THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Monday, July 21, 2014.

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As planned, Zachary arrived in Turin at around ten in the morning on that Monday. After settling down and placing his luggage in a hotel room, he got busy by first meeting Emily to discuss the details of the contract. Then, after the meeting, the two of them traveled together to the Juventus Training Center, colloquially known as "the Vinovo" by the Turin football community.

There, at the Vinovo, proceedings moved forward fast, and Zachary underwent a rigorous medical conducted by the highly skilled and experienced physicians of Juventus' physiotherapy center. Without any surprises popping up, he passed with flying colors, thus overcoming the final hurdle that could have barred his way from becoming a Juventus player.

"I will go meet the Juventus attorneys to sort out the final contract issues that we discussed," Emily said after they left the physiotherapy center. "We must polish the document before the signing ceremony at 3:00 PM. In the meantime, you can head to the canteen for lunch. Do you remember where it is? I showed it to you right after we entered the training center."

"I think I remember," Zachary replied, sounding totally not confident. Inwardly, he was ashamed as he had ignored most of Emily's introductory explanation about the facilities in the training facility due to his excitement. He had only managed to engrave the locations of the training turfs and the gyms into his mind while reflexively choosing to ignore everything else.

Emily raised a brow and tilted her head to glance up at him. "You think, or you know? Which one is it?"

Zachary smiled awkwardly in response.

Emily shook her head and exclaimed, "Footballers! How can they easily forget directions when they can make snap decisions and find their teammates at a moment's notice during intensive matches? Truly baffling!" She sighed before saying, "Come; follow me. I'll take you to the canteen before heading off to the meeting with the attorneys. I don't want you losing your way, especially since you don't speak Italian."

"Thanks," Zachary mumbled.

With Emily leading the way, they arrived at the entrance of the canteen within five minutes. Zachary said his goodbyes to her and immediately walked through the doorway.

On entering the spacious and fancy canteen, Zachary surprisingly ran into two familiar club officials, who were also about to have lunch. One was Fabio Paratici, the sporting director he had met in London. The other was his soon-to-be coach, Massimiliano Allegri, the man he'd seen several times on television during his previous life.

"Zachary!" Mr. Fabio Paratici was the first to call out to him in English. "It's great to see you again, my young friend. We're excited to have you here. Welcome to Juventus." He extended his hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Paratici," Zachary replied, taking the hand for a firm handshake. "It's really a pleasure to arrive here in Turin. I'm looking forward to life at this club."

Mr. Paratici chuckled and turned to the recently appointed Juventus coach beside him. "Let me take the opportunity to introduce you to this gentleman here. He's Massimiliano Allegri, and hopefully, he'll be your coach for many years."

Zachary immediately inclined his head to observe the famous coach he had heard so much about during his previous life. The first impression that the coach gave to Zachary was that he was an easy-going and friendly person. There seemed to be a warm air swirling around him as he smiled and enthusiastically extended his hand to Zachary.

"Welcome to Juventus," the coach said, his speech sounding strained. He had struggled to pronounce the three words — a tell-tale sign that he had little or almost no English language knowledge. But that didn't dampen his presence as he waited for Zachary to take his hand. He was obviously a confident man who couldn't allow a few shortcomings to affect his bearing.

"Thank you, Coach Allegri," Zachary replied in English, taking the gentleman's hand. "It's a pleasure meeting you, and I look forward to working with you."

Zachary then stepped back and waited for Mr. Paratici to translate his English words for the benefit of the Italian coach. In the meantime, his mind quickly formed an impression of Massimiliano Allegri - the famous coach from his previous life who replaced Antonio Conte and guided Juventus to win many Serie A, Coppa Italia, and Supercoppa Italiana titles.

Although it was their first meeting, Zachary felt that Massimiliano Allegri was a coach he could work with to elevate his career to incredible heights. Allegri seemed like an empathetic and spirited man on the first impression. He even repeatedly tried to strike up a friendly conversation with Zachary after their group of three settled at one of the tables to enjoy their meals.

But alas, Zachary couldn't understand whatever he was saying since he was totally ignorant as far as the Italian language was concerned. And, of course, Fabio Paratici couldn't keep functioning as his translator as he soon got busy on the phone, doing whatever sporting directors usually did. As a result, the two men who couldn't understand each other could only halt their sorry efforts to hold a meaningful conversation. They continued enjoying their meals quietly while waiting for Mr. Paratici to end his phone call.

