THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

The following morning, Zachary woke up early, at around six, and enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast prepared by Inger, his professional chef. Then, he spent about thirty minutes meditating in the quiet environment afforded by his bedroom to clear his mind before cleaning up and donning a brand-new Juventus tracksuit.

Minutes later, just as the first rays of the just-risen sun started to stream through the shy gap between the window curtains, he exited his bedroom and descended the stairs. With a measured pace, he headed to the dining room, intending to say his goodbyes to the other occupants of his villa.

Quickly walking through the door to the dining room, he found Bjørn Peters, his fitness trainer, enjoying breakfast with Inger, his wife, at the dining table. As for Jaslene - his newly-hired maid, she was busy dusting the seats around the bar and coffee area beyond the far side of the dining room.

Turning his gaze away from the maid, he smiled at Bjørn Peters. "How's your morning, coach?" He asked, flashing his fitness trainer a smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept like a baby," the coach replied. "How about you? Are you ready to face off against Cagliari Calcio today evening?"

"Yes, I'm," Zachary replied, his voice brimming with confidence. He then spent a few more minutes exchanging more small talk with Bjørn and Inger before exiting the house through the side entrance.

Three days ago, Audi officials in Italy had finally sent over his new Audi RS 7. It wasn't anything as flashy as a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. But it was still a glittering white machine with outrageous performance, impressive refinement, and surprising practicality.

Smiling slightly, Zachary unlocked the Audi and placed his gym bag in the boot. Then, he went around the car and opened the front door before settling his tall frame within the spacious driver's seat.

With expert ease, he started it up, and the engine came alive the next moment. He eased it out of his estate, and a few minutes later, he joined the spacious roads of Turin and started making his way toward the Vinovo.

Zachary maintained a velocity of around seventy to eighty km/hour, hoping to make it to the training center before 8:30 AM, which was the agreed-upon time for the team to convene before heading to Sardinia for the game against Cagliari Calcio. But just as he was rounding another roundabout along the Via Moncalieri route, he drew the ire of the traffic police after missing a speed limit sign. As such, he had to park his car by the roadside and answer the questions of the law enforcers for a good 20-plus minutes before continuing on his way.

He arrived safely at the Vinovo fifteen minutes later. However, since he'd wasted almost half an hour talking to the traffic police, he was late by about eight minutes. So, his teammates and most coaches had already boarded the bus that would ferry them to the airport by the time he made it to the parking lot. Only Maurizio Trombetta, the assistant coach in charge of the first team, and the three medical personnel were yet to board. They were anxious and looking around as if they were waiting for someone, that someone possibly being himself.

"Zachary! There you are!" Coach Maurizio Trombetta exclaimed when he spotted Zachary. "We were just about to depart without you. Why the hell are you late?"

Zachary sighed and told the assistant coach how he'd wasted time talking to the traffic police on his way to the Vinovo. Then, he apologized for being late before asking the coach whether he could board the team bus.

"Of course, you can board the bus," Coach Trombetta said with a sigh. "However, as you know, the head coach is a person that is strict on timekeeping principles. He has already removed your name from the starting eleven, and you'll have to start from the bench today evening."

"But I was only late by about eight minutes..." Zachary tried to argue. He was, of course, not happy after being dropped from the starting eleven.

However, Coach Trombetta stopped him with a simple dismissive gesture. "Zachary!" The assistant coach said. "We all agreed that we had to arrive by 8:30 AM today. But for whatever reason, you arrived late. So, tell me! Do you want us to turn a blind eye to your being late? Do you wish for us to ignore the team rules and allow you to remain in the starting line-up? And let's say we do just that: What happens when another player arrives late in the future? Will we follow the same example and let that player go unpunished?"

On hearing the coach's barrage of questions, Zachary was at a loss for words. He could only remain quiet as he knew that he was the one in the wrong.

"Zachary!" Coach Trombetta continued. "I'm sorry to say: But for this game, you'll have to start on the bench. It's your punishment for arriving late. Okay?"

"Okay, I understand," Zachary replied, sighing heavily. But he didn't say anything more, as that would be totally meaningless.

After spending more than four months at the club, he had already learned that Coach Allegri would rarely change his mind after making a decision. So, Zachary was better off remaining quiet rather than challenging the coaching committee's abrupt decision to bench him. Additionally, by silently taking the punishment, he would maintain the team's harmonious atmosphere and increase Juventus' chances of winning the match against Cagliari Calcio.

"It's good that you understand," Coach Trombetta said with a slight smile. "You can board the bus and join the rest of your teammates. We'll be setting off for the airport in a few minutes."

"Okay, coach," Zachary replied and boarded the team bus. He then greeted a few of his teammates before settling in one of the seats towards the back.

-----

Later that morning, at around half past ten, the Juventus squad arrived in Cagliari, Sardinia, by plane. After resting for about an hour and having a late morning snack in a cafe, they went through a super-light training session at one of the training grounds in Cagliari before enjoying a highly-nutritious meal selected by the team dieticians. Then, after lunch, they checked into a local hotel and rested for a good four hours before heading to the Stadio Sant'Elia, ready to face off against the tricky Cagliari Calcio side.

