THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
First Official Training as a Pro II

Dressed in his new all-black Rosenborg workout outfit, Zachary made it onto the pitch as the new time showed nine minutes to nine. He let out a long sigh when he realized that the coaches had not come yet.

Most of the other players have long started doing warm-up exercises on the field. Some stretch or gather in groups playing rondo or juggling balls. The rest run cone exercises.

It was still a pre-training session. The players are free to use it to practice in any way they want. Despite the lack of supervision, they all undergo training with absolute focus, according to their status as professional footballers from top Norwegian clubs.

Zachary let his gaze scour the entire field, passing four goalkeepers who were practicing diving and catching— until finally it was fixed on a group that was doing cone training. He saw Tore Reginiussen, the newly appointed captain of Rosenborg, running a triangle through a cone. His receding hairline and height of over six feet gave him a cruel look. It was the kind of display that Zachary saw on such unreasonable players as Rio Ferdinand, Marco Materazzi and Gennaro Gattuso.

Contrary to his fearsome attitude, the captain is a laid-back person who has no conflict with anyone unless they make a big mistake on the pitch. As long as you play to the best of your ability, you'll stay in the captain's good books that don't make sense.

Accompanying him are Mikael Dorsin, vice-captain, John Chibuike, the striker from Nigeria, and Nicki Nielson, a new acquaintance of Zachary. They run past the cone— sometimes moving backwards and forwards while making sharp turns in a row.

When Zachary saw the four of them taking turns running cone drills, he suspected they were training their speed, reaction time, and agility.

He had a good understanding of the practice because he had trained with it even in his previous life. This helps increase speed and agility for short sprints and quick change of direction. It teaches players how to control their bodies and maintain a ready attitude. In addition, practice increases reaction time because a player has to wait for a pair's cue before running to cone— similar to how one should react to the ball or an opponent during a game. It was a very effective exercise.

Since Zachary had already run six miles that morning, he had no intention of joining in any intensive training. So, he found himself on the sidelines and started stretching.

He wanted to save his stamina by going through a lighter warm-up routine. That way, he will be able to perform optimally when the actual training session begins.

However, when she was only a minute into the routine, Mikael Dorsin noticed her and stopped running the triangle cone exercise. "Zachary," he, the vice-captain, shouted, waving. "Come and join us. Don't just lie on the sidelines." Hearing Mikael's cry, the other three players who were training with him also turned their heads and turned their gazes towards Zachary.

"And here I thought I could relax during the warm-up today," murmured Zachary inaudibly, smiling wryly. He stopped stretching and ran towards the middle circle, where Mikael Dorsin and the others were training.

Even though Zachary wanted to avoid training, he couldn't just ignore the vice-captain's invitation. He wants to fit in with the team, and the first step to doing that is to tie up excessive training.

"A little bird told me that you have finally joined our ranks," Mikael, the vice-captain, said with a smile. "Congratulations." He extended a gloved hand to greet her.

"Thank you, and good morning to you, too" Zachary said, shaking his hand.

Mikael looks like a Viking, with blond hair along her ears that is lighter in color. He is a tough defender who has been a central figure at Rosenborg since 2008. If not for his more mature age, Zachary believes he would still be captain rather than Tore Reginiussen, the new number-4 signing.

During the last few training sessions Rosenborg attended Zachary, he began to understand that he had to be on good terms with the vice-captain in order to fit in with the team. But luckily, Mikael only cares about one thing— brings Rosenborg back to the top. As long as you are talented enough, he will treat you as a friend both on and off the field. He thinks Zachary is very good because he is one of the most promising young talents in the team.

"OK, let's get back to business," Mikael said after Zachary finished clashing with Nicki Nielson and uttered 'hello' to other players—Tore Reginiussen and John Chibuike.

*FREEEE*

At 09:30, the assistant coach's whistle sounded. Every player on the pitch, including Zachary, immediately stopped whatever they were doing and got into their ranks at one end of the pitch. When the assistant finally finished arranging the cones into two rows, Mr. Rolf Aas, the fitness coach, began to lead Zachary and his new teammates through dynamic warm-ups.

Rosenborg's first-team training has officially begun.

"Let's start slowly and warm up those sleeping muscles," said Mr. Rolf Aas as he stepped through the cone, showing what he expected of the players.

The players follow suit, starting with slow, light dynamic movements such as stretching the calf. They continue to add stronger movements like frog-hop and walk-front-raise legs as they make rounds around the cones. They made the exercise even more intense—until they ran fast and everything was soaked with sweat towards the end of the workout.

Back then, Zachary was already breathing like a fish that had just been taken out of the water. He was exhausted from having practiced intensively since before dawn. However, Zachary still forced himself to follow the others until the training session ended. He understood that he could get better faster only when he pushed himself beyond his limits. And since he had a cheat like a physical conditioning potion, he was determined to use it to improve his fitness as quickly as possible.

After completing the dynamic warm-up, the players were allowed a short break. But two minutes later, Trond Henriksen, Rosenborg's assistant coach, blew his whistle, signaling the start of passing practice.

Zachary and his team-mates did not complain in the slightest. They begin passing the ball through a practice mannequin set up in a rectangular formation around the field. For the next twenty minutes, they did nothing complicated. They 'just' kick the ball to their peers when it's their turn as they move clockwise around the mannequin. They mainly focus on training the basics such as passing, ball control, and positioning— perform related routines in repetitive exercises to achieve perfection.

Zachary is once again amazed at how professionals can use simple basic training routines to achieve their goals. But he is well aware that it is all thanks to the coach watching the players.

The coaches are constantly yelling at the players to stay sharp or improve their kicking posture. They do not allow any weakness, making the exercise very intense and effective. When a player makes a mistake, they will not make small talk with him. They would give him a mouthful of their harsh criticism as they pointed out what he had done wrong.

As the session progresses, the players move on to more complex moves that involve a lot of variation in give-and-go routines. Because Zachary is not new to professional team training focused on passing, he undergoes passing training without making mistakes. He was highly motivated to make an impression and win a place in the squad heading to Sweden the following day. Moreover, his mastery of Juju Mental Zinedine-Pirlo has helped hone his passing skills. Thus, he went through training without losing a lot of energy because he was more efficient with the ball.

Right at 11:00, Trond Henriksen, Rosenborg's assistant coach, blew his whistle once more and gestured for all the players to head to the sidelines where Coach Johansen was waiting. Everyone on the pitch, including Zachary and his group, immediately stopped their training and walked towards the coaches.

"Good morning to all of you" said Coach Johansen after the players formed a semi-circle around him. He speaks English because he is aware that many of the newly recruited players have not mastered Norwegian.

"Good morning, coach," replied the players, more or less in unison.

"Without wasting any time, we will soon resume the positioning exercises we started yesterday" said the coach, rubbing his red-bearded chin. "In this session, we will not focus on any position-specific exercises, but teamwork. This session aims to help us adapt to the new 4-3-3 formation that we will mainly use during the season. For your information, that's the formation we'll use in the friendly against Malmo tomorrow. So, sharp."

Coach Johansen went on to explain what he expected from the players during the next session. They will play an 11-vs-11 game, focusing on passing and positioning in a 4-3-3 formation. Each player can only do a maximum of two touches on the ball before passing it. Otherwise, he will be penalized for holding the ball longer than allowed.

When Coach Johansen finished explaining the practice, his assistant Trond Henriksen split the players into two teams—one on the red and the other on the green. Zachary is desperate to play because it has been a long time that he has not participated in such an intense match.