THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

The next day.

Coach Johnsen took the players to survey the Skonto Arena first thing in the morning. It was the indoor stadium where they would face the Riga academy in their opening match.

"I advise you to walk around and familiarize yourself with every nook and cranny of the pitch," the Coach said while leading the procession of the NF academy players past the gates of the stadium.

The arena's interior design mimicked a greenhouse with a dome-shaped roof that kept out the snow. Zachary's mood was bolstered by the well maintained artificial turf beneath his feet. He felt relieved that the pitch wouldn't limit his performance against Riga the following day.

After they finished the survey, they played a short warm-up game on the turf before returning to their hotel. The organizers had only allocated them a single hour of training time in the stadium. A few other participating teams were supposed to be using the stadium after they left.

"Rest well today," Coach Johansen intoned as they entered the hotel lobby. "Eat well, drink well, and make sure you stay away from anything that may disrupt your performance tomorrow. And stay away from alcohol." He warned solemnly, turning back to face the players. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, coach," Zachary and his teammates replied, more or less in unison. They attracted a few curious gazes from the hotel occupants and the uniformed waiters/waitresses in the lobby.

"I hope you stay committed to our purpose here. Our goal is to win. Nothing less." He gazed somberly at the players before adding: "We'll meet at 8:00 P.M, just after dinner for the prematch tactical session. See you then." He concluded and turned around as he moved away from the players.

Zachary spent most of his day in the system simulator, except for the brief periods he got meals or went to the washrooms. He was practicing the Bend-it like Beckham Juju the entire time. Since he would be facing strong and unfamiliar opponents, he wanted to have an edge, something that could win games. If his teammates defended well, setpieces would do the trick.

After training in the evening, he ate a sumptuous dinner at the hotel's restaurant with his teammates before heading to one of the board rooms to attend Coach Johansen's tactical meeting.

Zachary and his teammates found the coach in a somber mood when they entered the meeting venue. He was frowning all the time, his expression resembling Mike Tyson's before knocking out an opponent.

"Hurry up and settle down," he intoned. "We have very little time for this. Remember our game starts at 8:00 A.M tomorrow. I want you all tucked into your beds by 10 P.M."

The players hurriedly sank into their seats and waited for their coach to continue.

"We play against Riga tomorrow," the Coach begun. "As we have practiced over the past few weeks, we will use a 5:4:1 formation in this game. I expect you to maintain your focus throughout the entire game. Especially defenders. Remember to close down all the spaces quickly, use a high defensive line to create offside traps, and above all—don't make mistakes. We don't want to serve out opportunities on a silver platter to our opponents..."

Coach Johansen talked at length to the players about the tactics they would employ in the game the following day. He then gave a pep talk to stir them up to win the game. When he finished, he moved on to the prematch routine of naming the starting lineup.

"The starting goalkeeper is Kendrick Otterson in shirt number 1," he read out from a piece of paper.

"We are using three center-backs: No.3 Robin Jatta, No.4 Lars Togstad, and No.5 Daniel Kvande."

"Left-back: No.11 Martin Lundal, Right-back: No.2 Öyvind Alseth."

"Defensive midfield: No.6 Magnus Blakstad." He paused, glancing towards the tall midfielder. "Don't forget you'll be sitting in front of the defenders full time. Keep those aerial balls away from our box." He emphasized once again.

"Yes, coach," Magnus replied politely.

"Moving on," Coach Johansen continued. "Attacking midfield: No.8 Zachary Bemba. Always be ready to switch to the wings when there is a need."

Zachary nodded to indicate that he had gotten the point.

"Right-wing: No.7 Kasongo Paul, Left-wing: No.15 Paul Otterson. Remember to fall back and defend whenever we don't have the ball."

"Striking: No.10 Örjan Börmark..."

****  ****

In another sports hall at the Riga Academy, a similar meeting was also taking place.

"NF academy is the weakest team in the tournament," said a short, slightly pot-bellied coach. He was addressing the under-18s who would face off against the NF academy the following day.

"We need to win with a large margin in the first game against the Norwegians. That will increase our chances to qualify for the semifinals..."

