon as he'd pressed the "accept" button and placed the phone next to his ear. "How's your evening?"

"My evening is fine," Mr. Christophe lied. "To what do I owe the pleasure of receiving a call from you at this time of the evening?"

"Nothing much," the director replied in a relaxed manner. "I'm just checking up on the issue about Zachary Bemba, the young player who's currently playing for Rosenborg. I heard that he participated in the trials you conducted in Lubumbashi, DR Congo, a few years back. Is that true?"

"Here it comes," Mr. Christophe thought but said, "Yes, that's true. He was part of the group of young men that took part in the ADTA trials held in 2010."

"Then, why didn't you select him at the time? How could a talented scout like you miss out on a player with such potential? What exactly happened?"

"Well," Mr. Christophe said, trying his best to organize his thoughts as quickly as possible. "I could tell that he was a talented player even back then. However, there was a problem with his background check. He'd suffered a problematic ankle injury, which I thought would significantly affect his career. That's why I didn't choose him as one of the talents for our academy at the time."

"Surely, you must have missed something. Didn't you do any follow-up medical tests for the player?"

"Nope."

"Then, how could you be sure that the injury would significantly affect his career without doing any follow-up medical tests?"

"We had a small window of time for the trials in Lubumbashi," the scout said, trying his utmost to sound casual. "That was because of our tight schedule, which necessitated us to travel to over ten African countries within a month. So, I went with the most cost-effective method of conducting a brief background check on all the players with potential at the time."

"What a pity," the director said from the other end of the line. "This Zachary Bemba is one of the most talented players in the younger generation today. He might even have a chance of winning next year's Golden Boy award if he can help his team reach the later stages of the Europa League. Did you manage to get acquainted with him back in Congo?"

"Nope."

"This is really not like you, Christophe," the director said. "You miss out on a player filled with potential, and you even fail to make any tangible connections with him. Why were you so dull?"

Mr. Christophe could only remain silent when faced with such accusations. He already regretted his decision back then after watching a few of Rosenborg's Europa League matches. So, there was no need for him to be argumentative.

The director sighed audibly from the other end of the line after a short while. "Do you think there's a possibility that we can attract him here, especially since he would have the companionship of his countrymates on our team?"

"Please, stop joking, Mr. Director," Mr. Christophe was quick to reply. "There are plenty of top teams in the four big leagues that will be willing to sign him — come the next transfer window. So, logically speaking, there's no reason for him to join our team, which is still toiling in League 2. My advice to you, Mr. Director, is to forget about him."

"What a pity," the director said, sighing once again. "It would have been a blessing to have such a talented player on our squad. However, because of a certain someone, we missed out. Truly a pity!"

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