THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
Game Is Starting

"Yes, you can be the greatest, you can be the best

You can be the King Kong who banged on your chest

You can beat the world

You can win the war

You can talk to God, banging on his door ..."

Zachary dubbed Script's 'Hall of Fame' whose lyrics had not been released when he sat on the bus to Skonto Hall with his other teammates.

That afternoon, NF Academy will face VfB Stuttgart in the Riga Cup final.

The night before, he had thought he would only get more nervous as the match got closer. Even in his previous life, he always felt uneasy and tense before the match.

But surprisingly, he woke up that morning in a very calm, peaceful, and in tune with the world. A good night's sleep calmed his nerves. He never felt more ready to perform.

"That's a great song you sing" commented Paul Otterson. He sat next to her in the furthest seat behind the bus. "Who's the artist?"

"Script and Will.i.am," Zachary answered without thinking.

"Gee!" Paul tilted his head, giving him a curvy look. "Are you playing me? I'm Will.i.am's biggest fan, but I've never heard that song on his album!"

"Oh!" Zachary's confused. He was about to argue but suddenly stopped— when understanding came to his mind. The song has not been released or even made.

"Oh, it's my fault," she lied, a shy smile adorning her face. "I mixed up the artist. Maybe I heard it on one of the TV shows I watched. I think it might be a soundtrack. I really don't remember." Words came out of his mouth at the speed of a machine gun as he tried to correct his mistake. He didn't want Paul to start thinking he was weird after the song came out a few months later.

He liked the song in his previous life because listening to it gave him a feeling of accomplishment even when he failed to succeed in his sports career. It inspired him to dream that he could achieve the impossible even after he reached the lowest point in his previous life. In his new life, before the cup final, the song seemed fitting. He began to sing the song reflexively.

"Perhaps, we can try Shazaming," Paul said, taking out his phone. "I'd really like to download it and add it to my collection." The Swedish player seems quite intent on finding out the title of his new song.

Zachary cursed himself inwardly for being careless with his knowledge of the future. Nonetheless, he looked at Paul with a stern look before saying: "Do you really want to look for music when the match is only an hour away?"

"Oh! Sorry captain," he replied in a gentle tone, putting his phone back in his pocket. "I'm not thinking straight. I will stay focused on the match. I won't let anything distract me."

Zachary nodded, finally relaxing. He made a mental note to remember his words in the future to avoid leaking any information that should not have been available in that period.

He spent the remaining fifteen minutes of the bus ride in silence, his eyes closed, his mind focused only on the match. His mind reached a state of calmness that translated into a gentle smile on his lips. He doesn't know for sure if they will win the final, but he is very optimistic and ready to play. He wants to get out of the game without regrets.

A few minutes later, the bus stopped in the parking lot of Skonto Hall. Zachary picked up his bag, got off the bus, and followed his teammates and other technical staff into the indoor stadium.

**** ****

"Hurry up and change your warm-up shirt" Coach Johansen said as soon as they arrived in the dressing room. "We only have forty-five minutes left. So, hurry up."

Twenty minutes later, the NF Academy players had finished their warm-up and returned to the dressing room. After fifteen more minutes, they had finished wearing their dark blue T-shirts, shin guards, and boots and listened to his last minute instructions.

Since he had already devised the game plan and all the tactics on the previous day, he had only given a little bit of encouragement. He reminded the early players of their position in the new formation— and warned them to stay focused throughout the game before sending them out of the dressing room. He has done his best to prepare the players for the final. The rest is up to them.

**** ****

"Good afternoon everyone!" The commentator spoke in condensed English. "Today, we are here to bring you minute-by-minute comments from the Riga Cup final between the Norwegian NF Academy and the German VfB Stuttgart Youth team. I'm Ricardo Andres, working for the sports magazine, Mundial. I'm here with my colleague, Mr. Vincent McManaman."

"Good afternoon everyone!" Vincent, another commentator, uttered an accent that Emily could not pronounce.

"On the one hand, we have one of the best young teams in Germany. While NF Academy, a team that has never reached the Riga Cup final, is on the other side." Ricardo, the first commentator, read. "Mrs. Vincent, what do you think of those two teams?"

"Well, we all know that VfB Stuttgart are a pretty tough team. They crushed all the teams in their group and then beat Sturm Graz and Tottenham in the knockout stages. They are a stronger team on paper since they have had it. Timo Werner, top scorer, Joshua Kimmich, top-performing midfielder, and many other skilled players in their starting line-up. My money is on them."

"The NF Academy, on the other hand, has Zachary Bemba. I have to admit that he is probably the best player in the tournament. But, as we have seen, he mostly brings his own team. If VfB Stuttgart's players can manage it, then they will definitely win the game."

Ricardo Andres, another commentator, laughed. "So, the main question in this game remains: Can VfB Stuttgart control Zachary?"

Emily continued to listen to pre-match analysis by two commentators until cheers burst out at the stadium. The players and three match officials finally entered the field. The Riga Cup final will start in a few minutes.

**** ****

*FREEEE*

The referee blew the whistle kick-off sign. rjan did not linger in the middle-circle. He lifted his foot and immediately kicked the ball towards Zachary in midfield.

In an instant, Zachary measured the situation on the field with A+ spatial awareness as he controlled the ball. At that moment, he saw three VfB Stuttgart players, dressed in white, quickly approach him. They are fast and will catch up to him in seconds.

But he did not panic. In his peripheral vision, he saw Kasongo and Paul running with their wings, piercing into the body parts of VfB Stuttgart.

He raised his leg and released a sweeping pass towards Kasongo's path on the left wing. And, without bothering to check if Kasongo had the ball, he started running towards the Stuttgart VfB box.

The unexpected long-distance feed left the VfB Stuttgart players unconscious. Looks like they thought Zachary would dribble instead of passing the ball. Moreover, it is still the first minute of the match. All the players were still napping and suffering delayed reaction times. So, the pass went to the right-wing NF Academy, without a hitch.

Kasongo controlled the ball beautifully with his chest and instantly cut inside the field, like the wind. Phillipp Mwene, the left-back of VfB Stuttgart, went straight to him.

However, Kasongo did not try to dribble past him—but unleashed a grounded cut-back pass, finding Zachary in the middle of the pitch.

Zachary had the ball without stopping his sprint. He then dribbled past a defender, who appeared in front of him, making a yard of space for himself. He then proceeded towards the Stuttgart VfB box.

It was a lightning-fast attack in the first minute of the Riga Cup final.

The players of VfB Stuttgart seem to be well aware of the danger being stopped by Zachary. They compressed their formation, trying to reject it every space walked through the middle.

However, in doing so, they left a gap in the left wing. Simon Wilske, the right-back of VfB Stuttgart, had already moved into the middle to help defend against Zachary, leaving Paul Otterson unguarded.

However, Zachary did not immediately release the ball. He kept running towards the defenders, distracting them from Paul, on the left wing. And when they all thought they had cornered him, he dug his left shoe under the ball and flicked it over their heads, into the box.

He had arranged his feed time perfectly. All the defenders were shocked, leaving Paul Otterson unattended with the ball in the box.

Paul showed his courage. He made use of a brilliant pass and calmly fired the first shot into the bottom right corner.

1:0.

In the first minute, NF Academy, the underdog, managed to get the first laugh, even before the fans could warm up for the match. The stadium exploded into a roar.