THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
Preparation Match Against Molde

Zachary signed a support contract with Audi that afternoon as well. It doesn't involve much fanfare. Susanne, Camilla, and Emily were the only other people present when she put pen to paper. Despite this, he was as happy as a blow after successfully securing his first support contract in both of his lives.

Susanne has promised that Audi will transfer six million NOKs to her account within a week. He'll start swimming in the Norwegian Kroner pool.

That's not the only benefit he's got from the deal. Audi also offered him the opportunity to choose another car from their 2012 model once again.

At first, he thought of asking Susanne to offer money in exchange for the vehicle because she already had the comfort of the R8 GT at Trondheim. But after a little consideration, he decided to take his own Audi Q7-SUV and send it back to Lubumbashi.

The Q7-SUV is the perfect engine for bumpy roads in DR Congo. It had a Quattro four-wheel drive system as standard and a turbocharged engine to drive it through the most difficult situations one might encounter on the road. She will be able to use it herself whenever she travels home or gives it to her grandmother—if her grandmother would accept it. Therefore, he contacted Ryan to help him with the delivery details right after picking it up from the dealer.

When he finished signing all the necessary paperwork for the car, he hurriedly bid farewell to the Audi team and left the dealership Muller Bil. Emily is still polishing the details of some of the extra contracts— so she left it there. Without lingering, he got into his R8 GT and went to Lerkendal to restart his training.

The match against Molde was Monday, three days later. He has to stay in top shape and maintain perfect match conditions to perform at his best in the game. He should not be distracted and miss a clear scoring opportunity like he did during the game against Honefoss. He intended to use every second of his spare time for training.

****    ****

Sunday, 20 May 2013

****    ****

"Tomorrow, we will face Molde" Coach Johansen told Rosenborg players sitting in the tactics room in Lerkendal. "This is a game we have to win. We must not slip and drop points when we are almost back to the top of the table. So, I want us to be solid and stay focused during the game. I will not tolerate amateurish mistakes. Are we together, guys?"

"Yes, coach," replied Zachary and the other Rosenborg players, more or less in unison.

As usual, Zachary sat at the very back of the tactics room. He listened carefully to the pre-match briefing because he did not want to miss any details.

He already noticed that the coach seemed more agitated than usual and knew better than to test his patience by losing focus right in the middle of the session. So, she stays at her best behavior throughout the session, like the A-grade students attending the class.

Coach Johansen took a moment to sweep his gaze across the tactics room before continuing. "For the match against Molde, I will receive nothing but victory" he said in a somber tone. "We are now one point behind Stromsgodset as they managed to grab a draw from their match in hand against Brann. If we drop points in our game tomorrow and they happen to win their game, the distance between our positions will be wide by one point. We can't let that happen because our goal is to be champions."

"I know that I've talked a lot about this during training over the last few days" continued the coach, with a half-smile adorning his face. “But I feel that I have to remind you once again because I don't want to see the same thing happen in tomorrow's game. The weakness in our approach to the game at the start of the second half was caused by you alone, it was too early to think that you had won the game before hearing the final whistle."

“When you manage to score a goal or two in the first half, you become overconfident. You then relax and lose concentration. That's when we started to break. That's a habit I wouldn't expect in a professional.the team should be the best in Norway." He paused, letting his intense gaze settle for a moment on some of the players in the tactics room.

"Tell me," he continued after a while, starting to move slowly around the room. "Have you ever seen the players of teams like Barcelona or Bayern relax after scoring a few goals? Really true?"

"That's very no," the coach immediately answered his own question, shaking his head. “People like Messi, Iniesta, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben will never relax before hearing the final whistle. They will continue to attack like crazy even when they are four goals ahead. That's how players in big teams handle games, and we have to learn from them. We must not assume that three points are already in the bag after scoring just one or two goals. That's the way of amateurs, and I won't tolerate that kind of unprofessionality in this squad. Are we with 'em, guys?" He asked, his voice firm.

"Yes, coach," all the players answered in unison.

"Good," Coach Johansen said as he nodded. "I'm glad we're on the same page. Please watch my words. I would consider any player acting unprofessional, especially during tomorrow's game, as an enemy of the whole team. And beware: I never treat my enemies well. Is that clear?" He swept his gaze across the room once more.

"Yes, coach."

"Then, I'm happy" he said after a while. "Now, I will go forward and announce the line-up for tomorrow's game." He stepped towards the flat screen in front of the tactics room, where a white jersey in a 4-2-3-1 formation had already appeared.

"I'll start with eleven players for tomorrow" the coach announced. "Lund Hansen will be our goalkeeper, as always. Mikael Dorsin, Tore Reginiussen, Stefan Strandberg and Cristian Gamboa will take care of our defence. Mike Jensen and Jonas Svensson will act as our two double shafts or defensive midfielders—right in front of us Defence line." He added, pointing to two positions on the screen.

"Zachary Bemba will be our only attacking midfielder, right behind the centre-forward for this match. Pull Elyounoussi and Tobias Mikkelsen will play on the wings. And lastly, Nicki Nielsen will play as our centre-forward to complete a 4-2-3-1 formation."

"Continue" Coach Johansen said after a while. "On the bench, we will have Daniel rlund, Per Verner Ronning, Jon Inge Hoiland, Ole Selnaes, Mix Diskerud, Borek Dockal, and John Chibuike. That's it for the squad early tomorrow."

"Do you have any questions about the line-up of players?" The coach asked, sweeping his gaze across the room.

None of the players dared to question the coach's final line-up. They all stayed silent, waiting for the coach to continue. Zachary, on his part, was so excited that he managed to make Coach Johansen's starting eleven once again. He hopes time can pass faster so he can play the game he loves so much once again.

****    ****