THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-554

Three days later, on Sunday, March 29th, Zachary played his second match for Ivory Coast's National Football team. The game was another friendly face-off, and it was against Equatorial Guinea, another African country. It kicked off at 3:00 PM within the grounds of the Stade Félix-Houphouët-Boigny, which happened to be the same venue that hosted the match against Angola.

Zachary, who had just performed impressively during his debut against Angola, made the starting eleven as a central midfielder that afternoon. He played another impressive game against Equatorial Guinea by putting up a solid performance that wowed teammates, supporters, and fans alike.

His outstanding midfield play was especially a spectacle for the textbooks. He kept everything simple throughout the game and didn't do anything flashy. But even then, his tidy routine of passing and finding spaces while linking up with the other Ivorian midfielders like Yaya Touré and Serey Dié allowed his teammates to dictate the tempo. They hoarded the ball possession, and it wasn't long before they began creating clear-cut goal-scoring chances.

During the 38th minute, a swift exchange of one-twos between Yaya Touré and Zachary saw the two of them break through the middle and penetrate deep into Equatorial Guinea's defense. As they approached the box, the ball returned to Yaya Touré, who readily released a pass toward the right to find Max Gradel, the forward cutting in from the right flank.

Max Gradel, on his part, remained composed. He connected with the ball from Yaya Touré and took a touch to rush into the box. A one-versus-one battle against the keeper soon followed, and Max Gradel came out on top. He pulled the trigger early without fear or favor and unleashed a curling shot past the keeper to score Ivory Coast's 1st goal during the 39th minute.

The score was then 1:0 in favor of Ivory Coast, and the game continued after a minute or so of celebrations. The Ivorians continued dominating the proceedings on the field of play with their stable passing, and as the game progressed, they continued creating clear goal-scoring chances.

They were dangerous on the attack and even came close to scoring during the 43rd, 55th, 63rd, and 69th minutes of gameplay. However, on all those occasions, the Equatorial Guinea keeper performed as if he was inhuman and saved all those goal attempts. As such, the score remained 1:0 in favor of Ivory Coast as the game proceeded into the late stages.

The 74th minute arrived, and something no one expected transpired in the game. The Equatorial Guinea players, who had remained on the back foot all afternoon, came alive and flew forward on the counter after a failed Ivory Coast corner kick. With the lightning-fast turnover, they effortlessly broke through the ranks of the Ivorians, who were yet to array themselves back into a proper defensive shape.

Eventually, after a series of highly accurate one-twos, a square pass from the wing saw the ball arrive at the feet of Iban Salvador's feet. The striker chested it forward to rush past Simon Deli, one of the Ivorian defenders, before stepping into the box. He remained composed and hammered it on the half-volley to find the top left corner and score Equatorial Guinea's first goal on the afternoon.

The score was 1:1, and the proceedings were back to level terms. The game continued, and the Ivorians players reacted as they should after conceding the goal. They increased the intensity of their attacks and soon started asking all the crucial questions on the field of play. Their offensives grew increasingly threatening as the game progressed until they finally found a breakthrough opportunity during the 78th minute.

Zachary was the player that came alive in midfield by unleashing an outside-of-the-boot 'trivela' of a raking pass toward the left flank. And with that one ball, he took all the Equatorial Guinea midfielders out of the equation and found Salomon Kalou, Ivory Coast's left forward.

Salomon Kalou reacted quickly and connected with the intelligent pin-point ball from Zachary. The Ivorian forward chested it forward before realigning his posture and taking off towards Equatorial Guinea's box like a raging hurricane.

A few seconds of insane sprinting saw Salomon Kalou initiate a face-off against one of the Equatorial Guinea defenders. He remained composed and tried to rush past the defender with a simple change of pace. But just before he could complete his intended actions, the defender stretched out a leg and tripped the sprinting Salomon Kalou, who, in turn, tumbled to the ground with a thud.

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee blew the whistle and immediately awarded a free-kick to Ivory Coast. Zachary stepped forward to take the set piece from twenty-seven yards away without facing any antagonism whatsoever from the other Ivory Coast players.

At that crucial moment, Zachary remained composed and did what he usually did best. He dispatched a simple but fast shot that made a perfect parabola over the defensive wall before bouncing right on the mouth of the goal and then homing into the back of the net.

With that, Ivory Coast regained the lead, and the score was then 2:1 in their favor. Even then, the Ivorians, who had already learned their lesson after conceding once, didn't relax after scoring the second. By relying on their impressive midfield that consisted of players like Zachary and Yaya Touré, they dictated the tempo and continued launching more offensives against the visiting Equatorial Guinea side.

Zachary was even more impressive during the final stages of the game. He had already gained an initial understanding of all the nuances of his teammates after training with them for days. He effortlessly utilized that knowledge to unleash razor-sharp forward passes that caused a lot of difficulties for Equatorial Guinea's side.

But his brilliance didn't just stop at the passing. During the 87th minute, he also decided to go for glory and skipped past two Equatorial Guinea defenders with his potent dribbling. He effortlessly arrived at the edge of the box and tried to go for the top left corner with an outside-of-the-box missile of a snapshot. But alas, an interception from a defender diverted the ball away from the goal for a corner kick, and Zachary could only place his hands at the back of his head with regret.

The referee blew the whistle, and Ivory Coast took the resulting corner kick a dozen or so seconds later. However, nothing came of it, and the game continued.

The rest of the game was uneventful. The Ivory Coast players, of course, relied on their already soaring momentum and continued attacking. But they still couldn't find another real breakthrough, and as such, the score remained 2:1 in favor of Ivory Coast when the referee blew the final whistle after three minutes of injury time.

Ivory Coast had achieved yet another victory. Zachary, who had just scored his second goal for his national team, was in very high spirits. He spent minutes hugging his new teammates before walking around the pitch to wave to the fans.

As he moved around, his ears continued picking up the voices of the Ivorian supporters passionately yelling his name. An honest smile outlined his face, and he even waved at the supporters with more favor.

At that moment, he could really feel the flavor of international football. A complicated feeling emerged deep within his heart as he could also feel the sincere sentiments and expectations the Ivorian supporters had for him just from their excited yells. He took a deep breath and vowed to do his all to help his national team achieve glory.

Minutes later, Zachary attended a mandatory post-match press conference. He talked about his first experience with the Ivorian national team and also mentioned the goals he wished to achieve with his new teammates. After the session with the journalists, he enjoyed an early dinner with his teammates before returning to his hotel room to rest for the night.