Zachary could feel his blood pumping fast with excitement as he stood over the ball in the center circle, waiting for the kick-off whistle. He'd deactivated the system's miniaturized gravitational field a few hours before he'd set off from Trondheim. So, his body had already recovered to its optimum state. At that moment, he felt as if he was a bird about to soar into the skies.
His ears could still pick up the frenzied cheers of the Standard Liège fans that were so loud to the point of causing slight tremors across the stadium. However, he remained unperturbed since he'd already grown into a very calm and collected footballer after spending a whole year as part of Rosenborg's starting line-up.
Even if the fans went crazy and set up a fire in the stands, he wouldn't care in the slightest. As long as the playing field remained unaffected, he could continue performing at his best on the pitch and ignore the chaos around the stadium.
His entire focus at that moment was on the ball, the referee, and the opponents. Nothing else could distract him and break his concentration in those few minutes before kick-off. He was that steady as a professional player.
A few seconds later, Zachary started scrutinizing the setup of the Standard Liège players on the other side of the pitch. He could instantly tell that they'd arrayed themselves in a 4-4-2 double-6 starting formation. They appeared to be quite fierce and ready to tear Rosenborg apart as they stood there waiting for the kick-off.
However, Zachary was still not intimidated by their fierce stances. His overall football skills were at a level much higher than his previous week's self. So, he was sure that he could handle most of the defenses in most of Europe's low-tier leagues as long as his teammates didn't hold him back.
He was that confident.
**** ****
*FWEEEEEEE*
The referee finally blew the whistle at exactly 7:00 PM and signaled for the kick-off.
As usual, Coach Johansen immediately shut out everything else and started following the proceedings on the pitch with a hundred percent concentration. He was a bit uneasy while watching the opening minutes since he'd employed a more dynamic 4-4-2 instead of the usual 4-2-3-1 formation for that game.
The strategy was a calculated risk as he'd wanted to fill up the gap left by Nicki Nielsen, his injured creative center forward. Particularly, he'd opted to play with two center forwards up front instead of the usual single point-man. As a result, his team for that match comprised four defenders, four midfielders (two central midfielders plus two wingers), and two central forwards.
On paper, it was a great team for sure. However, the coach was still worried since he'd taken a serious risk by taking Zachary out of the midfield in the new setup. So, Coach Johansen was waiting to see whether the young man could adapt to the new position as a second striker in the new 4-4-2 formation. Otherwise, Rosenborg would face plenty of problems and fail to sustain any bit of pressure on the much-more dynamic Standard Liège side.
The defenses of both sides continued doing their best on multiple occasions to stop their opponents from scoring. As a result, the score remained 0:0 with only a few half chances shared between the two sides as the game progressed into the fifteenth minute.
However, Coach Johansen was still not at ease despite the deadlock on the pitch. He was not in the best of moods since Standard Liège was slightly better overall than his team when on the attack during the first few minutes.
The Belgian giants were always dangerous while moving forward, with crosses continuously flying into the box like ballistic missiles from different angles. Their two strikers were even fiercer and almost scored with headers during the 10th and 12th minutes. Fortunately, the Rosenborg keeper was alert and managed to save the situation on both occasions.
All in all, Rosenborg's situation on the pitch was not looking optimistic since the players, especially the midfielders, had failed to grow into the game. They couldn't even hold on to possession for long, thus bringing about a situation whereby Rosenborg remained on the back foot from the very first minute.
"Don't you think that we should switch back to the 4-2-3-1 formation?" Trond Henriksen, his assistant, inquired from beside him after a few minutes. "If we pull Zachary back from striking and add him as a third man in the midfield, we'll be able to suppress the Standard Liège midfielders. We can then slowly build from there and start sustaining more pressure on the opponents."
Coach Johansen sighed, shaking his head after hearing his assistant's advice. He understood that midfielders were akin to the gears that kept the defensive and offensive lines connected and moving smoothly on the field. In most cases, a team had to control the midfield perfectly to win the game.
However, if a team lacked creative forwards, they would still fail to score and even lose even if they possessed a strong midfield. So, coach Johansen had prioritized strengthening the striking line instead of the midfield for that game. He wanted to get a goal first before thinking about anything else.
"Trond," he said, his eyes still following the proceedings on the field. "I do get your point. If we play with a 4-2-3-1 formation, we can achieve stability in the middle and at the back."
"However, you must not forget that our first and foremost priority in this game is to score. To qualify, we have to win. So, that's the reason I've changed our formation to a 4-4-2 and pushed Zachary forward. I want us to get more opportunities upfront to score instead of focusing on defending."
"Moreover," the coach continued. "Coaches from other countries are now aware of the danger posed by Zachary in midfield. So, if we play him in the middle, as usual, the opponent will target him for sure. So, why not push him forward and catch the opponent unawares? Do you get my reasoning, Trond?"
