Winning against Strømsgodset Toppfotball, who had been table leaders, by a landslide boosted the morale of the entire Rosenborg team. It was as if the Troll Kids had finally acquired the wings to fly off and leave the rest of the teams in the dust. All the players were highly motivated and performed like monsters whenever they got the chance to be on the starting line-up for an official game.
They began by walloping Levanger Levanger Fotballklubb in a Norwegian Cup away fixture 5:1 on Tuesday, June 25th. It was another thrilling game where Zachary contributed a brace, converting two set-pieces during the second half. Nicki Nielsen, Tobias Mikkelsen, and Ole Selnæs netted the other goals to send Rosenborg well on its way to the Round-of-Sixteen in the Cupen.
The Sunday after that, on June 30th, Rosenborg faced off against Viking Fotballklubb in another away fixture at the SR-Bank Arena in Stavanger. The match was a slow-paced one that remained goalless until the 65th minute. Borek Dockal scored the first goal on a successful counterattack after receiving an assist from Zachary. Six minutes later, Nicki Nielsen, the Rosenborg number-9, scored the second to ensure that Rosenborg returned with the three points to Trondheim that night.
The following Wednesday evening, on July 3rd, the Rosenborg players finally returned to Lerkendal, their home ground, to face off against Tromsø Idrettslag in the Norwegian Cup Round-of-Sixteen. Coach Johansen benched both Zachary and Nicki Nielsen to give them some rest. But the Troll Kids still put up an incredible defense-minded performance to defeat the boys from the North 1:0 — even with their star attackers absent.
The fans were growing more exhilarated by the ridiculous form of Rosenborg by the day. As a result, Lerkendal Stadion was packed to the brim for Rosenborg's Tippeligaen fixture against Lillestrøm Sportsklubb on the evening of Sunday, July 7th.
In front of the eyes of 21,450 fans, Zachary and his teammates played another thrilling match that impassioned the ecstatic fans further. They successfully hit Lillestrøm Sportsklubb on the counter thrice to score three goals and emerge as victors at the end of the night.
Zachary was as brilliant as ever and scored two goals in the first half — one on a counter and another on a set-piece. With that performance, he took his tally to 13 goals for the season. John Chibuike, the striker from Nigeria, netted the third to kill off all Lillestrøm's chances of making a comeback later in the second half. After that, the Rosenborg players continued playing defensively to keep the score goalless and secure the three points.
The win helped them extend their lead at the top of the table to five points since Strømsgodset had lost yet another game against Fotballklubben Haugesund the day before.
So, the players were even more motivated as they headed into the next fixture at home against Odds Ballklubb scheduled for Sunday, July 14th. They ended up thrashing the team from Skien 4:2, further sealing their position at the top of the table after Strømsgodset lost a second consecutive game.
Zachary scored another goal from a set-piece and provided two assists in the game against Odds Ballklubb. With fourteen goals in the Tippeligaen and three in the Cupen, he was close to sealing his position as the undisputed top scorer in all competitions.
So there was a lot of hype and speculations about him in the news. Some newspapers were even reporting with a hundred percent certainty that he was about to leave Rosenborg and head to greener pastures. However, Zachary ignored the rumors and focused solely on football.
He didn't let the fame get to his head and continued training with a hundred percent focus with the sole aim of improving his core skills as fast as possible. He would only relax from his tight schedule on the rare evenings he spent in Camilla's company. He devoted the rest of his time to football.
Another Tippeligaen match day for Rosenborg arrived on the evening of Sunday, July 28th, after a two-week international break. The Troll Kids continued their fine form and thrashed Sportsklubben Brann 5:0 despite playing at an away ground.
The walloping started in the 6th minute when Zachary created space in the midfield and unleashed one of his signature through-passes to Nicki Nielsen. The Rosenborg number-9 didn't disappoint and connected with Zachary's sweet pass, producing a fine finish to give Rosenborg their first goal.
