"Rember what we discussed yesterday," Coach Johansen said to the players in the dressing room. "Rember all your training. Rember all the hard work you've put into this over the past year." He lowered his voice slightly. Nonetheless, his words still carried to every corner of the room.
"It is the ti to go forth and reap the rewards of all your efforts. It all depends on how you handle yourselves over the next 90 minutes. Rember, if you stay focused for every single mont of the ga, we'll surely erge as victors."
Coach Johansen spent a few minutes reminding the players of the ga plan they'd discussed the previous day. He reminded them about the individual roles they would take on in the match before sending them off to the ga.
Zachary and his teammates stepped onto the field, filled with eagerness to perform. They wished to overwhelm ADO Den Haag completely. Coach Johansen's pre-ga pep talk had further inflad their yearning to win the ga and qualify for the finals.
If they could advance past the semis and win the finals, it would prove to be a rare feat amongst Norwegian academies. Winning a tournant ant fa, cash prizes, and increased chances of being picked up by professional teams from all over Europe.
Zachary, too, felt eager to perform. He finished the coin toss with the referee and ADO Den Haag's captain quickly and ran back to his half as fast as possible.
anwhile, the fans cheered on, drowning the stadium in thunderous applause. The comntators made so light jokes about the match that was about to begin. It felt like a festival in the Skonto Indoor Stadium, rather than a soccer match.
Zachary decided to call for an on-pitch team huddle before the start of the ga. Although he didn't relish the act of bossing around his teammates, he felt he had to remind them about the coach's instructions before such an important ga. Surprisingly, the squad seed happy when he called them for the team huddle.
"Guys," he began as soon as they ford a circle on their side of the pitch. "The coach has already said everything that needs saying about the ga plan and tactics. I only want to emphasize one thing. We've got to focus on the little things, the details that make a difference in such a competitive ga. Those are the details we have to get right, the ones that we have to accomplish to perfection."
"We've got to carry out the roles assigned to us by the coach to the best of our ability," he added, raising his voice slightly to achieve the best effect on his teammates. "Whether defending or attacking, it's all the sa. We've got to stay focused until the final whistle is blown. Everyone has to do their part." He eyed the rest of his teammates in the huddle.
"For Kendrick to do his part in the goal, Robin needs to do his part in the defense. And it's the sa for every position on the field. We all depend on one another. Right?" He paused, looking at the rest.
He continued after seeing they were attentive. "Everyone has to play their part to perfection so that the next person can do theirs. That's how we'll play as a team in this ga. Otherwise, we'll crumble and lose the ga, even if only a single player relaxes for a single minute."
Zachary looked around and noticed that his teammates were listening raptly. They hang on to his words like they were golden or so precious elixir they'd been hunting for all their days. So of them nodded with their eyes closed while others looked at him eagerly, waiting for him to conclude the team talk.
Zachary's tone of speech turned conclusive. "So, right now, let's get out there and play like our lives and careers depend on it. Let's stay true to who we are. Together, united as one on the pitch." He clapped his hands for emphasis. The rest of the players joined in chanting NF Academy's na in deep grating voices that were hard on the ears.
"Should we pray or sothing?" Kasongo asked as they were about to break up the team huddle.
"We should," Kendrick and Magnus replied, more or less in unison.
"Then, you should lead the prayer since you suggested it," Zachary intoned, pointing at Kasongo.
"Why ?" Kasongo jumped away from the huddle like he'd been stung by a wasp after Zachary singled him out.
The rest of the players laughed at his reaction.
Kasongo raised his arms in a placating gesture. "I was only suggesting a strategy to help us seal our win. They say; praying increases a team's chances of winning. Sothing like that. We don't have to go through with the prayer if no one wants to lead it."
Kendrick ended up leading the short prayer before the players returned to their positions for the kick-off.
Zachary moved close to the center circle since he was to play as a half-striker, just behind ?rjan, NF Academy's center-forward. He started observing his teammates in dark blue jerseys. They were jogging and jumping around their positions while waiting for the referee to blow his whistle. It seed like the team huddle coupled with Coach Johansen's pep talks had had an effect on their mood. Their body language said it all. They acted like elite professionals and approached the ga with the right attitude for winning. The team's morale was at a much higher level and nothing like at the beginning of most of the previous matches.
