THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
The Difficult Place II

Inside the designated area for the press, Olav Brusveen, a TV2 Sporten reporter, continued to follow the process on the pitch. His trademark gentle smile graced his face as his mood was not affected in the slightest even after Rosenborg conceded a goal. The more chaotic the match was, the better the headlines he would pick up for his blog the next day. The excitement has long since begun to swell in him as the game progresses in a much more unexpected way.

"It's the 60th minute, and Rosenborg is still leading 2:1," he heard Kjell Roar, the commentator, say, his voice coming to him through the stadium loudspeakers. "Rosenborg had the ball again. Mike Jensen only controlled the ball in the defensive third before passing it to Jonas Svensson, the other defensive midfielder, to his right."

"Jonas passed Magne Hoseth, Molde's captain, before flicking the ball towards Zachary— who had just opened himself up near the halfway line on the left wing. This is all Rosenborg once again. The players in white and black clothes slowly began to move. descending onto Molde's goal like a hunting predator ..."

Olav Brusveen shifted his entire focus to the pitch when Zachary had the ball near the touchline on the left wing. Without lingering, the young Maestro turned around and started playing two-two with Tarik Elyounoussi, the left winger of Rosenborg.

Their pass made them smooth past Kristoffer Vatshaug, Molde's right-back, as they continued to pierce deep into Molde's half-section through the left wing. Olav exclaimed again and again at Zachary's potential. His creativity as a player continues to develop with every passing minute on the pitch.

The cheers of Rosenborg fans around the stadium exploded as Zachary received feedback from Tarik and eventually stepped into the final third. But as he lifted his leg, perhaps with the intent to pass, Jo Inge, Molde's tireless midfielder, slid with a sweeping tackle to snatch it.

However, Zachary managed to snap the ball quickly out of Jo Inge's reach before the tackle could connect. He then followed it up with a high diagonal pass over Molde's defensive line to pick out Tobias Mikkelsen, Rosenborg's right winger, on the other side of the pitch. With a pass that split the defense, he managed to get Tobias off the clear path towards the Molde goal.

Everyone in the stadium, including Olav Brusveen himself, thought that Tobias would definitely put the ball in the back of the net. Zachary has set the pass times perfectly to help right winger Rosenborg beat the defenders and leave them without much difficulty. Tobias only needed to control the ball behind the defence and ran a few yards before firing on goal and widening Rosenborg's lead once again.

But the goddess of luck did not side with him back then. Olav's eyes widened in shock when he saw rjan Nyland, Molde's goalkeeper, save Tobias' right-footed shot with his legs outstretched. The referee pointed towards the corner flag and gave Rosenborg a corner kick.

"Isn't this like the second or third time Tobias has missed a goal-scoring opportunity when he's faced off one-on-one with the goalkeeper this season?" He asked one of his crew members who was closest to him.

"This is the fourth time, more precisely," the cameraman replied, eyes still following the match through the lens of his camera.

"Oh, that's interesting" Olav said, leaning his head to one side to observe Coach Johansen in the home team's technical area. The bald and bearded coach reading is a funny sight. He was busy chanting what looked like many curses while pointing frantically at Tobias for missing the opportunity.

Olav immediately decided the coach would make a good topic for one of his articles the next day. "Make sure you start shooting Coach Johansen's facial reaction as the game progresses. Don't just focus on the game." She added.

"Don't worry, man," said the cameraman closest to her. "Eirik has covered shots of technical staff and some fans. In the meantime, we all covered everything else on the playing field."

rjan Nyland, the Molde goalkeeper, had just made another superb save, thwarting Nicki Nielsen's attempt to capitalise on a corner kick and scoring a hat trick with a header.

But that's not the end of the excitement on the pitch. Orjan Nyland quickly rose from the ground—dan without lingering, making a long throw with one hand towards the left wing. With his powerful arms, he managed to connect with Mattias Mostrom, Molde's right winger, who had long since started running across the sidelines.

The counterattack is underway. Goalkeeper Molde has caught the Rosenborg players with his brilliant throw. Most of them are still on Molde's side of the field as they have just struck a corner. So, there was two against three in the half of the field Rosenborg in the 64th minute.

The stadium became silent as Mattias Mostrom controlled the ball in the middle of the sprint and continued across the wings, stepping over the halfway line and penetrating deeper into the half of Rosenborg's pitch.

Cristian Gamboa, Rosenborg's right-back, immediately greeted him, trying to stop a lightning-fast counterattack. But Molde's left winger made no attempt to hold the ball or dribble. Instead, he simply flicked it towards Daniel Chima Chukwu, Molde's centre-forward, who had long since started running in tune with him in the middle. He then pushed past Christian Gamboa and continued running towards Rosenborg's goal like a bullet coming out of the sniper's muzzle.

Daniel Chima Chukwu received Mattias' pass, without slowing down, as he had just made it into the third of Rosenborg's defence. Without a moment's delay, he passed the ball past two Rosenborg players who tried to intercept him. He was so quick in setting it perfectly into Mattias' running path to defeat Rosenborg's defence.

Mathias used his quick pace to dart past two players in white and black before connecting with the ball. Without a pause, he steered it forward— towards Rosenborg's goal and then followed her— speed like a hunting predator. He was so fast that he managed to get into the 18-yard box in seconds before releasing the ball past Lund Hansen, the Rosenborg keeper, to score Molde's second goal of the day. 2:2.

Olav heard Molde's travelling fans start shouting and cheering as if there was no tomorrow even from where he stood, inside the designated area for pers—close to the tunnel entrance. Molde finally managed to equalize and even scored against Rosenborg in the 65th minute.

Olav is in a good mood as he enjoys every moment of the game. The excitement involved in every minute on the pitch is what will feed and enrich her story the next day. He hopes to interview both sides right after the game.

**** ****

Zachary burst into laughter and glanced up at the sky as Molde's players celebrated their second goal. He could not understand how his team had almost lost a match that seemed certain to win half an hour ago. They were two goals ahead late in the first half, but they lost that lead in the first 20 minutes of the second half. However, all the players on the team have done their best. Zachary almost choked on his frustration.

"Friends," he heard Tore Reginiussen, Rosenborg's captain, yelling out loud, seemingly making himself hear loud cheers in the stadium. "There's plenty of time for us to regain our lead. So, get back to the game, and let's play football. We haven't lost. Nicki, Zachary, and Tobias: hurry up and get back into position. Let's win this game." He clapped his hands to motivate his team-mates.

Hearing the captain shout, Zachary immediately threw those negative thoughts out of his mind before running to the starting position, just outside the middle circle. He understands that football is the kind of game where things can go wrong even if someone does everything perfectly. So, Zachary closes off all unnecessary distractions and refocuses on the match with a single devotion. He decided to do his best and left with no regrets on the pitch.