Group Results and New Skills

"JFC Riga managed to hold the Genoa Youth team to a 1:1 draw," Paul Otterson said excitedly.

[A draw against Genoa! How did the Riga team manage that?] Zachary thought, surprised. He'd watched the match between BK Frem and Genoa and concluded that the Italian team was by far the most powerful adversary in their group. He wondered how a JFC Riga—a team that lost against the NF academy by four goals had managed to pull off a draw. [Doesn't that mean...]

"Do you know what this means?" Paul continued, interrupting Zachary's train of thought. "We've already qualified for the quarter-finals." He banged the table excitedly, attracting a few frowns from the rest of the diners in the restaurant.

Excited chatters rang around the table. Zachary and his teammates were seated around the long dining tables in the Monika Centrum Hotel's restaurant, waiting—as the uniformed waiters continued to bring in trays with dinner from the kitchen.