THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

A soft smile outlined Zachary's face as he picked himself from the ground after watching the referee show a straight red card to the Juventus captain. He was well aware that the decision against the Italian giants was the best possible development for Rosenborg during the early stages of the match.

A few seconds prior, when he'd been one-on-one with the keeper, he'd not chosen a more efficient dribbling style to beat the keeper and score with ease. Instead, he'd executed a couple of flashy side-steps to irritate and force a reaction out of the Juventus captain. He'd wished and hoped that the keeper could make a mistake and foul him within the box.

And it seemed like the goddess of luck was really on Rosenborg's side during that match. Just as he was about to break past the keeper with a deft side-step, the man held his leg. Of course, Zachary immediately went to the ground, hoping to draw the attention and concern of the referee. What followed was pretty straightforward, with Juventus going a man down only during the 15th minute of gameplay.

"Nice play," Nicki said, patting Zachary's shoulder. "Man, that was some incredible run from our box to the centerline."

Zachary just smiled in response. At that moment, his attention was still on the Juventus players lodging their complaints to the referee. Did they really think they could force a referee to alter his decision? He was a bit amused by their actions. So, after watching for a while, he could only shake his head and turn his focus to the more vital issues.

"I'll take the penalty," he said to Nicki and a few other teammates that had just assembled around him.

"You won the penalty singlehandedly, man," Nicki said with a smile. "Unless you want to give it to me, your most-reliable counterpart, it's yours to take."

Zachary beamed, picking up the ball and placing it on the penalty spot. He didn't need to respond verbally as his actions clearly indicated his stand.

The penalty kick was of paramount importance for his team, Rosenborg. He couldn't trust anyone else to take it, aside from himself. His mind wouldn't be at ease even if Nicki, the ever-reliable Rosenborg striker, took up the responsibility.

-----

After a few more minutes, the referee managed to soothe the angry Juventus players. He finally managed to send their captain out of the pitch and immediately started preparing for the penalty.

He organized the players, except the penalty taker, outside the box. But even after doing all that, the game couldn't restart as he was still waiting for Juventus to sub in a new keeper in place of their red-carded captain.

****    ****

Antonio Conte was in a terrible mood as he hurried his assistants to prep the substitute goalkeeper. He'd repeatedly cautioned his players to be wary of the Zachary fellow. However, they'd ignored his warnings and let the man do as he pleased during the first fifteen minutes of gameplay. Because of their laxity, the team was in a very dire situation.

"How far with prepping the keeper?" He shouted at the goalkeeping coach.

"He's still dressing up," the goalkeeping coach replied. "However, we don't have time to take him through a proper warm-up. So, we'll immediately send him to the pitch after he has finished his preparations. And that should be in about two to three minutes."

"This is really a mess," Conte said, tightening his fists. He was angry and a bit tense. He understood that he needed to do something about the game situation and plan for damage control, especially for the rest of the first half. Otherwise, the opponents from a low-tier league might shame his team.

"Pogba," he said abruptly after noticing that the substitute keeper had yet to finalize his preparations.

"Yes, coach," Pogba replied immediately and rose from the bench.

"Come here for a moment," the coach intoned.

Pogba nodded and approached the coach's position with a slight swagger in his stride. He appeared confident and not the least bit affected by what was transpiring on the pitch.

Coach Conte creased his brows slightly. "I want you in the game as a sub for Carlos Tévez as soon as possible. Are you ready to play?"

"Of course, coach," Pogba replied with a lopsided grin. "I'm always ready to enter the pitch as long as you need me."

"Good," Coach Conte said, stealing a glance at the proceedings on the field of play. "Here are my instructions for you and the rest of the midfielders."

"I'm listening, coach." Pogba nodded and stepped closer.

"Since we already have a red card," the coach said, "we'll sacrifice all our striking force to strengthen the other aspects of our team during the rest of the game. Marco Storari will sub in for Osvaldo as our new keeper. As for you, you'll sub in for Carlos Tévez."

"However, my intention is not for you to play as a striker, even though you're subbing in for one. Instead, you'll join up with our five midfielders to strengthen our side in the middle."

"Additionally," the coach continued, "you'll play a free role and mark that Zachary fellow. Follow him wherever he goes for the rest of the game, and don't allow him to receive passes comfortably from his teammates. Do your utmost to frustrate him, and stop him from doing as he pleases in our half."

Conte sighed, shaking his head. "I would prefer that any other Rosenborg player retains the ball in our half, even when unmarked, rather than letting that fellow shame us again. I even believe that if we contain that fellow, then Rosenborg won't manage to score a goal for the rest of the game. That's even when we're a man down."

"So, as a contingency, tell both Arturo and Claudio to help you out whenever you feel that you don't have a chance of stopping him alone. They only need to defend the zones in our half where he would possibly run with the ball while you continue marking him closely. With that, we can blend both zonal and man-to-man marking strategies to prevent him from doing as he pleases."

Pogba nodded before narrowing his eyes. "What about the striking? If they manage to score the penalty, we'll be two goals down. Don't you think we should try to get at least one goal back as soon as possible?"

"Don't mix up issues, Pogba!" Conte's tone was sharp. "At the moment, what we need to do most is stabilize the game. The most vital issue for us is to ensure that we don't concede more goals before halftime. As long as we can accomplish that, we can organize more targeted strategies to create scoring chances during halftime. But if we continue being arrogant and play recklessly against Rosenborg, even when we're a man down, we might concede two or three more goals. Do you get my point?"

"I get you, coach," Pogba replied.

"Okay, then," Conte said. "Go and start warming up. I want you on the pitch in less than five minutes. And do not forget my instructions."

"Yes, coach," Pogba replied before stepping away to undergo his warm-up routine.

****    ****

After a whole five minutes, Juventus finally brought on their substitute keeper. His name was Marco Storari — a player that Zachary had never heard of during his previous life. Be that as it may, he still decided to approach the penalty kick with caution. He didn't want to waste Rosenborg's rare chance of furthering the lead due to a moment of arrogance.

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee blew the whistle a moment later. Zachary immediately took a few steps back from the penalty spot while observing the substitute keeper, who'd just taken his place between the posts.

Zachary's mind was very sharp at that moment since he'd already activated the Dead-Ball-Specialist Juju. So, he could make out each and every motion made by the keeper.

For instance, he noticed that the keeper was leaning slightly to the left, which was a tell-tale sign of an intention to dive in the same direction. However, the keeper could also be baiting him to take a shot toward that side of the goal. So, he decided to shoot toward neither left nor right after a moment of consideration.

He immediately made a short, angled run towards the ball while still observing the keeper's actions. Then, he swung his leg down in one swift motion and unleashed an improvised version of a snapshot towards the roof of the goal.

As expected, the keeper couldn't save the penalty. He'd instead dived towards the right while the ball soared above him. He could only turn back dejectedly and watch the ball perfectly nestling into the back of the net after completing his dive.

Of course, all that had nothing to do with Zachary. He had already rushed towards the stadium's northeast corner, where the few Rosenborg fans were seated. He could hardly contain his excitement as he punched the air repeatedly before raising his arms above his head to celebrate the goal.

Everything seemed so surreal to him at that moment. He was facing off against Juventus, one of the best teams in Europe and the entire globe. Yet, he'd already scored twice to place his team in a very advantageous position. It was a dream come true as far as he was concerned.