THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-269

Zachary successfully met the Rosenborg executives and signed the contract extension that morning. The terms of the new deal tied him to Rosenborg for two more years in total.

He had to play for the Norwegian giants throughout the twelve months of 2014, as specified in his first agreement with the club, plus the entirety of 2015, as stipulated in the contract extension he'd just signed. Nonetheless, he would still be free to negotiate personal terms with any club that triggered his buy-out clause of 50 million Euros throughout the contract's duration. The only condition was that the negotiating club was not a direct competitor of Rosenborg in the domestic league. That is, it had to be a team from outside of Norway.

Additionally, Zachary became eligible to receive 1.2 Million Norwegian Kroner as monthly remuneration, plus loads of appealing match bonuses, beginning with December. It was a good bargain — one that elevated Zachary's status to the list of highest earners in the Norwegian Football League. He was, of course, quite contented.

After signing the contract extension, Zachary kept true to his promise. He took Emily out for lunch to celebrate their success. Together, they enjoyed a fulfilling full-course Norwegian meal at the Robust Bistro restaurant before parting ways.

As planned, Zachary met with Coach Bjørn Peters, his fitness trainer, at one of the training grounds of Rosenborg later that day. The two of them went through agility and endurance-enhancing cone drills under the glare of the afternoon sun. They only parted ways two hours later, with both their shirts drenched in sweat — an emblem of their exertion during the intensive exercise session.

However, Zachary didn't feel exhausted despite doing drills the entire afternoon. So, he decided to practice his set-piece technique on the empty training field to pass the time.

He quickly set up a wall of mannequins in front of the goals and fetched balls from the equipment room. Not long after, he was unleashing set-piece after set-piece, repeatedly, over the defensive wall into the back of the net.

He was very diligent while training his set-piece technique, always maintaining a steady and uniform shooting posture every time he took a shot. He would always approach at measured speed from a 45 degrees angle before taking a final jump step towards the ball. With movements as seamless and deft as Beckham in action, he would then smash the ball while leaning back slightly to send it curling over the wall and into the back of the empty net.

Uniformity! Consistency! Insane repetition during practice!

Those three were the few guiding principles he'd long imposed upon himself to take his set-piece technique to the topmost level humanly possible. With the right attitude and an insane amount of relentless training, he believed that he would become the best free-kick taker in the world sooner or later.

He didn't just hope to become another Messi, Nakamura, or David Beckham but surpass them. He yearned to raise his technique to a level that could cause terror in the minds of opposing goalkeepers with just his presence on the pitch.

"Zachary!" A loud yell from the sidelines brought his motions to a pause after he'd just finished sending another set piece over the wall.

He turned around immediately and noticed three of his newest teammates approaching from the sidelines.

The over six-foot-tall Yerry Mina was in the lead and seemed to be the one that had called his name. Slightly trailing behind him was Thomas Partey, the defensive midfielder, and Eric Bailly, the defender. They were in full training attire, looking all imposing in Rosenborg tracksuits, and seemingly prepared for training.

"What's up, guys?" Zachary greeted them with a wave. However, he didn't step away from his position in front of the wall of mannequins.

"What's up, Zach!" The three of them replied, each of them taking turns to step forward and bump fists with him. They seemed to be in high spirits, probably because of Rosenborg's spell of wins over the past few weeks.

"Isn't this a day off for the entire team?" Zachary asked in a joking manner while giving each of them a once-over. "Why are you guys here while you're supposed to be resting back at home?"

The three of them laughed in response to Zachary's question.

"My bones ache if I spend a day without playing some football," Eric Bailly supplied. "Football is like an addiction to me, a drug I can't do without on a daily basis. What about you? We could ask you the same. Why are you sweating alone here on the training ground when it's supposedly a day of rest?" The Ivorian's eyes crinkled slightly at the corners as he gazed squarely at Zachary.

Zachary just laughed in response without giving any verbal explanations.

"Anyways, Zachary!" Yerry Mina interjected a bit impatiently, changing the direction of the conversation. "We want to play a two-touch rondo of three-against-one. But we are missing one person. Is it possible for you to join us after your set-piece practice?"

"I can join you any time you're ready to begin," Zachary, of course, agreed.

A rondo was a keep-away-style drill used as a training tool at all levels of football, from amateurs to professionals. In a rondo game, one group of players would try their utmost to keep possession of the ball while completing a series of passes in a designated space on the field. At the same time, a smaller group of players (sometimes a single player) would try to win the ball back from the bigger group and take possession.

It was an effective tool to teach a player the competitive aspects of the game when done right. From the seemingly simple game, one could learn how to fight to make space in tight situations, what to do when or when not in possession, how to play one-touch soccer, and how to win the ball back. A player could improve all perspectives applicable to competitive football, except shooting, through a rondo. It was a divine tool on a training field, the sort of drill any player should never miss when there was a chance.

