Chapter 175: In a Tough Spot I

*FWEEEEEEE*

The referee blew the whistle for half-time at exactly 6:48 PM. That was after having added an extra three minutes to compensate for time spent on set-pieces and goal celebrations during the first half.

On hearing the whistle, Zachary immediately started to make his way off the field. His spirits were flying high since he'd managed to make yet another assist. He couldn't help but walk with a slight swagger in his step since he could hardly contain his delight.

"ROSENBORG, *clap*clap*, ROSENBORG, *clap*clap..."

"Zach-33... Zach..."

"Nicki Nielsen... Nicki..."

Like a hurricane, a wave of cheering and chanting washed across the stadium when the Rosenborg players neared the tunnel entrance.

Zachary's ears managed to pick out the names of a few players, including his, from within the rhythmic clapping and chanting around the stadium. A smile lit up his face when he heard the loud voices of the passionate fans. He enjoyed the feeling of playing in front of a humongous crowd. It raised the stakes, making the game more exciting.

The cheering was the perfect catalyst to stir him into performing at his best, especially during home games. He appreciated the passionate hardcore fans for that. So, he took a moment to wave to them before jogging into the tunnel entrance and continuing to the dressing room.

"Way to go, man," Mikael Dorsin, the Rosenborg assistant captain, said to Zachary as soon as they entered the dressing room. "You were brilliant during the first half. The way you kept connecting with Nicki in the final third was incredible. You're the true definition of the most dangerous Troll Kid ever when on the pitch." He grinned, patting Zachary's back.

"Thank you," Zachary replied, grinning. "You were good as well. You managed to completely bar Emmanuel Ekpo, that Molde right-winger, from delivering even a single cross into our box. And that was throughout the entire 45 minutes of the first half. That's quite something, especially considering how fast that Nigerian can be on the ball."

"That wasn't the case," Mikael said, shaking his head. "I was completely bored on the left flank. You guys in the middle have dominated the whole game and left nothing for us to do." He added jokingly.

Zachary continued exchanging small talk with Mikael and a few other teammates until Coach Johansen took the stage to give his half-time briefing. The coach's face was all smiles as he stepped towards the tactics board to begin his address.

"That was quite a nice game," the coach said right after all the players had quietened down and settled atop the benches around the dressing room. "I'm quite impressed with the way you controlled the tempo and hogged most of the possession during the first half. All of you were excellent on the pitch, and that's why we are leading by two goals. I'm quite proud of you. But for the second half, we'll need to add more effort if we wish to hold on to our lead and go home with the three points at the end of the match..."

As the coach started to delve into what he expected of the players during the following 45 minutes of the game, Zachary took a few moments to chug down some water. He intended to use every second to recover his stamina reserves before heading back to the pitch. He didn't want his performance to diminish in the second half simply because he hadn't used the half-time break to rest himself properly.

Nonetheless, he also kept a good fraction of his attention on the coach. Since he didn't want to miss any details, he continued listening to the tactical briefing raptly.

For the next seven minutes, the coach covered everything from the tactics, the individual roles of the players, and how to approach the game during the second half. He emphasized that the players remain focused and play at their best even if they were two goals ahead. He also urged them to try their best to avoid their habit of losing focus at the start of the second half before sending them back to the pitch to recommence the game.

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Anxiety poured through Coach Johansen, like some sort kind of electrical storm roiling in his brain as he followed the proceedings on the pitch from the home team's technical area. It was already the 55th minute, 10 minutes into the second half, and yet the game was not proceeding according to plan.

Coach Johansen had never been a superstitious person in his entire life. But for the first time ever, he started doubting the world, wondering whether one of his players had recently attracted bad luck from somewhere else and passed it on to the team. He couldn't find a plausible explanation for his team conceding goals at the start of every second half.

For the game against Molde, his players had followed his instructions to the letter and maintained a high level of focus right after the half-time break. The midfielders had even managed to quickly build up momentum by working together with the forwards and wingers. Starting from the very first minute of the second half, they'd managed to begin mounting a series of relentless attacks on Molde's goal.

In those first ten minutes of the second half, Coach Johansen had been in a good mood. His players had played some good football, exchanging passes with quick precision as they bore down on Molde's goal. They'd clearly been the better team and outclassed Molde in all areas on the field of play. Be that as it may, their lead had been cut short to only one goal through a corner kick when the clock on the big screen had just indicated that it was the 50th minute. That was when the situation on the pitch had started flipping in favor of Molde.

Although the Rosenborg players continued creating chances and dictating the tempo due to their creative midfield, they kept falling short of finishing in the final third. Thanks to that, Molde slowly grew comfortable in the game and started to look more dangerous on the counter-attack.

And then, in the 55th minute, Coach Johansen felt like the entire world was working against his team after narrowly surviving another dangerous attack from Molde. The situation on the pitch was getting worse by the second. The players in blue had already counter-attacked thrice, coming close to scoring twice during the preceding five minutes of play.

What made everything worse was that his players were no longer looking as comfortable as they'd been during the first half. They were already starting to make amateur mistakes during crucial moments of the game. Coach Johansen was undecided on whether to make an immediate substitution or wait it out and hope his players would settle down as the match progressed.

"Maybe, we should introduce an extra center-back or defensive midfielder to strengthen our side at the back," Trond Henriksen, the assistant head coach, advised from beside him. "As long as we manage to maintain our lead for the next twenty minutes, we'll be on track to win. Basing on our previous performances, we'll most likely score during the last ten minutes of the second half. So, at the moment, we need a defensive-minded player on the pitch to help us weather the next few dangerous minutes."

"Okay," Coach Johansen said, taking a deep breath and cocking his head slightly to observe his assistant. "I'll go with a defensive midfielder. So, you can go ahead and inform Ole Selnæs and Mix Diskerud to warm up." He added before returning his entire focus on the field of play. Although he didn't like how his assistant kept on trying to interfere with his management style, he still had to admit that he was right that time around. Adding a defensive-minded player like Ole would most likely make it harder for Molde to hit Rosenborg on the counter-attack.

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