Soon after, Zachary converted yet another set-piece and scored the second, taking his Tippeligaen tally to 15 goals. As a result, he forced the SK Brann players to come out of their defensive-minded shell and launch a series of attacks, hoping to make a comeback. But that left gaps in their defensive shape — which Zachary and co exploited to score three more goals and extend their winning streak to fourteen matches.
**** ****
The day after the SK Brann match, Zachary woke up late because he was fatigued. He immediately started going through his morning yoga exercises to quicken his post-match recovery. But just a few minutes into the routine, he heard his phone vibrate on a nearby table, where he'd placed it before the session.
Of course, he didn't halt his practice to check his phone. He continued going through yoga poses for a few more minutes until he was sure he'd completed the entire exercise perfectly. By then, he could feel his tired and tense muscles begin to relax. So, he was in a good mood as he picked his phone from the table to glance at the screen.
There were a couple of unread messages. Zachary perused through them all quickly until his eyes rested on the latest one.
****
'Mr. Zachary Bemba,' he started reading the text message. 'Congratulations upon your incredible performance during the July Tippeligaen matches. You have been selected as the July Player of the Month by the Tippeligaen coaches, captains, and the media. You can choose any of the following ways to collect your bronze statuette.
1) We can send it directly to your team's mailing address.
2) We can present it to you before the first Rosenborg home game for the month of August.
3) You can decide to pick it up at the headquarters of Norsk Toppfotball (NTF) in Oslo, Norway.
You can call all reply to us by text on this number to inform us about your decision within a maximum of three days. Congratulations once again upon winning your first player of the month accolade. We wish you a successful career.
Cheers
Norsk Toppfotball'
****
"DING"
A system notification sounded within Zachary's mind right after he'd finished reading through the message from Norsk Toppfotball.
"Congratulations to the user on completing a hidden system mission," the AI's apathetic voice followed immediately after. "For the first time, the user has won the best player of the month accolade. That implies the user has finally gotten recognition for his football skills from his peers and the authority that governs the Norwegian professional football league. For that, the system has awarded the user 2000 Juju points. The user needs to keep working hard to win more awards. The more awards the user collects, the higher his chances of making it to the list of players with the potential to become the G.O.A.T."
"Oh, my!" Zachary mumbled, feeling his heart starting to beat faster. He was gleeful after earning the first true accolade in his professional career spanning two lifetimes. Nevertheless, he managed to calm himself before replying to the text message.
He'd already decided to receive his prize right before the next Rosenborg home game since that would help grow his popularity with the fans. So, he sent the reply text to the indicated number and placed his smartphone back on the table. Without further ado, he started making his way to the bathroom to take a shower.
But just as he'd taken a few steps, his phone vibrated once again. When he picked it up and glanced at the screen, he couldn't help but do a double-take. It was one of those rare calls from Coach Johansen.
"Hello, coach," he said, placing the phone close to his ear after accepting the call. "How's your morning?"
"My morning is fine, Zachary," the Coach replied from the other end of the line in his deep husky voice. "How's yours?"
"Fine, coach. I'm just trying to recover from yesterday's post-match fatigue as quickly as possible."
"That's good," Coach Johansen said. "Did you get any text from Norsk Toppfotball today?"
"Yes, coach. I just received a message a few minutes ago. It was about me being the July player of the month. How did you get to know this, coach? I haven't informed anyone yet."
"I have my sources, Zachary," Coach Johansen replied in a relaxed tone. "But that aside, congratulations. I'm happy for you, Zachary, and I hope you go on to win more accolades throughout your career."
"Thank you, coach," Zachary replied, tone humble.
"That aside, can you come and see me in my office," Coach Johansen said after a moment. "I need to talk to you about something."
'Here it comes," Zachary thought but said: "What time should I come to your office, coach?"
"Come at eleven," Coach Johansen replied. "Will you be able to make it here by then?"
"Yes, I'll make it," Zachary replied.
"Good," Coach Johansen said. "See you in two and a half hours then." He then ended the call without another word.
**** ****