Zachary stole an occasional glance at the referee, standing near the center circle. He noticed that he was still signaling his linesn to take their positions, in-between glances at his watch.
He then turned his attention to the ADO Den Haag players in their green and yellow striped jerseys. They, too, seed eager to start the semifinal. He'd done so research on their squad. He instantly recognized Catalin Tira, ADO Den Haag's center-forward, who'd already scored four tis in the tournant. He was standing close to the ball, ready to kick-off the ga. He also recognized Ibrahim Fofane and Tyronne Ebuehi, the two players who'd caused Skonto Academy several problems on the right-wing.
Zachary sighed and turned his attention back to the referee. He hoped Kasongo and ?yvind would be able to mark the wing-duo. Otherwise, their crosses would do a great deal of harm to NF Academy.
*FWEEEEEEE*
The referee blew his whistle. The semifinal between NF Academy and ADO Den Haag in the Skonto Arena started at exactly 11:00 on a cold Tuesday morning.
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"Zachary finally rembered to call a team huddle before a ga," Coach Johansen comnted, half-smiling, his eyes never leaving the pitch. "He's finally starting to act like a captain."
"He's also pointing out mistakes to his teammates," Coach Bj?rn Peters observed. "That's an improvent in his leadership skills. I guess he wants to win the match more than anybody on this team."
Coach Johansen didn't reply right away. All his attention was on the ga. He was trying to gauge whether his players were carrying out their assigned roles in the match. He was pleased with what he observed.
His players kicked-off the first half energetically—closing the ADO Den Haag players down whenever they lost possession. They then followed his ga plan to the letter, deciding to sit back and wither ADO Den Haag's attacks. They played in a 5-3-1-1 formation and only hit back through counterattacks and long balls to Zachary and ?rjan.
He had aid at defending with eight n behind the ball when he'd designed the ga strategy. He'd wanted to seal off all the Dutch team's avenues of attacks—especially the wings. His five defenders were supposed to work with the three midfielders to close down any ADO Den Haag attackers quickly whenever they approached NF Academy's box.
?yvind and Martin, the wing-backs, played well in the first fifteen minutes. They marked ADO Den Haag's wingers tightly, and on many occasions, blocked crosses towards the box. Thanks to their efforts, the Dutch team didn't manage any attempts at goal during the first few minutes.
Coach Johansen was satisfied with their performance.
"What a clean tackle," Coach Bj?rn exclaid from beside him. ?yvind, the right wing-back, had just made a clean sweeping tackle, winning the ball from Calvin Valise—ADO Den Haag's left-winger. The right-back then sprinted with the ball and tried to weave past opponents close to the touchline.
Coach Johansen was sure that he would lose the ball if he continued his run since Robin van der er, ADO Den Haag's left-back, was already closing down on him.
"Use long balls to Zachary," Coach Johansen hollered at ?yvind. "Be fast," he bellowed when he saw the right-back still taking his ti on the ball.
?yvind followed his instructions imdiately. From right next to the touchline, deep in NF Academy's half, he raised his right foot and whipped a long ball towards the center circle where Zachary was waiting.
Coach Johansen relaxed when he saw Zachary chest the ball to the ground and turn, taking off towards ADO Den Haag's box. Two defenders tried to close him down imdiately, but their efforts were fruitless. They'd already left him enough space to accelerate away from them and couldn't win it back. Coach Johansen was confident that few players still in academies could match Zachary's speed.
His heart was pounding like a jackhamr in his chest as he watched Zachary playing a one-two with ?rjan. The boy prodigy speared deeper into ADO Den Haag's half, past the defenders in a matter of seconds.
Coach Johansen smiled, calming his bubbly emotions. He'd planned for a long, grueling match against the Dutch team, with almost no goals. However, if his team managed to score in the first few minutes of the ga, it would be a relief. He would find it easy to clinch the victory.
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