445 Eve of the New Italian Serie A Season

After completing the team practice on Friday afternoon, Zachary washed up before heading to the player resting lounge at the far end of the training center. He intended to spend some time unwinding and conversing with his teammates before attending Coach Allegri's pre-match tactical briefing scheduled to start an hour later.

He traversed the already familiar hallways of Juventus' training center before arriving at the door of the resting lounge. He pushed it open and immediately stepped forward to enter the room occupied by four familiar players. Patrice Evra was lounging on a couch at the far end of the room while Claudio Marchisio, Giorgio Chiellini, and Simone Pepe were seated in front of the big screen, watching a football match.

"Zachary, my man!" Patrice Evra, the Frenchman, was the first to call out to him in French. "Don't just stand there. Come over and sit beside me." He patted the couch next to him.