Despite having expected the system notification, Zachary still felt excitement sweep over him when he heard it in his mind. He hurriedly placed his crutches to the side before settling on his bed and instructing the system AI to bring up the mission completion details.
****
#4 new messages
CONGRATULATIONS
->You have completed the system mission (2014/15 Italian Serie A Challenge).
->Mission Summary
*Milestone 1: Play 65% of the fixtures of the 2014/15 Serie A season. The user must be part of the starting eleven or a playing substitute in at least 25 of the total 38 Serie A matches (Completed; Rating S; Rewarded 2,000 Juju points).
*Milestone 2: Help your teammates become the 2014/15 Italian Serie A Champions (Completed; Rating S+; Rewarded 2,000 Juju points).
*Milestone 3: Provide the most assists in the 2014/15 Italian Serie A season (Awaiting results from the final Serie A game against Hellas Verona).
*Milestone 4: Become the top scorer of the 2014/15 Italian Serie A season (User has already scored 35 goals and is ahead of the second-ranked player on the top-scorers list by 13 goals. The system has deemed the user to have already completed the milestone with a rating of S+ and rewarded 20,000 Juju points).
*Milestone 5: Become the MVP of the 2014/15 Italian Serie A season (User has completed the mission by winning the Serie A Player-of-the-Season accolade; Rating S+; Rewarded 30,000 Juju points).
*Milestone 6: Score 40 or more goals during the 2014/15 Serie A Season (Awaiting results from the final Serie A game against Hellas Verona).
*Milestone 7: Help your teammates achieve an unbeaten run throughout the 2014/15 Italian Serie A. The user must work hard to ensure Juventus doesn't lose even a 'single' match from the beginning to the end of the season (Awaiting results from the final Serie A game against Hellas Verona).
->The system will tally the rest of the mission completion details after Juventus' final Serie A game against Hellas Verona.
->The system encourages the user to work hard during the final game to complete the remaining milestones and attain the maximum rewards.
****
"How am I supposed to work hard when I'm injured?" Zachary sighed and shook his head.
Juventus' away game against Verona was on Saturday, May 30th, 2015. However, the earliest he could fully recover (according to the medics at JMedical) would be two days after the game on Monday, June 1st. That meant he could only hope and pray that his teammates would go all out to get at least a draw, even in his absence, if he wished to win the other mission prizes from the system.
"Well," Zachary thought. "The team is powerful even without me. They should be able to attain a draw against Hellas Verona even while playing at half their best. Let's hope that luck will be on their side."
Zachary pushed his worries to the back of his mind and dismissed the system interface. He then quickly took a shower before drying himself and jumping into bed for the night.
He woke up early the following morning and returned to JMedical, where he continued undergoing rehabilitation. His treatment was quite rewarding, and he felt most of the discomfort in his calf disappear by the end of the session. But even then, he followed the doctor's instructions and continued relying on his crutches for support while walking.
The following six days were even more tedious, especially since he couldn't train or kick the ball. He felt bored as he had to do repetitive rehabilitation exercises to strengthen his calf muscles without further hurting them.
Fortunately, his yearning to return to full fitness eclipsed all hardships. He remained motivated, especially since he could perceive his injury healing at a noticeable rate with the passing of each day.
Eventually, Saturday, May 30, the day when Juventus' would play the away game against Hellas Verona, arrived. By then, the doctors had already cleared him to walk without crutches, and he eagerly traveled with his teammates to Verona, hoping that they would achieve at least a draw, which would, in turn, allow him to win another S-grade elixir from the system.
Proceedings went according to schedule, and the game started at 6:00 PM in the almost fully packed Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi. He sat on the bench during the entire match and watched his teammates put up a barely acceptable performance against the opponents.
Maybe it was due to Juventus having already won all the trophies in Italy, including the Supercoppa, the Coppa Italia, and the Serie A, that season. Or perhaps it was because it was the last Serie A match day. But the Old Lady players seemed to lack fighting spirit on the pitch and only played at a sub-par level against the weaker Hellas Verona side.
Roberto Pereyra was the exception. He played like a world-class attacking midfielder from the get-go and looked sharp every time he got hold of the ball.
The highlight of his performance was when he connected with a through pass from Claudio Marchisio before dribbling past one of the defenders and pulling the trigger from around twenty-eight yards out. His shooting technique was superb, and he found the back of the net with the missile of an effort to score Juventus' 1st goal during the 41st minute.
The score was then 1:0 in favor of Juventus, and Zachary sighed with relief as he watched his teammates celebrating the opening goal. His hopes soared as he thought the lead would motivate them to play better football and thrash Verona by a score of two or more goals. However, right after the second half started, he noticed that he couldn't have been more wrong.
The Hellas Verona players came out of the dugout with boundless team spirit. They played brilliant football right from the restart and launched an immediate attack against Juventus. They penetrated Juventus' half by relying on Juanito Gómez, their left-winger, who effortlessly beat Simone Padoin in a one-on-one battle before squaring the ball into the middle.
Leandro Greco, a Hellas Verona attacking midfielder, collected the ball around the edge of the final third before exchanging a brilliant one-two with Luca Toni, the Verona center-forward, to beat Arturo Vidal. The angle then opened up, and Greco pulled the trigger from thirty-two yards out, hoping to score Hellas Verona's 1st goal during the 46th minute.
Unfortunately for him, there was Buffon in Juventus' goal. The experienced keeper threw his body at the thunderous long-distance effort before punching the ball out of play for a corner kick.
But was Juventus out of the woods yet? The answer soon became apparent when Boško Janković, the Hellas Verona right-winger, took the corner kick. He unleashed a tricky cross that eluded all the players crowding in the box before eventually finding its way to Luca Toni, the striker lurking close to the far post.
Luca Toni, on his part, performed his job well as a center-forward. He met the ball with a diving header and guided it into the back of the net to score Hellas Verona's first goal of the evening during the 48th minute.
The game resumed after the goal celebrations, with the Verona players continuing to play a solid game, incorporating stable defending and long balls forward. They played brilliantly for the next ten minutes and came close to scoring twice.
The momentum was on their side, and they continued attacking. Unfortunately for them, Juventus relied on their Champion's luck and counterattacked after they failed to convert yet another opportunity.
Roberto Pereyra was once again the man of the hour. He took advantage of a rare mistake from one of the Verona midfielders to win back possession before setting up Carlos Tevez with a long ball over the top.
Tevez, on his part, was brilliant as ever. He easily beat an opponent with his swift pace on the right flank before squaring the ball to set up Fernando Llorente, who converted from inside the box to score Juventus 2nd goal during the 59th minute.
The score was then 2:1, and the Juventus players fell back and started defending while waiting for the final whistle. They played with spirit and purpose, hoping to see the game through before returning home with another win.
However, another twist eventually occurred in the game during the 90th minute. Arturo Vidal, who had been brilliant the entire game, committed a rare mistake and brought one of the Verona midfielders to the ground a few meters away from the box.
The referee awarded the free kick, and the Verona players readily took advantage of the opportunity to hit back at Juventus. Juanito Gómez was the man of the hour, who sent a perfect curve ball over the defensive wall to find the back of the net and score the equalizer during the game's closing stages.
The score was then 2:2, and Zachary could only sigh from the bench as he watched the Verona players celebrating their equalizing goal. After witnessing how circumstances had progressed on the pitch over the past few minutes, he even feared the worst could happen.
Fortunately, his worries didn't come true. The Juventus players seemed to have received a wake-up call after conceding the goal. They defended tenaciously throughout the closing stages until the referee blew the whistle after six minutes of injury time.