So, without dilly-dallying, Zachary joined the three players for a rondo. They played the simple game, alternating the player in the middle time and time again, until long after the sun had sunk below the horizon in the west. By then, they were sweating all over and out of breath. However, they were all smiles as they had enjoyed themselves and benefited greatly from the exercise.

"We should do this more often, especially whenever we have a day off from training," Thomas Partey suggested as they sat on the green under the illumination of the floodlights after the workout. "What do you, guys, think?"

"I'm in," Eric Bailly was the first to reply, in between gasps of breath.

"Count me in, too," Yerry Mina also concurred in between a couple of lower limb stretches on the green.

"I'll also join whenever I don't have an appointment with my fitness trainer," Zachary said while remaining still on the ground. He was totally spent since he'd been exercising for hours prior to the arrival of the others. He didn't have the energy to do even a couple of stretches at that moment.

"There's no need to worry about the get-together interfering with your personalized training, Zachary," Thomas intoned. "I'll communicate beforehand to make sure that we're all free before we meet. That way, we'll avoid interruptions to our other plans."

"That's perfect, then," Zachary said, smiling.

"Great," Thomas said with a smile. "I'll communicate when we'll be meeting next this week."

"Okay," Zachary said before changing the topic. "I'm really excited since we'll be facing Molde in the Norwegian Cup final in two weeks. If we can defeat Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men, we'll achieve our first double with Rosenborg. Are you guys ready?"

"Of course, we are," Eric Bailly was quick to reply on behalf of the rest. "I'm ready to give everything in that match to lift my second trophy with Rosenborg. Even if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, himself, joins in on the action on the pitch, I have faith we'll still win. Let's face it. We're a team that just defeated Red Bull Salzburg three goals to nil in the Europa League. How could we lose to the shrimp soldiers and crab generals under Ole?"

"My thoughts exactly," Yerry Mina added with a chuckle.

"You guys should take that game seriously," Zachary warned after noticing their attitude towards their opponents in the finals of the Norwegian Cup. "Molde has always been very tricky, especially against Rosenborg. That is a fact proven throughout the long history between the two clubs."

"Moreover, the Molde players and coaches are under tremendous pressure from their fans since they did very poorly in the league this season. They have never been more determined to win the Cup final. I'm sure that they will do everything within their power to win that game. If we let our guard down, we'll find ourselves stumbling when we're just a step away from the double."

"You're right, Zachary," Thomas said. "Molde will surely come at us with everything they've got. It's good that we have an entire thirteen days without competitive football. That's enough time for us to prepare adequately and then pulverize Ole's men in the final. Don't you think so, Zachary?"

Zachary suppressed a laugh. "Of course, if we prepare adequately and play at our best in the final, we're favorites to win. There's no question about that."

"My point exactly," Eric chipped in with a grin. "The game that really has me worried is our next Europa League game against Standard Liège on the 28th of November, the Thursday after our final with Molde. Should we lose, our Europa League campaign for this year will be over. That would really be a bummer."

"We'll win," Zachary said confidently. "As long as we do our best on the pitch, we'll surely succeed and send Standard Liège packing out of the Europa League."

Eric Bailly gave a hearty laugh after hearing Zachary's declaration. "I'm glad you're confident, Zachary," he said, jumping off the ground with zest. "You only need to handle the attacking bit and score at least a goal. On our part, we'll make sure that the Belgians don't even get a chance to make any meaningful attempt on our goal."

"Really?" Zachary looked at the Ivorian skeptically.

"Of course," Eric assured, thumping his chest. "As defenders, we'll do our utmost to maintain another clean sheet for that game. So, all you have to do is to put one in the back of the net. Then, the game will end there and then."

"You said it yourself," Zachary said, picking himself up from the ground. He'd already regained some stamina after resting for a bit. "I'll have to hold you to your promise on that day, Eric. Mark my words."

"Good." Eric nodded.

"It's getting late," Zachary said, rubbing his hands together to chase away the cold. "I'm suggesting we do some stretches before calling it a day. What do you think, guys?"

"Why are you in a rush to head back home?" Eric queried, grinning from ear to ear. "Is there a hot girl waiting for you back home?"

The others laughed at that.

"That's not the case," Zachary said, sighing. "It's just that I need to go to bed early today so that I can be ready for the team training tomorrow."

"Ohhh!" Eric exclaimed, leaning forward and widening his eyes. "What a bore! All you think about is sleeping and training. And here I thought that a certain supermodel was waiting for you somewhere."

Zachary could only sigh and shake his head at that. "Let's stretch and call it a day," he said and got into motion right away.

"Okay, okay, stretching it is."

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