"Yes, coach," the assistant said, nodding.
"You don't have to worry too much," Coach Johansen said in a mild tone while keeping his eyes fixed on the field of play. "We're still far from the worst-case scenario since the score is still 0:0. So, let's wait and see how the game progresses until half-time before we start thinking about making any changes."
"Okay."
**** ****
On the pitch, Zachary stepped away from his opponent like the wind when he saw Thomas Partey, one of Rosenborg's two midfielders, control the ball in midfield. His steps were light on the green, and his running posture textbook perfect as he raced into space while anticipating the pass from his teammate.
"Thomas!" He yelled as he continued running into space while occasionally glancing around to take in the positioning of his opponents. He felt good as the breakthrough of his body control attribute to the S- grading had significantly improved his balance and coordination. He could change directions more fluidly, even at his peak velocity, and brake almost instantaneously.
"Thomas, the ball!" He yelled again. Then, without losing a moment, he altered his running course abruptly, once again, and started heading towards the right flank. With that virtually instantaneous change, he'd managed to lose an opponent that was tracking his run and was soon unmarked and ready to receive the ball.
His off-ball running was simply that lethal to the point that no opponent could easily keep up with him. Moreover, he'd already unconsciously entered a supersensitive state, and everything around him seemed to have slowed down. At that moment, his spatial awareness, boosted by his Zinedine-Pirlo Mental Juju, was extraordinarily out of this world. So, he could assess and react to the situations around him in the shortest time humanly possible. He felt almost invincible.
Zachary had linked up with Thomas Partey both in training and during matches on multiple occasions. For that reason, the young defensive midfielder spotted Zachary's run towards the right-wing in a matter of seconds. And without losing a second, he sent forth a lofted pass into space in front of Zachary, causing the traveling Rosenborg fans in the stands to explode into a wave of cheers.
"Zachary! *Clap*Clap* Zachary..."
Zachary could literally feel the cheers hitting a thunderous crescendo when he jumped up and controlled the ball from Thomas with his chest close to the touchline on the right flank. Needless to say, there were some boos from the opposing fans mixed in with the applause. However, Zachary didn't care in the slightest since his whole attention was on the opponents approaching him at that moment. So, he chested the ball down to the green and immediately turned around to face Standard Liège's goal.
He was in a complete state of calm at that moment.
Ibrahima Cissé, one of Standard Liège's central midfielders, soon came forward to close him down. He was radiating a fierce aura and approaching like a raging bull as if he wanted to beat up someone.
But Zachary was not intimidated. He calmly stepped forward slightly with the ball at his feet while tilting his center of gravity to the right. At that instant, his body was in a state similar to a constricted spring, seemingly as if he was about to set off immediately and explode forward along the touchline on the right flank.
And as expected, the fast-approaching Ibrahima Cissé reacted immediately by mirroring Zachary's movements in the lateral plane. The defender stepped forward like the wind before swooping in with an outstretched boot to tackle the ball off Zachary's feet. His reaction was super-fast, and his movements were well-timed. But it was a pity that there was a miscalculation in his approach.
Whoosh!!
Zachary changed directions almost instantaneously. Before the approaching defender could adapt, he shifted his weight from his right to left and then exploded forth with rocket-like speed. He was soon racing away from the helpless defender, his strides eating up yards of space like there was no tomorrow.
His heart was racing with excitement as he continued sprinting with the ball. He was finally experiencing the benefits of having a high-level body control attribute. He could effectively leave a defender in the dust with just a simple shift in his center of gravity and an almost instantaneous acceleration. The feeling was truly wondrous.
"Zachary! *Clap*Clap* Zachary..."
The cheers of the traveling Rosenborg fans rose to another level as Zachary continued bearing down on Standard Liège's goal like a raging Tsunami. But all that didn't affect him in the slightest. He was in the zone and didn't stop running for anything in the world. At one point, he even somehow shrugged off two simultaneous challenges from a pair of Standard Liège's defenders with a simple weave and turn — and then still emerged with the ball.
His burst speed caught all the opponents unawares as they looked both confused and mesmerized. He was simply as slippery as a snake in the jungle as he raced through the ranks of the defenders. And unbelievably, seconds after leaving the touchline on the right flank, he found himself bearing down on goal. When the angle opened up, he smashed the ball past the helpless keeper into the top of the net and then continued racing to the corner flag like mad.
At that moment, he could hardly contain his excitement.
He'd managed to score Rosenborg's first goal in the 25th minute, and the score was then 1:0. So, he slid on his knees for a good few yards as he approached the corner flag before jumping up to celebrate his goal by repeatedly punching the air.
**** ****
