THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
Tournament Schedule
That afternoon, Zachary followed his three coaches to the hotel's conference room to attend a pre-tournament meeting. She looks smart in dark blue sportswear with the academy label NF. His height and tan complexion made him stand out among the team representatives and other young captains attending the meeting.
He grew taller than all his coaches during his time at Trondheim. He would definitely be the highest player in the academy team if not for Magnus, his partner in midfield. He received some curious glances from the other delegates as he sat in the conference room.
Zachary ignored them and observed the conference hall after sitting in his chair next to Coach Bjorn Peters. Surprisingly, he did not recognize anyone. No famous names from his past life were in the room. He was once again made aware of how few players from the youth leagues would join the ranks of the best footballers in the world. He hardened his determination to work hard and become a professional as quickly as possible. Only then will he face world-class players on a regular basis and improve himself.
"Welcome back to the Riga Winter Cup, ladies and gentlemen" said a red-haired man in a dark suit. He stood on the podium that had been arranged, speaking to the team delegation that packed the conference room. "This is a tournament that will be filled with fresh emotions, as always." He smiled and adjusted his microphone to fit his height.
"For those of you who do not know my name, I am Raimonds Laizans, president of the Riga Cup. We welcome all sixteen teams participating in the tournament..." His accent, similar to the Russian characters in the film, weighs heavily on his words. He tells the team delegates, including the team captain, about the general rules to follow.
The Riga Cup match will follow all applicable sections of the rules of the Latvian Football Federation. Teams will play in the group stages first and advance to the knockout stages only if they occupy first or second place in their group. There will be no draws in the semi-finals or final. Penalties will determine the winner of a knockout game if such a situation occurs.
Zachary sat in his chair and listened nonchalantly to that thirty-minute speech. He only came to attention when the president mentioned something about the lottery, which had previously been done, to organize the participating teams into groups.
"The organizing committee has conducted a lottery draw and organized sixteen teams of participants into four groups" said Raimonds Laizans, curling his mouth with a smile. "I want to assure you that the process is randomized and supervised by credible referees licensed by UEFA. The organizers organize the groups in advance for better scheduling and to save time during the tournament. After this meeting, you can choose the tournament program from the attendant at the door."
The president continued his oration to even introduce sixteen teams participating in the tournament. Among the participating teams, Zachary noted some familiar names such as Atalanta BC, Tottenham, FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, Genoa, AIK Stockholm, and VfB Stuttgart.
After an hour-and-a-half meeting, Zachary left and returned to his room. He did not wait for his coach because they were still mingling with delegates from other academies.
On his way back, he did not forget to pick a match fixture from one of the tournament officials on the conference room's doorstep. That was the main reason behind his presence at the pre-tournament meeting.
"You're back," Kasongo bellowed, jumping off the sofa as he opened his hotel room door. Zachary noticed that Paul and Kendrick, his Swedish flatmates, were also present. "Did you get the equipment?" Kasongo and Paul asked more or less simultaneously.
Zachary flashed a gentle smile to his teammates. "What do you think?" He waved a brown A4 envelope in front of his flatmates.
"Big." Paul grinned. "Quickly. Let's check out the team we're going to be up against." He extended his hand towards Zachary.
"Give me time to open that envelope." Zachary had not checked the equipment before arriving at his room. He sat on his bed before tearing the envelope apart and took out a set of printed papers from it. There is a detailed list of tournament groups and some matches on the second page.
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Riga Cup Tournament Group (U-18)
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group A
(1) JFC Riga (Latvia)
(2) Genoa FC Youth (Italy)
(3) NF International (Norway)
(4) BK Frem (Danish)
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Group B
(2) Tottenham (English)
(3) Atalanta (Italy)
(4) AIK Stockholm (Sweden)
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Group C
(1) Viimsi MRJK (Estonia)
(2) Skonto Academy (Latvia)
(3) VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
(4) FC Olimpiki Tbilisi (Georgia)
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Group D
(1) ADO Den Haag (Netherlands)
(2) HJK Helsinki (Finland)
(3) C C Sturm Graz (Austria)
(4) Jagiellonia (Poland)
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"Group B looks like a death group" Paul comments as Zachary looks at the contents of the second page. At one point, his three flat friends swarmed over his shoulder—to glance at the fixtures in his hand.
"Zenit, Tottenham and Atalanta." Kasongo whistled while shaking his head. "That must be a death group. Let them run out of steam in the group stages. We'll be easier to win in the knockout phase." Kasongo grinned.
"Our group is not easy either" Kendrick added. "We have to face Riga, the local club, as well as the Genoa academy from Italy."
Zachary ignored the chatter of his teammates and moved on to the next page. Written are match fixtures and scheduled times.
"So, we will face JFC Riga on Monday at 08.00 WIB" Kasongo said. "Isn't it too early for a game?" He frowned.
"The numbers are limited, bro," Paul replied. "You should have noticed that there is a match every two hours. But the game that worries me is our last group game against Genoa at 19:00 on Thursday."
"Calm down" cut Zachary off after he finished perusing through. "I'd rather face Genoa than Stuttgart or Zenit. Those academies have produced some very good players over the years."