THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
Resilient Opponent

When Zachary returned to his hotel room, he could not resist the temptation to open the system interface. Despite only having a small window to clean and grab his lunch before returning to the bus, he decided to check if there were any noticeable changes in the interface.

The magical state of extreme focus that allowed him to score the second goal was still fresh in his mind. He only made it in twice; first, during the match against JFC Riga and then in the match of the day against ADO The Hague.

During both instances, he had performed at a much higher level than his baseline. However, he still had no conscious control to enter the state of mind. So, when he went to the bathroom, away from Kasongo's eyes, he opened the system interface to look for clues.

Nothing seems to have changed since the start of the game. Most of the attributes are still in A rank while the X-factor still shows F— values and 'limited information available' when he clicks on them.

Zachary only saw significant changes under the GOAT Skills tab. His Zinedine-Visual-Juju has surged from 72.021% to 77.072% first-rate progress in just a one-game span. He was struck by an unusually large hike.

Zinedine-Visual-Juju's progress seems to have stagnated when he achieved 70% progress%. Zachary has been looking for ways to improve his repair rate for months. He tried to watch footage of the game and read books on soccer tactics to speed up the skill-mastering process.

Despite this, it continues to increase only by about 0.1 - 0.5% every month.

However, in one match where he managed to enter a mysterious state of extreme focus, his skills had improved by a little over 5%. He's dumbfounded.

Zachary hypothesized that the state of extreme focus was somehow related to Zinedine-Visual-Juju.

He wished he could master Zinedine-Visual-Juju to a hundred percent and see if he would gain control to achieve an extreme state of focus. However, he understood learning the skill was a slow process.

The only skill in the system he had managed to master up to level 1 100% completed so far was Cruyff's round and his arrow shot. It was because he had been training regularly in his previous life. Otherwise, he would have taken longer to learn it. Zachary could only wait to enter a mysterious mental state again unknowingly before continuing his investigation.

"Zak!" Kasongo's voice came from behind the bathroom door, interrupting his reflection. "We're almost late for the game. You better hurry up because we have to pick lunch before we go to the bus."

"How many more minutes of our time?" Zachary asked, closing the system interface.

"Now at 1:30" replied Kasongo. "We have to be on the bus in 10 minutes if we want to go with the rest of the team."

"All right then" replied Zachary. "I'll be done in five. You can go down first. Please bring me lunch on your way too. I'll meet you downstairs in less than ten minutes."

"OK," Kasongo agreed. "But hurry. I don't know why you spent so long in the bathroom." He grumbled.

Zachary quickly finished cleaning. He then wore a fresh dark blue sports outfit and a thick jacket before running down the stairs to catch the bus to the stadium.

"Zak!" Kasongo yelled at her, waving his hands as soon as he stepped on the bus. "I'm providing a seat for you here. Come on."

Zachary nodded at Coach Johansen by the door, muttering an apology before sitting next to Kasongo.

Thirty minutes later, they sat in the stadium watching the match between VfB Stuttgart and Tottenham, with their lunchbox in hand.

The NF Academy squad members sat down together with their technical team, overseeing the progress of the game. They enjoy their takeaway lunch at the same time.

The VfB Stuttgart players in white again wore a 4-3-3 formation. They attack relentlessly, with the three midfielders often committing forwards to support the three attackers. They passed the ball quickly through the gap between Tottenham players, waiting for an opportunity to penetrate the box.

Joshua Kimmich stands out in midfield. Its placement on the pitch was perfect, making it a control tower for the entire team.

Zachary could immediately tell why Kimmich was so good in his previous life, playing for Bayern and winning such a big competition as the UEFA Champions League. He is a highly skilled central midfielder with good spatial awareness.

Both on and off the ball, Kimmich knows the position of his teammates and opponents. Zachary could feel his persistence from looking at his playing style. Other players on Stuttgart's VfB team have sometimes lost one-on-one or misplaced passes, but not for Kimmich.

That was how he managed to launch an attack in the 20th minute which resulted in the first goal of VfB Stuttgart. He made room for himself by missing a challenge from Joshua Onomah, one of Tottenham's central midfielders. Even without looking up, he sent a high pass that beat the whole Tottenham defence. It landed right in the path of the running Felix Lohkemper.

Felix, the Stuttgart VfB attacker on the right wing, did not waste that incredible opportunity. He reacted quickly to precede the centre-back and fired a close-range shot that ended in the top right corner. The German team had taken the lead since the 20th minute, giving the impression that they would come out victorious after 90 minutes.

However, the Tottenham players are not lazing around. They lurk like predators, waiting for VfB Stuttgart players to make a mistake before pouncing on them. They created a pressing zone using three players around Kimmich, trying their best to mess up the midfield control tower.

In particular, Harry Winks, Tottenham's central midfielder, marked Kimmich superbly, leaving him unable to breathe while on the ball. Harry beat the German midfielder with every chance he got, sometimes a foul.

His stubbornness helped Tottenham keep the control tower— and his team-mates alive, playing with spectacular counter-attacking talent every time they won the ball.

They profited from their relentless efforts in the 38th minute. Milos Veljkovic, Tottenham's centre-back, won the ball fair and square, snatching Felix Lohkemper near his box. He then quickly unleashed Joshua Onomah, who ran on the left wing.

The counterattack is underway.

Joshua Onomah, Tottenham's attacking midfielder, passed the ball past VfB Stuttgart, sending it into the path of William Miller, the left winger.

The left winger has set his running time perfectly, beating the defenders for pace. He cut back into the field and darted into the box. He quickly passed the ball past the goalkeeper, levelling before halftime.

In the second half, the two teams continued to attack each other nonstop. VfB Stuttgart continues to use his steady style in passing the ball around the pitch, looking for opportunities. On the other hand, the Tottenham players intensified their counter-attacks. Any mistake made by Stuttgart's VfB team will result in a deadly counter-attack that threatens to be a goal.

Tottenham came close to scoring a few times as the match approached the 60th minute. But the stable goalkeeping of the number 1 VfB Stuttgart kept the balance. He made some incredible saves, thwarting the Tottenham forward's chances of scoring in the second half.

The match remained deadlocked until VfB Stuttgart stepped up to higher ground in the 70th minute. Joshua Kimmich, Philipp Forster, and Sinan Gums (three midfielders) all came alive, setting up some groundbreaking passes that split the defence ahead of them.

The attackers did not disappoint.

Timo Werner caught the napping Tottenham goalkeeper with a brilliant instinctive strike after receiving a fantastic precise pass from Kimmich in the 75th minute.

The attacker nearly sealed his position as the tournament's top scorer with twelve goals. He is already ahead of Zachary with two goals in the scoring tally.

Zachary could only sigh in annoyance while continuing to watch the match.

Felix Lohkemper, one of the other attackers, scored VfB Stuttgart's third goal from a curling finish after receiving a pass that broke the defence from Kimmich.

VfB Stuttgart then held on to capture the second semi-final with a score of 3:1. They will face NF Academy in the finals.

**** ****

"What do you think of VfB Stuttgart?" Coach Johansen asked Zachary as they left the stadium, heading to the bus after the game.

"They're a better team than us" Zachary replied honestly. "The style of their game is stable, and most likely they will dictate the tempo of the game against us in the final."

Coach Johansen nodded without any reaction. "In which position do you think you will be most effective against them?"

Zachary was surprised because the coach never bothered to ask the tactics of one of his players. But he still answered. “I think I would have played better against Stuttgart if I played as a central midfielder. It happened at my chosen position. I will need help in the middle of the field. We need to pack our midfield with five players to stop the mobility of VfB Stuttgart— there. Only then do we have a chance of winning."