The Greatest of all Time

Chapter 433: Pre-Season Tour Starts

As planned, the Juventus team, including the players, coaches, and technical staff, boarded a chartered plane the following morning and set off on their journey to Jakarta, Indonesia, to kick-start their pre-season tour of Asia and Australia. Their flight was without mishaps, and they arrived in the Indonesian capital fifteen and a half hours later, just past midnight.         

    

After greeting their Indonesian fans, who had eagerly been waiting for them at the airport gates even that late in the night, they took a bus to the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta Hotel. They checked into the hotel forty minutes later and had a late dinner together as a team before heading to their rooms to rest for the night.     

The following day, they were up by nine o'clock and had their breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. Then, they held a brief team tactical meeting before boarding the team bus and heading to the Patriot Bekasi Stadium. Under the escort of the local police, they got there without any mishaps and spent the entire day training there.     

For the first time as a Juventus player, Zachary finally experienced the profoundness of Juventus' training. And within three days, he comprehended how brilliantly the Italians conducted their team drills to prepare for matches.     

Of course, the players would start off their training with dynamic warm-up sessions like they had done back in Turin. Then, based on the pre-arranged schedule, they would go through gym sessions or technique and agility field exercises later in the morning. Finally, in the afternoon, they would undergo tactical drills, like various competitive possession rondos, react-and-defend drills, or attacking and passing pattern exercises to master the football aspects related to game strategy.     

Over the three days of training at the Patriot Bekasi Stadium, Zachary realized that the Juventus coaches always emphasized the tactical side of the game. They were always earnest and intense during those sessions and didn't allow players to slack off. As a result, even experienced players, like Pirlo and Tévez, had to be good boys and go through the exercises without complaint. Otherwise, they could find themselves in the head coach's bad books and miss out on the chance of making the starting line-up for the first few games of the upcoming Serie A season.     

While experiencing the refreshing feeling of training in an Asian city for the first time, the passing of time was swift for most Juventus players, including Zachary. Before long, August 6th, the day when they would play their first pre-season friendly during their tour of Asia and Australia, arrived. And even though most of them were yet to attain full match fitness, they put their training on hold. They turned their focus to their match against the Indonesian Super League All-Stars, scheduled for later that day at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia.     

Of course, as a new player claiming to be dealing with fitness issues, Zachary didn't make Coach Massimiliano Allegri's starting line-up. Instead, he watched a large part of the game from the dugout and witnessed his new teammates destroying the all-stars select team of the Indonesian Super League.     

After getting stunned by an early opening goal for the hosts, Juventus reacted within two minutes. Carlos Tévez, the Argentine striker, broke through the defense and forced a penalty out of the opposing center-back. And without any surprise, Andrea Pirlo, the experienced Maestro of Juventus, stepped forward and converted the spot kick to bring proceedings to level terms.     

After the goal, the game became more one-sided as Juventus pressured the Indonesian Super League all-star team with an ever-increasing intensity. The Old Lady dominated the game in all areas and soon started creating clear chances. In a short while, the Italian giants built more and more momentum and forced the floodgates open. And soon, it began raining goals in the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.     

First, Fernando Llorente scored a hat-trick in the next half-hour of the game. Then, Sebastian Giovinco added another long-range shocker to ensure that the score was 5:1 in favor of Juventus by halftime. All the fans in the stadium couldn't hide their shock as it had taken only 40 minutes to decimate an all-star Indonesian Super League team. The visitors had clearly showcased the superiority of the Italian league over football competitions in other parts of the world in just a single half.     

But could that have marked the end of Juventus' obliteration of the hosts? The answer was obviously a big NO.     

After a slow start during the second half, Coach Allegri decided to shake up his team by subbing in a few big guns his club had just acquired. The Italian coach introduced Patrice Evra, the French defender, Kingsley Coman, a striker freshly signed from PSG, Álvaro Morata, the Spanish forward, and Zachary Bemba, his most expensive signing for the summer. He brought the four players into the game during the 75th minute and then sat down to relax without any worries weighing upon his mind.     

The game restarted after the substitutes stepped onto the pitch, and as expected, Juventus immediately started dominating proceedings again. Without showing mercy, the Italian giants outplayed the Indonesian Super League all-star team and hoarded all the possession during the next few minutes.     

Zachary, on his part, chose to play as a reliable teammate instead of going for startling and risky plays within the midfield. He just focused on the basics of receiving the ball and passing within the midfield to dominate possession.     

