THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-127

*FWEEEEEEE*

All the players had taken their starting positions on the field. The referee looked around the pitch one more time before blowing the whistle and motioning for the match to restart.

Leke James, one of Aalesunds' forwards, kicked the ball back to his half, starting the game once again. Jason Morrison, the defensive midfielder in Aalesunds' 4-4-2 diamond formation, picked the ball up deep in his half—and instantly played it towards Hugues Wembangomo, the right-back. For the next few seconds, the Aalesunds players passed the ball around their backfield, trying their best to slow down the game's tempo.

However, Rosenborg was having none of that. Their players swarmed into Aalesunds' half like locusts and closed down nearly all the passing routes of the opponents. They played like they had consumed a dose of some freakish energy-enhancing elixir. They were in overdrive.

Whenever an Aalesunds player touched the ball, a Rosenborg opponent would be upon him instantly, forcing him to relinquish it to a teammate. If the other player received the resultant pass, another Rosenborg player would also do the same.

Nonetheless, the Aalesunds players remained patient and continued trying to pass the ball in their backfield even under pressure. However, the Rosenborg players also didn't let up the heat.

They continued using high-pressing tactics while compressing their 4-3-3 formation to narrow down the spaces in the middle. Rosenborg continued creating an intense atmosphere around whichever opponent had the ball, making it difficult for the Aalesunds players to distribute or receive passes.

That way, team Rosenborg managed to force their opponents to play the ball high and long towards their two forwards. But that was what Zachary and his teammates had been anticipating.

Verner Rönning, Rosenborg's center back, sprang into action and intercepted the long ball before the two Aalesunds forwards could reach it. He headed it back to Lund Hansen, the keeper.

Rosenborg had regained possession for the first time after scoring the goal. Lund Hansen didn't dilly-dally, though. He ran towards the edge of the box and made a long throw towards the left flank where Mikael Dorsin, the Rosenborg number-3, was waiting.

Mikael received the ball with a deft touch and let loose a cut-back pass to the middle of the field—in the direction of Jonas Svensson, the Rosenborg defensive midfielder.

On seeing Jonas Svensson receive the ball, Zachary ran into an open space beyond the zone of intense rival pressure. Jonas spotted him an instant later and passed the ball to him. But just as he received the pass, Fredrik Carlsen, the Aalesunds left midfielder, was upon him.

Zachary looked around, searching for a teammate to give a pass. To his surprise, the opponents had already marked all the Rosenborg midfielders. Even Jonas Svensson, who'd just passed to him, had already been closed down by one of the Aalesunds forwards.

It seemed the opponents had decided to use the high-pressing strategy to pressure Rosenborg into losing possession of the ball. They were marking the Rosenborg players tightly deep in their own half.

However, Zachary didn't panic because of the pressure. Instead, he brought the ball to the ground with his back facing the Aalesunds left midfielder, who was almost upon him.

He then faked going to the right, forcing Fredrik Carlsen to buy the dummy and follow his body feint. But an instant later, he braked momentarily and reversed directions, going to the left with the ball glued to his right foot. With that single move, he'd managed to lose the Aalesunds left midfielder, creating a yard of space for himself in the process.

However, he didn't let himself relax just yet. His soccer instincts were screaming at him that Fredrick Carlsen had retraced his steps and would be upon him once more in mere seconds. So, he didn't dilly-dally and flicked the ball further left, gaining an extra yard of space.

Adrenaline flooded his system as he assessed the situation across the field. His mind went into a higher gear to utilize the Zinedine-Pirlo Mental Juju and construct a mental map of all the players in his field of vision. All the while, he kept in motion, stepping further away from the opponents surrounding him.

In nothing but an instant, three linear passing routes connecting to a few of his teammates appeared in his visual field. They appeared as nearly intangible threads, extending from him towards his teammates. Furthermore, Zachary realized that they were not in his mind, like the mental maps he used to keep track of other players, but were—projected where his eyes had roamed.

Zachary was surprised for a moment since it was the first time he'd faced such a situation. The threads almost dazzled him to the point of blundering and committing the amateur mistake of leaving the ball behind. But luckily, he had already stepped a couple of yards away from Fredrick Carlsen, the Aalesunds midfielder. And thus, he took a couple of seconds to recollect himself and bring the ball under control before it was too late.

In the meantime, he also used those few seconds to observe the linear passing routes and decide where to distribute the ball as quickly as possible. He could tell that the three threads in his visual field were—linked to the zones around his teammates, who were unmarked or had yards of space to work with the ball.

Zachary smiled inwardly, realizing that the threads were the perfect guides revealing the best and most suitable passing options available to him on the pitch. But he still had to decide where to pass since the threads were only visual guides.

As a midfielder, he still had to use his game intelligence to determine which of the three passing routes projected in front of him would yield the best result. He could not simply base the decision on his teammate being open to receiving a pass. If he did that, he would end up distributing the ball to a teammate that was totally off form. That was unacceptable. What he had to consider, though, was the performance of that teammate during that game. Only then could he release long-range passes that could have a marked impact on the match situation.