****  ****

After the meeting, Zachary headed back to his room with Kasongo. He washed up and got into bed before 10:00 P.M. However, out of habit, he opened the system interface to check if there were any new notifications.

He felt a sudden flare of delight on noticing that a mission had appeared under the G.O.A.T missions menu once again. A system mission meant either rewards or Juju-points that could help him advance his skills to the next levels.

****

G.O.A.T MISSIONS

#NEW MISSION: Riga Cup Serial Challenge

->The system has detected that the user is partaking in an international academy tournament. The system has designed an associated mission for the event.

->The user needs to accept the mission first to stand a chance at winning rewards after completing the milestones below.

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*Milestone 1: Help your team qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament.

*Milestone 2: Help your team win the semifinals of the tournament.

*Milestone 3: Help your teammates win the finals and become the champions of the tournament.

*Milestone 4: Become the top scorer in the tournament.

*Milestone 5: Become the M.V.P of the tournament.

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*Rewards:

->Milestone 1 completion reward: 250 Juju-points

->Milestone 2 completion reward: 500 Juju-points

->Milestone 3 completion reward: 1000 Juju-points

->Milestone 4 completion reward: 250 Juju-points

->Milestone 5 completion reward: B-grade Agility Enhancing Elixir

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->The user can choose not to accept the mission.

Accept        Reject

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*Punishment if none of the milestones has been achieved after the stipulated time (In case the user accepts).

->Minus 3000 Juju-points

*The user has to complete at least one milestone before the tournament ends to escape the penalty.

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*Remarks: A potential G.O.A.T always achieves what standard players achieve on rare occasions.

****

Zachary's spirits brightened after perusing through the new system mission. He had a chance to win 2000 Juju-points and an agility-enhancing-elixir if he completed all the milestones successfully.

He did not hesitate to click the accept button on the system interface. He'd been yearning to acquire a highly graded elixir to enhance his agility to the next level. Furthermore, he would get a chance to upgrade the system if he won 2000 Juju-points—and still have a balance of 1000 points left over to purchase more items from the system shop.

****  ****

Zachary and his teammates arrived at the Skonto Arena in the allocated team bus at exactly 7:15 A.M the next day. They quickly warmed up and headed back to the dressing room to change into their kits for the match. They donned their dark blue jerseys, with a sense of urgency, while listening to the final instructions from Coach Johansen.

At exactly 7:50 A.M, they followed the referees and marched onto the pitch to begin the first game in the tournament.

Cheers, mixed with occasional laughter, rose into the air as the two teams trooped on to the pitch. The noises engulfed Zachary, capturing his brain, almost numbing his senses. He quickly realized there were noise problems associated with playing in an enclosed dome. He only hoped his teammates would adjust fast to the changes in their playing environment.

The teams went through the formality of exchanging handshakes with their opponents before separating to the opposite halves of the pitch.

*FWEEEEEEE!*

The referee blew the whistle, signaling for the captains to enter the center circle—for the coin toss. Zachary adjusted his armband before jogging towards the referees at the center of the pitch.

"Okay, you know the drill," said the referee. Zachary and the opposing team's captain had just entered the center circle. "You two will choose a side of the coin first—either heads or tails. I'll then proceed with the coin toss. If you win the coin toss, you'll decide which goal to attack in the first half or whether to take the kickoff." He paused and looked back and forth at both Zachary and Riga's short blonde captain, dressed in a black jersey. "Okay?"

Zachary and Riga's captain both nodded.

Riga won the coin toss and decided to kick start the ball. Zachary wasn't the least bit disheartened by his poor luck. He shook hands with the Riga's captain—and the referees before returning to his half.

He observed the opponents in the black jerseys and noticed that they had arrayed themselves in a possibly 4-4-2 formation. He was not yet sure about their exact positioning as their wingers were also on the centerline waiting for the game to start.

Meanwhile, Riga's striker stepped towards the ball in the center circle, sending the fans into a frenzy as they cheered on their home team.

*FWEEEEEEE!*

A clear whistle sounded amid the cheers. The first match in the Riga Cup tournament between JFC Riga and NF international kicked off at the Skonto Indoor Stadium.