THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
Magic Moment

Coach Johansen's smile faded, his eyebrows fused into wrinkles when he saw Jo Inge, the Rosenborg midfielder, once again breaking Zachary. The two players faced each other, trying to outperform and outscore each other since the 15th minute of the game. Both have turned the game into a physical battle of offense and body-to-body fighting as they fight for dominance in midfield. But often, Jo Inge commits a foul while Zachary is on the receiving end.

Jo Inge's offense was so skillful and stealthy that he managed to get away with more fouls than he didn't. He will only pull on Zachary's shirt or kick his calf when the referee's eyes are elsewhere. Thanks to that, he did not even issue a— yellow card even after playing a rough dirty game for more than 40 minutes.

Coach Johansen felt a flash of aggravated aggravation by the pressure running through him as he continued to follow the process on the playing field. He had already noticed that Zachary was beginning to feel uneasy due to the constant harassment of the Molde man.

The African miracle no longer let go of its trademark defensive-breaking passes, and Rosenborg's dominance in the middle slowly dissipated. Worse, his touch on the ball continued to diminish as the game went on. The situation on the pitch has started to worry the coach even though his team is still leading 1:0 against Coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team in the 43rd minute.

"I think it's easy enough to solve Zachary's predicament without even making a substitution" Trond Henriksen, his assistant, commented from the side.

"Oh," said Coach Johansen. "Then, what's your advice?" He asked after a while, his eyes never leaving the field of play.

"We need to get Zachary to start reacting dramatically to Jo Inge's offense" said the assistant head coach, half-smiling. "It is difficult to convince the referee that there is a foul if Zachary does not fall to the ground. For example, he didn't fall even when Jo Inge almost tore his shirt off a few minutes ago."

"That might work," Coach Johansen said, a smile adorning his face. "You can go ahead and instruct Zachary on how to do it during the part-time break. Maybe, we can get some set-pieces from Jo Inge and extend our lead."

"OK, I'll make sure he understands how to handle Jo Inge before he gets back on the pitch for the second half" Coach Henriksen said with a grin. “But will we still use the 4-2-3-1 formation during the second half? I was worried about our habit of starting slowly during the second half. So maybe a very good form of defence would be better for us. "

"We will stick with the 4-2-3-1" Coach Johansen said in a firm tone. “Changing another formation during the second half was not a long-term solution to our difficulties in the second half. Instead, we have to hone the winning mentality of our players to eliminate the problem for good. That simple. "

**** ****

A gentle smile graced Olav Brusveen's face as he followed what was happening on the pitch with the full attention of a professional TV2-Sporten journalist. He did not want to miss any news details that might happen at any time in the match between the two Norwegian football giants. It was mainly because Zachary, the new lover and golden goose of the Norwegian press, took part in the game of the day.

Beside him stood his camera crew members, following the game through their camera lenses. They also know how important the game is and carry out their duties without the need for supervision. They might capture every moment of action on the field—without even a second break.

"Did you see Zachary's facial reaction up close after that tackle?" He asked one of his camera crew members, his gaze never leaving the field of play.

"Of course," answered one cameraman, his eyes still follow the game through the lens of his large Nikon camera.

"Excellent," Olav said with a grin. "We have a lot of pictures for our blog tomorrow. Keep up the good work."

But Olav suddenly stood up from his seat as the clock on the stadium's big screen showed that it was the 45th minute. On the pitch, Zachary had just received a pass from Mike Jensen, one of Rosenborg's holding midfielders. For the first time in a quarter of an hour, he made it past Jo Inge, his bodyguard, with a few deft touches.

Jo Inge tried to pull his shirt and prevent it from going further than him—ke in the half of Molde. But Zachary seems to have grown accustomed to the midfielder's distracting fouls. So, he raised Jo Inge's hand with a handoff— before stepping out of the middle circle and running towards Molde's box like the wind.

But after he moved a few yards, Molde's two defenders shut him down and blocked his way into their box. And to make matters worse, Jo Inge, Molde's tireless midfielder, has also retraced his pace and managed to catch up to Zachary once again. For a moment, three blue-clad players surrounded Zachary near the center of the field.

Olav thinks Zachary will do his usual thing and release a high pass into the wing or kick the ball back into his defence to avoid trouble. But he did the opposite of what most people expected in the stadium.

In a miraculous way, he started dancing in and out of the three Molde— players his body moved left and then right, with the ball stuck to his boots. His movements were artistic, quick, but above all, unpredictable as he broke through the bewildered group of players.

Olav couldn't even understand the whole process. One minute Zachary was in the middle of the group of players, and the next, he slipped out seamlessly like a fish wading through the calm waters of a lake.

And without pause, he then continued racing across the field like a bullet train on the tracks.

The cheers of the Rosenborg fans echoed throughout the stadium like thunder, slowly growing to a peak as Zachary raced across the middle third. Within seconds, he went through several challenges before finally stepping into the final third with only Molde's defensive line between him and Molde's box.

Olav watched with full attention as Zachary smiled softly before releasing a tempting breakthrough pass into space, just behind centre-back Molde. At first glance, it is not something special—but a simple ball that can be released by a five-year-old.

But Zachary managed to set the timing of his release perfectly, making that simple breakthrough pass an ideal weapon to defeat Molde's defense. He made the whole process look so easy as he released Nicki Nielsen, number 9 Rosenborg, behind the defensive line.

"Did you catch all that?" Olav asked his camera crew, his eyes still fixed on the playing field. He watched Nicki connect with a pass splitting Zachary's defence before running towards the goal like the wind. And without a surprise, the in-form Rosenborg striker fired from the edge of the box, slotting the ball past the goalkeeper to score Rosenborg's second goal.

"Did you catch all that?" Olav asked once again as the Rosenborg players headed to the corner flag to celebrate their second goal. But that time, he had to shout to make himself heard above the cheers of the fans who had long reached *******. Rosenborg are already two goals ahead in one of their toughest games of the season. The fans almost went crazy in the stands as they sang the popular Rosenborg chant.

"Of course, we did" A female member of her camera crew finally shouted back after a few seconds. "Second by second, including facial expressions, footwork, opponent's reaction—we've caught it all. So, don't worry. Anyway, we're professionals." He grins.

"Good," said Olav, beaming as calm gratification spread through him. “Thank you for your hard work. But don't stop and keep filming. The more images we have, the better the story we can develop for tomorrow's news after editing. I have a feeling that this match might be a defining moment for both Zachary and Rosenborg. So, please don't miss anything." He added before returning his attention to the pitch where the Rosenborg players had just finished their celebrations.

**** ****