In the meantime, Zachary started making some resolutions within his mind as he enjoyed his last lunch before signing the contract to seal his move to Juventus. After settling in Turin, he vowed to spare time and join a language school that could allow him to learn Italian as soon as possible. Secondly, Zachary resolved to purchase a good house with spacious floor space immediately after receiving the first 15 million Euros of his signing bonus money. He wanted a place of his own as he didn't wish to continue residing in a hotel room.

"You guys are very quiet," Mr. Paratici remarked, interrupting Zachary's thought process. He had just completed his phone conversation. "It seems the language barrier issue is hindering you from communicating."

"That's the case," Zachary confirmed.

"You should learn Italian as soon as possible," Mr. Paratici advised. "Otherwise, you'll find it a challenging task to settle down and live comfortably here. You won't even be able to communicate to most of your teammates and even your coach."

"I know," Zachary said. "I'll join the language school as soon as possible."

Mr. Paratici nodded and switched the topic. "So, I looked at the results of your medical. They are quite impressive. It seems you are ready to head out with the rest of the team on the tour of Asia and Australia."

"I'm not yet at a hundred percent match-fitness condition, especially since I've been out of action for two months," Zachary confessed. "But I'll work extra hard over the next few days to prepare for the tour."

"Good," Mr. Paratici said, nodding. "Playing the pre-season matches will help you regain your peak fitness faster. You should look forward to the tour."

"I understand. I'll be ready for the tour," Zachary said and returned his focus to his food.

A period of silence soon descended at the table as the three men concentrated on wolfing down their Italian dishes. They completed their meal in minutes and exchanged pleasantries before parting and going their own ways.

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By 3:00 PM on that sunny Monday afternoon in Turin, Zachary was already in one of the conference rooms of the Juventus headquarters in Corso Galileo Ferraris, ready to sign the contract to join the Italian club. He was all smiles as he settled in the seat of honor positioned in-between the spots occupied by Fabio Paratici and Massimiliano Allegri, his soon-to-be bosses.

Behind Zachary's seat stood Emily, his agent acting as his interpreter for the signing ceremony. She had donned an ocean blue lady's suit that emphasized her lithe figure and brought out the color of her eyes. She looked all professional with her hair tied in a ponytail at the top of her head.

Zachary felt more confident with her by his side. As always, Emily was the ever-caring agent and had volunteered to take up the interpreter role since she was fluent in Italian, French, and English. That allowed Zachary to calm down as Emily could always chip in to inform him about the crucial points of all the discussions around him during the signing ceremony. Moreover, by staying close to Zachary, she could also watch out for any pitfalls that the attorneys of Juventus could add to the contract during the last minutes before the signing ceremony.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen," the lady, acting as the master of ceremonies, said to break the low murmuring around the conference room. "For Zachary Bemba's benefit, we will hold this ceremony in mostly English. But you can rely on your translation software to continue following the proceedings. Now to the main event. It's a good day for Juventus as we welcome Zachary Bemba, the 19-year-old football phenomenon, to this glorious club of Turin..."

"Clap! Clap! Clap..."

No sooner had the words come out of her mouth than a round of applause resounded around the conference room. The club officials in attendance clapped their hands for about a minute to welcome Zachary to the club without caring about procedures or etiquette. Some even whistled and yelled at the top of their voices, clearly forgetting the fact they were in a meeting chaired by their bosses.

Zachary was quite stunned by their enthusiasm as he watched on from the seat of honor. But he maintained his composure and continued smiling while waiting for the master of ceremonies to resume her speech.

"Well, it seems everyone here is excited and eagerly waiting to see Zachary Bemba in the Juventus colors," the lady master of ceremonies smiled and continued after the clapping had died down. "So, without further ado, let the contract signing begin."

With that said, the club attorneys brought the contract documents forward. They placed a copy each before Zachary, Massimiliano Allegri, and Fabio Paratici and motioned for them to go ahead and sign the papers.

Of course, the signing was without issues. Zachary put pen on paper on each page to confirm his move to Juventus. Then, he shook hands with Fabio Paratici, the sporting director, and Massimiliano Allegri, his new coach, to monumentalize the deal. Meanwhile, the cameras clicked and flashed to record the memorable moment in football history when Zachary joined Juventus.