Emily's eyes sparkled with delight when the referee blew the final whistle, bringing the proceedings on the field to an end.
Inside, she was smiling as a cacophony of clapping, coupled with cries for joy, broke out in the stands of Lerkendal Stadion. In the seats all around her, the Rosenborg fans wore grins of giddy jubilation as they savored their team's sweet, sweet victory.
The Troll Kids had managed to maintain their 2:0 lead against Troms? Idrettslag, ending the night with three points in the bag. Better yet, it was Zachary, her client, who'd scored the two goals that helped Rosenborg claim the victory. Her spirits soared as she thought about the possible implications of another one of Zachary's incredible performances.
"Your client's set-piece technique is something," Ryan Bellmore, her race car driver friend, intoned from beside her. "I suggest you encourage him to move to White Hart Lane before the other top teams spot him."
"Ryan," Emily said, raising a brow. "I'll be introducing you to him later. Don't mention any needless things, like him moving away from his current team when you meet him."
"No worries," Ryan replied, grinning. "I'll only suggest we go racing for a few days. Nothing more." He added jokingly.
"Ryan!" Emily intoned, giving him a sideways glance.
"Okay, okay," Ryan said, still grinning. "I'm a responsible athlete. No worries. By the way, why not approach automobile and phone companies regarding endorsements. They have better offers than the rest of the companies, especially here in Norway."
"I'll see," Emily replied perfunctorily, not wanting to delve further into the topic.
Another wave of cheering soon washed over the stadium as Zachary and his teammates moved around the field, waving at the fans to show appreciation for their support. The cheers and applause slowly grew to a crescendo until they mingled together into a single sustained roar—that shook the stadium, seemingly almost blowing off the roof. It was pure madness in the stands—not mindless crowd mania, but an intense wave of pure bliss and joy brought on by Rosenborg emerging victorious from a hard-to-win fixture.
The corner of Emily's mouth quirked up as she rose from her seat like the rest of the fans and started clapping to give a standing ovation to the Rosenborg players. She felt at home in the crowd even though she couldn't understand the Norwegian words being chanted by the fans around her. But a few times, her ears managed to pick up the words Zachary Bemba from the noise and chatter around her.
Emily was sure her client's reputation had risen to a higher level after the match that day. She could already picture various brand representatives with endorsement deal offers starting to approach her in droves over the coming weeks. She could smell the money already.
Zachary felt contentment swelling through him as he made his way to the area designated for the press after the final whistle. He'd just gotten word from the coach that he needed to take the post-match interview once more since he was the man of the match. His spirits were flying high. He had managed to score another two goals for Rosenborg, bringing his tally to five goals. Everything felt so surreal to him at that moment since he'd only made his professional debut a week prior.
Zachary found the press people eagerly waiting for him on one side of the pitch. Since he already had experience dealing with them, he remained calm as he approached the cameras. The journalists noticed him while he was still a dozen or so steps away from the area designated for them. With all the haste they could muster, they all began focusing their camera lenses on him, trying to capture his image.
He didn't feel rattled by the attention since he had already experienced the press during his post-match interview on the weekend. He only had to think of the media people as another group of fans in order to escape the pressure of being in front of the cameras.
"Welcome back, Zachary," a TV2 Sporten correspondent said as soon as Zachary stepped before the cameras. "We're glad to have you here once again." He added, smiling.
"Thank you," Zachary replied, smiling back. He recognized the reporter, Olav Brusveen. He was the same one that had interviewed him over the weekend after the Aalesunds FK game.
Olav Brusveen was a perfect example of the archetypal TV personality. He had deep blue eyes and a neatly trimmed dark beard that matched well with his sleek hair combed to one side. Some folks wore a smile, but the guy himself was the smile. Everything about him radiated a soft and understated joy as he shook Zachary's hand, welcoming him to the press area.
"You made a strong start as a team," Olav said, going straight to business as soon as the interview started. "You were on the front foot right from the start. You dictated the tempo and kept Troms? under pressure throughout the entire duration of the first half. Nevertheless, you couldn't manage to get that early goal and gain any advantage over the boys from the North. But all that changed in the final minutes because of you. You're the man of the match once again. How do you feel, Zachary?"
"Obviously, I feel great," Zachary was quick to reply. "I came into this game with the sole objective to win. I'm glad that I got the opportunity to be the person that provided my team with the edge they needed to take the game. But I can't forget the contributions of my teammates. Both Nicki and Tarik were on fire and worked hard to force those fouls out of the defenders in the final third. The two of them were very brilliant during the game."
"Your two free-kicks," Olav continued, smiling at Zachary. "Could you have hit them any better at all?!"
Zachary beamed on hearing the question. "Obviously, not any better. I tried my best, and they went into the back of the net. Didn't they?"
"Yes, of course, they did," Olav replied. "The two goals were phenomenal to the point that a few people are associating your set-piece technique to that of David Beckham. How big of a compliment is that?"
"Oh!" Zachary replied, trying to organize his words. "That's a really nice compliment. I've always admired the Englishman's set-piece technique. Honestly, I've even been training using some of his videos as tutorials. I'm glad that my work is finally paying off. But there's still a lot of work to do to get to his level."