On arriving at the stadium gates, they received a heartwarming welcome from the crowd of traveling Juventus supporters, who were eager to get close to the players. However, as the squad was tight on time, the Juventus players didn't stop to sign autographs or take pictures with the excited fans. Instead, they just waved to the supporters before continuing on into the stadium.

A few minutes later, the Juventus squad arrived in the visiting team's dressing room, and from there on, proceedings moved on quickly. Under the urging of the coaches, the players hastily finished changing into their training gear before heading to the pitch to go through a pre-match warm-up.

Minutes later, after concluding the warm-up, they returned to the dressing room and donned their match gear. Then, after listening to Coach Allegri's pre-match address, the players who had made the starting eleven exited the dressing room with all the haste they could muster before heading back to the pitch to commence their Serie A battle against Cagliari Calcio.

Naturally, Zachary, the young playmaker serving punishment for his late-coming behavior that morning, headed to the bench instead of joining the rest of the first-string players on the playing field. Surprisingly, his absence from the starting eleven caused only a few intuitive Juventus supporters to raise their eyebrows. As for the other supporters, they probably assumed that Coach Allegri had just rested the young playmaker, especially since Juventus was playing against a much weaker Cagliari Calcio side. So, they didn't react abnormally to his absence from the starting line-up.

Proceedings moved forward, and the teams went through the pre-match routines, including the customary handshake and captain's coin toss. Then, when all the clock hands in Sardinia pointed to the seven o'clock mark, the referee's whistle sounded, and the long-awaited match commenced with Cagliari Calcio's kick-off.

Cagliari Calcio was a team placed third last on the Serie A table. They had only accomplished a measly result of two wins, six draws, and seven losses out of their opening fifteen Italian Serie A games.

Their chances of winning were so low that even the betting companies had given Juventus a paltry odd of 1.08 to win the game. And due to their greatly-lacking form and momentum, all the supporters watching the game thought that the flying Juventus squad would make quick work of the Cagliari side.

But as we all know, there is never a hundred percent certainty when predicting the result of football matches. At certain times, the lower-placed teams could also overpower the footballing giants with the right game plan, attitude, match discipline, and some luck — and that was what happened during that evening's match between Cagliari Calcio and Juventus.

With the absence of Zachary from the squad, Juventus struggled to control the game in the early stages. The often-creative and solid midfielders like Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal failed to control the game, especially after being constantly harassed by the hostile Cagliari supporters within the stands. And on several occasions of pure carelessness, they lost possession and allowed the ardent Cagliari players to launch terrifying counterattacks, which eventually caused nightmares for Juventus' defense.

In such a manner, the game proceeded forward, and the hardworking Cagliari players slowly gained the advantage. They built up momentum and confidence, and it wasn't long before they stunned the traveling Juventus supporters into silence with a successful counterattack.

They broke through Juventus' ranks and raced into the lead during the twelfth minute of gameplay, with Víctor Ibarbo, Cagliari's center forward, teeing up Andrea Cossu to drive past Gianluigi Buffon with a missile from outside the box. And with that, they were firmly in the driving seat and soon built up even more momentum.

Things could've gotten worse for the Old Lady if the highly-experienced Buffon had not been on hand to stop a 15th-minute point-blank header from Víctor Ibarbo, Cagliari's center forward. Fortunately, after that incident, the Juventus players seemed to have woken up and begun to exert pressure on the Cagliari goal.

The on-form Carlos Teves and Fernando Llorente, Juventus' two strikers, soon became the main threats as they linked up with crosses from the wings to try their luck on goal. They even came close to scoring during the 34th and 39th minutes, respectively, only to be denied by stunning saves by Alessio Cragno, the Cagliari keeper.

Proceedings moved forward, and the second half soon arrived, with fans and commentators alike thinking that the Juventus players would shift into high gear to look for an equalizing goal. But the Cagliari players, who'd started the first half well, once again proved why they were a tricky side to play against, especially at their home ground.

During the 49th minute, they won a corner kick after executing yet another startling counter against Juventus. Daniele Conti, Cagliari's captain, took the corner with perfect precision to link up with Víctor Ibarbo, who headed home to score Cagliari's 2nd goal for the evening.

The score was then 2:0 in favor of Cagliari, the home team, and Juventus were already staring down the barrel of their first defeat of the season. Be that as it may, they didn't give up and stepped up their game to launch more purposeful attacks against the opponents. But they still couldn't find the back of the net even a single time as the game approached the late stages.

Moreover, as the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly. When people watching the match were beginning to believe that things couldn't get any worse for Juventus, a reckless tackle from one of the opponents during the 56th minute took Andrea Pirlo, Juventus' deep-lying playmaker, out of the equation. As such, the Italian Maestro joined Claudio Marchisio and Patrice Evra on the list of injured players, thus leaving his teammates to pick up the pieces against the tenacious Cagliari side. For sure, it was one unexpected crisis after another.