The Greatest of All Time

Chapter 77 - Eve Of The Finals

Thursday, February 23, 2012.

ADO Den Haag was slated to face Tottenham Youth in the third-place playoff that afternoon. But surprisingly, coach Johansen had scheduled a light training session for the NF Academy squad at the Olympic Sports Center instead.

Zachary and his teammates warmed up by running laps around the indoor artificial turf in the Olympic Center. He was feeling a bit edgy from the expectations that came with the buildup to the final. He was surprised to find out that he could still get nervous on the day just before a youth cup final despite having experienced a lot in his past life.

Zachary had been relieved when the coach had called the squad for the last-minute training session that afternoon. The session would help calm his nerves. That was better than lounging back in his hotel room, waiting for the match.

Exercise had always brought him relaxation. With just a little sweat, he could attain the state of serenity he needed to play at his best. It was his therapy.

He ran along the course with robotic precision—and organic fluidity, stride after stride, nailed to perfection, leaving the rest of his teammates in the dust. The sweat settled upon his skin as newly melted snow crystals, making Zachary feel as if the stress was rising out of his skin with each molecule of water.

After eight laps, he felt stress-free and ready for the training session. He added a few more laps to his tally at the coach's request before joining the rest for the stretching routine.

The squad went through neck circles, shoulder rolls, arm circles, hip rotations, and other simple exercises to stretch their muscles before beginning the training session.

As soon as they completed the warm-up, Coach Johansen blew his whistle, signaling them to return to the center-circle. He was looking pleased.

Zachary had noticed that unbridled confidence had made itself a home in his features since NF Academy's win in the semifinals.

"Tomorrow is the day of the final," said Coach Johansen, letting his gaze roam around the players.

"We'll be facing VfB Stuttgart. They're not easy opponents. They are a better team—at least on paper. In order to win against them, we will have to utilize every opportunity we get in the game to score."

"We have to be clinical in our attacks and make use of our set-pieces. We have to make sure any corner-kicks and free kicks we win threaten their goal. We have got to keep this up for the entire duration of the game. That's how we'll keep the pressure on them and score."

He paused, smiling at the players before continuing. "For freekicks, we're covered. We've got Zachary, who has a good record with them. He'll make good use of the majority of the set-pieces we get. However, we're still lacking in the area of taking corners kicks." He sighed, shaking his head.

"Corner kicks can be a source of great frustration at all levels of soccer," Coach Johansen continued in a somber tone. "As I mentioned in our previous training sessions, they can help you win or push you to lose games. It depends on how you handle them. In the semifinal against ADO Den Haag, we conceded a goal from a corner because we defended against it poorly. We're here to make sure we don't repeat the same mistake tomorrow."

"Today, we'll go through the corner kick drills we practiced before coming to Riga again. We will concentrate mainly on good delivery, well-timed runs to confuse the defense, being first to the ball, and hitting the target. We'll also work on the signals for communication while taking a particular type of corner."

"For instance, before playing a corner short, whoever's taking it can raise a single arm or finger to signal the rest to get ready."

"By the end of this session, I want everyone to be well-versed with their roles during corner kicks. For example, we'll select four of our best aerial players to always attack the ball directly during corner kicks. Like we did back in Trondheim, they will split their runs, attacking different areas to increase our chances at goal. We'll also choose the people responsible for pressuring the keeper, the ones to target the rebounds, etc. We'll try to go through as many variations of corner kicks as possible to maximize our chances tomorrow."