THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-140

In the stands, Kristin Stein watched the proceedings on the pitch with rapt attention as Zachary got cornered by a mean-looking Tromsø midfielder. With her ample experience of spectating football matches, she could easily guess that the opponents were trying to silence Zachary by closing down all his passing options.

"There we have it," she heard Kjell Roar yell out loud, his booming voice coming to her from a nearby stadium loudspeaker. "Tromsø is clearly defense-minded in today's game. Their marking in their defensive third is astounding. Zachary Bemba, the Rosenborg number-33, has been isolated by the highly disciplined Tromsø defense. He has no passing options. Oh! What will he do?" Kjell Roar added, his tone turning dramatic towards the very end.

"If I were him, I would just take it easy and pass back to my defenders or goalkeeper," Harald Brattbakk chipped in. "Rather than risking..." he stopped mid-sentence as if he'd been interrupted by something.

"Oh! What have we here," Kjell Roar yelled after a moment.

Kristin's focus was on the pitch the entire time. She watched as Zachary flicked the ball to one side before bolting past Ruben Jenssen, Tromsø's defensive midfielder, with his incredible pace born from his long strides. In a matter of seconds, he gained himself a few yards of space and found himself bearing down on Tromsø's defensive line.

He kept running towards Tromsø's box until Josh Pritchard, the other holding-midfielder, was—forced to leave his position to close him down. But that was what Zachary had been anticipating as Josh had left an exploitable gap in Tromsø's defensive line.

Thus, no sooner had Josh left his position than Zachary flicked the ball towards Nicki Nielsen, who'd long escaped his mark. Nicki didn't disappoint since he was then only marked by one defensive player rather than two. He controlled the ball well, stepping further away from another opponent—and soon, was on his way, racing towards Tromsø's box like the wind.

Kristin felt her heartbeat quicken as Nicki Nielsen, the Rosenborg number-9, dashed past another Tromsø player. Like the rest of the fans around her, she stood up from her seat, not wishing to miss any moment of Rosenborg's first chance at goal. However, a moment later, Miika Koppinen, the Tromsø center back, rushed at Nicki, slid in, and tackled the ball away from his feet. He sent the forward tumbling to the ground a couple of yards away from the box.

"Oh, my!" Kjell Roar, the commentator, yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice smothering all the sighs and curses of the Rosenborg fans in the stadium.

"The captain of Tromsø has just committed a foul in a rather dangerous position at the edge of the box. The referee has shown him a yellow card and awarded Rosenborg a free-kick. Harald! Do you think we may get to see another masterpiece from the young Zachary this early in the match?"

"As you can see from the screen, even Tromsø's coach is clearly displeased and frustrated by the foul in such a position," Harald, the pundit for the game, commented. "That set-piece is only a couple of yards further away from goal than the one Zachary scored against Aalesunds FK on the weekend. He should be able to produce something spectacular here if he's given a chance. That's the reason Coach Agnar Christensen's facial expression has morphed into a scary frown. I'm sure that he'll have a lot to say to his captain at halftime."

Kjell Roar laughed at that. "But we have to commend the decisiveness of the Tromsø captain. If he'd left Nicki Nielsen unchecked, he would have still made his way into the box. And that would still spell trouble for the boys from the North."

"True that," Harald replied. "Had he not made the foul, Nicki might already be celebrating another one of his goals for this season."

"Okay, then," Kjell Roar said. "Let's take you back to the action. The referee has finished organizing the wall. And as we had expected, it is Zachary Bemba standing on the set-piece. Will he produce another incredible finish like the one on the weekend? Let's wait and see."

**** ****

Zachary took a few steps back after assessing the positioning of the players in the box. That time around, his teammates had unanimously allowed him to be the set-piece taker due to his weekend's performance. Thus, he wished to live up to their expectations and help his team convert the set-piece.

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee blew the whistle, motioning for Zachary to take the set piece. Zachary took a deep breath and slowly gathered momentum. He soon started jogging towards the ball while barring out any outside noise from affecting his delivery. Using his highly mastered Bend-it like-Beckham Juju, he took a final jump step and then walloped the ball with the inside of his left boot.

All the while, he kept his eyes focused on the ball as he made contact, unleashing a curling free-kick towards the goal.

**** ****

Kristin's eyes followed the ball as it curved around the wall of five Tromsø players, whizzing towards the goal like a stinger missile out of its launcher. She felt her heartbeat quicken and raised her arms as the ball made an impossible curve before dipping as it whirled towards the inside of the post. Kristin could tell that Zachary had taken the free-kick well as it was clearly bound for the back of the net.

However, before she could celebrate, the Tromsø keeper jumped high like he had wings and touched the whirling ball slightly with his fingertips. The ball deviated from its intended course and smashed off the crossbar before bouncing back into the field of play.

"Oh, my," Kjell Roar yelled at the top of his voice. "What an unbelievable save from Marcus Salman, the Tromsø number-1. That's some incredible stuff here. Fantastic effort from Zachary! He did everything right and delivered a set piece that was clearly heading for the top right corner. However, what a phenomenal save. In the 17th minute, Zachary has been denied the chance to put Rosenborg ahead."

Kristin could only sigh at the missed opportunity.