THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
Dinner Party And Individual Gifts
The celebration doesn't just stop at the stadium. Individual prizes still have to be announced by the organizers later tonight.
So, the troops celebrated just a few minutes before boarding the bus back to their hotel. They changed into formal clothes before heading to the conference room for a post-tournament dinner party.
Zachary walked with his teammates as they followed Coach Johansen through an over-bright corridor at the Monika Centrum Hotel. Everyone was still in a happy mood. They chatted loudly about the highlights of the game without caring about what the people around them thought.
Zachary could feel a strong kinship and friendship with his teammates. He feels really at home with them, having played with them throughout the tournament.
They walked quickly, and in a short time, arrived at the great hall—the designated place for the dinner party. They were greeted with hundreds of loud conversations, all competing with soft classical music playing in the background. The crowd is made up of players from teams that have taken part in the tournament, for the most part.
Zachary could feel most of the eyes in the crowd glued to him as he walked in with his teammates. However, he did not panic but smiled politely at them as he proceeded to the large table with a buffet on one side of the room.
All players serve themselves a full plate of all kinds of Latvian food and head to the allocated table. They focus on eating, only occasionally making the chatter unclear among themselves. They finally calmed down to some extent after spending over two hours celebrating their victory.
"I hope we don't have to go tomorrow" complained Paul Otterson from alongside Zachary. "I can get used to this," he said, cutting a piece of fried salmon with his knife. He then put it in his mouth and took a sip of the juice.
"Don't forget we have to go back to school on Monday" Kendrick commented from across the table with a sigh.
"Who cares about school now," Kasongo interrupted, frowning at Kendrick. "Don't ruin our mood. We are still celebrating our victory. Think about the book now ... Eew."
Paul Otterson laughed. “I can't believe we are the champions. It's not very real. This is the first time the NF Academy has won an international trophy. I wonder if we will get more rewards from the academy once we return home. Maybe, some of us will join Rosenborg U-19 when we return to Trondheim."
"Friends," whispered Kendrick, leaning forward. "Have any of you got an offer from some team here?"
Zachary frowned, wondering where Kendrick was going with the topic. The NF Academy has an active partnership with Rosenborg to develop talent. Transfer talks to other teams are strictly prohibited among scholarship players. However, Kendrick publicly asked related questions at a table very close to the one occupied by the coaches. Zakaria.
"The coach is there" whispered Kasongo back, saving Zachary from doing the same. "Can we talk about this later?"
Kendrick nodded before returning to pay attention to his food. They continued to mince words while eating— until the president of the Riga Cup tournament arrived on stage.
"Good night, ladies and gentlemen," said Raimonds Laizans, his voice amplified by a loudspeaker. "Welcome once again to the closing dinner party of the Riga Cup tournament. Thank you for coming." President smile.
"First of all, let me start by congratulating the NF Academy for winning the Riga U-18 Cup this year" he continued. "Please, give them a round of applause for their outstanding performance. They've beaten themselves in this tournament."
Teammate Zachary once again grinned from ear to ear as the entire hall exploded with a standing ovation.
Raimonds cleared his throat as the clap eased. "I don't want to waste a lot of time" he said. "Our sportsmen from NF Academy and VfB Stuttgart are tired because they just finished that spectacular final. So, I'll announce the individual award soon."
"Winners, please come forward to receive your prize when I announce your name" he added with a smile.
"I'll start with the best goalkeeper. The award was given to Kendrick Otterson of the Norwegian NF Academy. Throughout the tournament, he put on an incredible performance in goal to keep his team from conceding. Kendrick Otterson, please come forward to receive your gift ."
"Congs, man," Zachary performs Kendrick's high-five while rising from his seat to receive his prize. Other NF Academy players followed, hugging him, in turn, to congratulate him for winning the award. Kendrick marched triumphantly towards the stage and received a statue of shiny metal gloves. He posed for several photos with the president before returning to his seat.
After that, the President continued reading out the other best performances in the tournament.
The best defender award was given to a player from VfB Stuttgart named Timo Baumgartl.
The best defensive midfielder award was given to Joshua Kimmich.
The best attacking midfielder award was given to Zachary Bemba.
The best attacking award was given to Timo Werner. He was still the striker with the most goals in the tournament despite missing a penalty in the final. The tally is just one goal short of Zachary.
The best coach award goes to Boyd Johansen. He has led his team to victory in the tournament against stronger teams such as VfB Stuttgart and Zenit.
The Golden Shoe award was given to Zachary Bemba. He is the top scorer with 13 goals, only one goal ahead of Timo Werner.
And lastly, the president announced Zachary Bemba as the tournament's MVP. Everyone in the conference hall stood up to give him a standing ovation— as he walked to the platform to receive the gold ball and a 10,000 Euro check from the president.
Once again, he felt how happy winning— became a champion. At that time, he prayed that he would never be anything but a winner throughout his career. He decided to work harder than ever to keep winning.
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Zachary left the dinner party early with a gift in hand and returned to his hotel room. At first, he intended to sleep. Coach Johansen had told them they would make the morning flight back to Trondheim the next day.
Second, the system notification flashed in his head once again at the moment he received the Golden Ball from the tournament president. Zachary couldn't resist the temptation to go back to his hotel room and check out the reward system.
"Hopefully there will be a lot of bonuses this time," he murmured to himself as he sat on his bed in a quiet hotel room. He calmed his mind before opening the system interface.
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"DING"
2 new messages
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->You have played most of the matches in highly competitive tournaments with prize money at stake. The system has collected enough in-game data to rate your X-factor accordingly. Please click the notification for more details.
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CONGRATULATIONS
-> You have completed the system mission (Riga Cup Serial Challenge) successfully. Please click the notification for more details.
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"DING"
1 new message
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The X-Factor attribute is unlocked
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USER STATUS
->Factor-X (Average Rating: B+)
Consistency Factor: A-
Luck Factor: A-
Supernormal Factor: D-
Match Winner Factor: A+
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NB: Please note that X-Factor statistics are always changing according to the conditions and performance of your matches. But, remember that you will never be a GOAT without a high X-Factor.
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Zachary was confused once again.
He could somewhat understand the consistency factor. There seems to be something to do with maintaining the form of the game for a long time. However, the supernormal factor and the luck factor were attributes he had never heard of in sports. [Do some players have more luck than others? Is there a way to increase the luck factor?] I don't want him to wonder.
Nonetheless, he first pushed his thoughts about Factor-X to the back of his mind before opening the other system notifications. He could contemplate the X-Factor more after upgrading the system.
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"DING"
5 new messages
CONGRATULATIONS
-> You have completed the system mission (Riga Cup Serial Challenge) successfully.
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-> Mission Gifts
1)2000 Juju-points
2) Elixir Improvement of B-Class Agility
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->Mission Summary
*History 1: Help your team qualify for the knockout rounds of the tournament. (Successfully resolved; A Rank)
*Reach 2: Help your team win the semifinals of the tournament. (Successfully resolved; S rating)
*History 3: Help your teammates win finals and become tournament champions. (Successfully resolved; S rating)
*History 4: Being the top scorer in the tournament. (Successfully resolved; S rating)
*Reach 5: Become tournament MVP. (Successfully resolved; S rating)
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Overall Mission Rating: S
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Bonus Rewards
You have earned 400 Juju-points Bonus.
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