Naturally, he wasn't the impressive Zachary from last season. But he still functioned as a solid, dependable central midfielder who wouldn't lose the ball due to his quick thinking and excellent passing. As a result, he elicited a sense of trust from his teammates in a short while. They started passing more and more to him, thus making him the control pivot in the absence of the substituted Andrea Pirlo.     

But Zachary still didn't let all that get to his head. Since he was aware that he wasn't yet at his best, he avoided dribbling and continued passing the ball like a Maestro. And before long, during the 79th minute, his high spatial awareness worked wonders, and he managed to find Kingsley Coman with an outside-of-the-boot stunning and lofted pass over the defense. And that was all it took for him to create a scoring chance after spending only four minutes on the field.     

Kingsley Coman was quite brilliant on that occasion. He expertly beat the opponent's defensive trap before meeting Zachary's overhead pass with an outstretched boot. Then, within a single motion, he smashed the ball past the keeper's outstretched hands to score Juventus' sixth goal for the night.     

But that wasn't the end of Juventus' thrashing of the Indonesian all-star team that evening. Simone Pepe and Álvaro Morata, the Old Lady's other forwards, added a goal each in the 86th and 91st minute, respectively. Their late goals were the final nails in the coffin that sealed the Indonesian all-star team's fate of losing to Juventus by eight goals to one.     

****  ****     

After the match, Emilia Vasquez, the ESPN presenter, invited a few pundits to her Sports Daily show to analyze Juventus' first game of their pre-season tour. Among the pundits was Charles Adams, a reputable journalist who had predicted that Zachary would flop at Juventus.     

"Welcome back, viewers," Emilia Vasquez said, smiling at the cameras. "We've just watched Juventus' incredible performance against the Indonesian Super League all-star team. The Old Lady players scored eight goals against their first opponents of their pre-season tour. Charles! Let's start with you. What do you make of Juventus' performance today?"     

"Well," Charles Adams said, "As a team, Juventus was as impressive as usual. Players like Andrea Pirlo, Fernando Llorente, Carlos Tévez, and Simone Pepe played incredibly well today. Their decision-making on the pitch was world-class, and that's why Juventus managed to destroy the Indonesian Super League all-star team within the first half."     

"Let's talk about Juventus' new signings, especially the 19-year-old Zachary Bemba and the 19-year-old Kingsley Coman," Emilia Vasquez chimed in with a smile. "They linked up well within the 79th minute to score Juventus' sixth goal."     

"Yeah, yeah," Charles Adams replied. "I have to admit that the two young men were quite impressive. In particular, Zachary performed beyond my expectations. His performance during his quarter an hour of game time was solid, and he even provided an assist. But even after all that, I'm sure most Juventus fans are not impressed by his display today."     

"Please clarify," Emilia pressed.         

    

"Well, let's first consider the fact that Juventus coughed out roughly 80 million Euros to sign Zachary Bemba," Charles Adams said. "I'm sure they were not trying to sign another midfielder that could pass the ball well. They already had Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, and even Paul Pogba in the midfield to play that role. Instead, they spent all that money to sign Zachary Bemba to acquire their own version of Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. In the worst circumstances, they expected to acquire their own Neymar or Luis Suárez."     

"But what did we see during this game? We saw their roughly 80 million investment, playing like any other midfielder on the team. I admit that his performance was solid. But that was all there was to it. I didn't see him take risks by taking on defenders to create goal-scoring chances. He didn't even try to test the keeper once. Even Kingsley Coman, the much cheaper signing for Juventus, was more creative than him today. I really don't see how he'll handle the more competitive Italian league if he continues performing at such a level."     

"Can I remind you that this is his first game for Juventus," Joshua Morales, another pundit, chipped in. "He has been out of the action for two months. Don't you think you're being too harsh on him by expecting him to perform at his best during his first game?"     

"He was playing against much weaker opponents," Charles Adams stated. "He should have at least tried to dribble past an opponent or to take a shot at goal."     

Joshua Morales sighed and shook his head in response. "There are many more pre-season matches to come," he said. "Let's wait and see. I'm sure that he will dazzle us with his skills before long. Mark my words."     

"Okay, okay," Charles Adams said, his tone a bit aggressive. "Let's wait and see if he will live up to his roughly 80 million price tag."     

****  ****     

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!