THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Zachary took a flight from Doha to Turin the following morning. After arriving and resting for a night at his mansion, he headed to the Vinovo, where he linked up with his teammates and coaches to go through his first official training with Juventus in the new year.

The winter in Turin was mild, with daily temperatures much warmer than those he had previously experienced while staying in Trondheim, Norway. Zachary felt that the weather was perfect, and he was in his best state while performing the various tactical drills under the supervision of the coaching staff.

His enhanced stats were already working wonders on the field, and nothing could stop him from outperforming his teammates on the training ground. He was like a true ball wizard on the pitch, and whether it was perfect dribbles or pin-point passes through a hoard of players, he continually executed them flamboyantly like the best of Maestros. He performed so well over the two days of training to the point of amazing his coaches and teammates alike.

"Zachary!" Patrice Evra, the French left-back, called out to him after training on Monday evening. The two of them had already finished taking a shower. They were, at the moment, heading to the tactics room for the pre-game tactical meeting that preceded their home battle against Inter Milan.

"What's up, Patrice?" Zachary said while slowing down his steps to wait for the Frenchman.

Evra smiled and patted Zachary's back. "You were so badass on the training ground today. Your skills are improving at an abnormal rate. What is your secret?"

"Secrets are not meant to be shared," Zachary responded with a chuckle. "That aside, you look well-rested after taking all that time off. Did your injury heal well?"

Evra grinned. "Well... you saw me during training! Didn't you? I can now say that I'm as fit as a fiddle. I'm only waiting for Coach Max to give me an opportunity to make a comeback during an official match. Let's hope the boss will give me a chance during tomorrow's game against Inter Millan."

"Congratulation upon your successful recovery," Zachary said with a smile. "With your return, we have more than enough squad depth to maintain our perfect winning streak. By the way, what is the status of Andrea and Marchisio? Are they recovering well?"

"Yes..." Evra replied while quickening his step to match Zachary's long strides. "Pirlo should be fully fit within two weeks, give or take. He should return to the squad before our Serie A home game against Chievo Verona. Claudio Marchisio, on the other hand, needs more time. He can only achieve complete recovery around the first week of February."

"That's all good news." Zachary smiled. "With their return, we'll head into our next Champions League fixture with our strongest side."

Evra furrowed his brows. "We'll be facing Bayer 04 Leverkusen from German. Right?"

"Yes, that's true. We'll face Bayer 04 Leverkusen away from home in the first leg of the Round-of-Sixteen on February 25th. Then, on March 17th, we'll host them in Turin for the return game."

"Oh!" Evra exclaimed, seemingly thinking about something. "Bayer 04 Leverkusen's coach is Roger Schmidt. He's a tricky one and not easy to defeat. I have watched a few of their games this season, including the one against Borussia Dortmund. They are a team that plays good attacking football under their coach. If we're not careful, we might not easily overcome them."

"Yes," Zachary agreed. "Their coach is one of the most underrated coaches in Europe. He was formerly the coach of Red Bull Salzburg. He gave my former team a hard time when we played against him during last year's Europa League. He likes playing counterattacking football, and I guess he will do the same thing when he meets us during the Champions League Round-of-Sixteen stage."

"That's a given..." Evra said. "But I still believe no team can stop us this season if we play at our best. We have the capability to beat the world's best teams, including Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Real Madrid. What could bring us down are game tactics, squad selections, and injuries. Nothing else!"

"Don't jinx us," Zachary said.

Evra shook his head and pursed his lips. "I heard the news about you joining the Ivory Coast National team. I guess we'll be enemies during international competitions from now on."

"Yeah! You better be prepared. Otherwise, you'll be in for a serious walloping when we play against you."

"Dream on!" Evra chuckled again. "But can I ask why Ivory Coast? Why not join another country with better prospects?"

"Well... My biological mother is from Ivory Coast, and my gut feeling tells me I will fit well in the team. Additionally, they are one of the few African countries with many upcoming young footballers on the international scene. If I join them, we'll have all the arsenal we need to gun for the late stages of the World Cup as an African nation."

"Oh! So, your dream is to win the World Cup with an African nation?"

"Yes, that's my dream. And I guess it's the dream of many African footballers who have ever played in the big leagues."

Evra sighed. "That's a noble dream, my friend. But it will be hard. I wish you all the luck as you try to realize it..."

The two of them continued talking until they entered the tactics room. Zachary parted with Evra and conversed with a few teammates and coaches for the next few minutes. Then, when 5:00 PM arrived, he found a random seat and settled down to listen to Coach Max Allegri's address.

Coach Max Allegri, on his part, spoke for only an hour. He first welcomed the team back from the Christmas Holiday before explaining the tactics for the game against Inter Milan. He then read out the squad and assigned individual roles to the players that made his starting line-up before concluding the tactics meeting.

Zachary thought about the tactics as he drove back to his mansion later that evening. Coach Max Allegri had totally switched up Juventus' tactics for the game against Inter Milan, and the team would be utilizing a new 4-3-1-2 formation instead of their traditional 5-3-2 formation. Moreover, the coach had also given Evra, the player from injury, a starting position as the left back. The tactics and line-up confused Zachary, and he wondered what was going on through the coach's mind.

"We also won't be utilizing any wingers during the game. We only have the left and right defensive midfielders in our squad. They aren't wingers in the traditional sense of football, and I wonder whether they can deliver enough crosses into the opponent's box!"

Zachary continued thinking about Max Allegri's tactics as he guided his Audi RS 7 into the driveway leading to his mansion. He parked the car in front of the house before picking his gym bag out of the back seat and heading towards the house.

The clock hand pointed to the 7:45 PM mark when he stepped into his mansion. All the other house occupants, including Bjørn Peters, Inger, and the maids, were still awake. They greeted him enthusiastically and asked him about his day.

Zachary replied to all their queries with a smile etched on his face before enjoying a light dinner and heading to his room for the night. As usual, he didn't forget to go through his pre-bedtime yoga routine to relax his muscles after a tiring training session. Then, as the clock hands pointed to the 9:15 mark, he washed up and jumped into bed to rest for the night.

Zachary wanted to sink into a relaxing slumber as soon as possible. He hoped to enjoy more than eight hours of rest so as to allow his body to return to its peak condition before the following day's match against Inter Milan. He wanted to do everything right in order to achieve the best state possible during the game.

However, when he got in between the sheets, sleep wouldn't come, and his mind started wandering. He thought about many things, including his failed relationship with Camilla, the death of his grandma, and his recent change of nationality to become an Ivory Coast citizen. Many more thoughts raced through his mind, and he finally realized the meaning of true loneliness while pushing for greatness.

Sure, his football career had progressed at an unbelievable speed. The investments he had made were also promising. But aside from those two elements, he had not developed the other aspects of his life, the most miserable of those being his social acumen.

First and foremost, he was out of touch with most of his previous acquaintances, including his relatives, former teammates, and other people he knew during his younger years. He had also broken up with Camilla, and it was as if he couldn't maintain all his relationships long enough. He was alone in every true sense of the world, and the only good thing he had going for him was his football.

"After tomorrow's game," Zachary resolved, "I have to spare time and reach out to my former acquaintances like Kasongo, the Ottersons, Marta, Melissa, my former teammates, and my former coaches. I must constantly check up on them, but aside from that, I also have to continue working hard to progress my football career. Football is the greatest thing in my life, and I should endeavor to do my utmost not to lose it."

With the resolutions made, Zachary's mood lightened. He was no longer thinking of random things, and a few minutes later, he sank into the warm embrace of slumber and soon started dreaming about winning the Ballon d'Or.