Football Reborn: The Manager from the future

⚽ Football Reborn: The Manager from the Future

Chapter 65 – Zidane's Revenge

The first whistle of the World Reborn League didn't just start a tournament.

It reopened every wound the football world ever tried to hide.

And Zidane… was ready to tear them wider.

🌩️ Atlas Arena – Opening Day

50 million viewers tuned in.

Not via broadcast—those were gone.

Now, football was streamed directly into minds, thanks to a system built by Ada's open-source neural interface.

Floating 300 meters above sea level, Atlas Arena roared.

No gravity tech. No seats.

Just pure atmosphere.

Kojo stood at the edge of the touchline.

His players lined up.

Across from them?

The Forgotten Sons.

Every player had been exiled.

A Bulgarian striker banned for match-fixing (though never proven).

A Russian keeper accused of doping — despite being clean.

And at their core: Zinedine Zidane.

But this wasn't a memory.

This was Zidane's full consciousness, reconstructed from historic match data, interviews, and AI learning loops.

He remembered everything.

Including 2006.

Especially 2006.

🧠 Zidane – The Mind Rebooted

He didn't walk like a legend.

He walked like a man with unfinished business.

He looked across the pitch, saw Chuva, León, Malik Jr., and Kojo in the dugout.

Then said—audibly, with no mic:

"They've turned football into fantasy. Let's remind them it was once war."

🕰️ Minute 1 to 20 – Pressure Without Pause

The match opened like a bullet.

Zidane's Forgotten Sons pressed with terrifying precision.

Malik Jr. was triple-teamed every time he touched the ball.

Dima Vasko had no room to think.

Even Zairee, the Rebirth Eleven's keeper, had to punch away four shots in 12 minutes.

Chuva shouted commands like a general under siege.

"Hold the shape! Switch right! Kora, tuck in!"

But Zidane wasn't attacking the team.

He was attacking Kojo's system.

He wanted to prove that the "freedom" Kojo offered was just chaos in disguise.

⚽ Minute 22 – Zidane Scores

It came like poetry.

One touch to flick. Second to feint. Third to pass.

Then Zidane himself — aged 34 in simulation but eternal in timing — arrived in the box.

Volley.

Top corner.

⚽ 1-0, Forgotten Sons.

Kojo didn't flinch.

He leaned forward.

"A test," he muttered. "Good."

🔥 Minute 30 to 45 – Fight Back Begins

Kojo gave one command.

"Break symmetry."

The Rebirth Eleven shifted:

Bullet floated into midfield.

Miko Prime inverted into a false nine.

Safi and Dima overlapped.

Chaos, yes.

But intentional chaos.

Suddenly, the Forgotten Sons couldn't mark anyone.

It was like trying to pin a shadow during an earthquake.

Then, minute 43:

Miko Prime danced past two defenders, chipped across—

Malik Jr. didn't hesitate.

Header. Net.

⚽ 1-1.

Game on.

🧠 Halftime – The Philosophies Clash

In the center tunnel, Zidane and Kojo crossed paths.

No words at first.

Then Zidane said:

"You coach like a dreamer. Dreams break."

Kojo smiled.

"And you still think control wins. But the world isn't round anymore, Zizou. It's wild."

Zidane smirked.

"Then let me show you what a wild master looks like."

🌪️ Minute 46 to 70 – Tactical Mayhem

Both teams threw their blueprints away.

Zidane started dropping into center-back.

Bullet began switching flanks every 60 seconds.

Tanaka No.4 activated "Predictive Lock Mode" — using his AI core to run 200 match simulations per second and intercept every third pass.

And Safi Callas?

She turned the midfield into a canvas.

Backheels, scoops, flicks — poetry in motion.

The crowd (and networked viewers) began chanting her name in waveform.

Then it happened.

⚽ Minute 73 – Rebirth Goal

Safi curled a pass so smooth it should've melted steel.

Miko Prime didn't need a touch.

He just redirected it into space.

Malik Jr. was already there.

He didn't shoot.

He paused — mid-stride — making even Zidane flinch.

Then slotted it home.

⚽ 2-1. Rebirth Eleven.

🧊 Zidane's Final Move – The Headbutt Protocol

Minute 87.

Zidane wasn't done.

He activated a stored override — a single-move legacy action.

The "Headbutt Protocol."

He didn't target a player.

He targeted the game engine.

Reality flickered.

Gravity surged.

The match code trembled.

Zairee staggered.

León froze.

Time warped.

It was an attack on the very fabric of the pitch.

But Kojo had anticipated it.

He uploaded a stabilizer sequence.

Ada's voice rang out:

"Legacy violence detected. Cancelled."

Zidane collapsed.

For the first time in his career — real or reconstructed — he was truly defeated.

📣 Full-Time – Rebirth Advances

🔔 Final Score: 2-1, Rebirth Eleven.

No medals. No fireworks.

Just silence… then a ripple of applause through minds across the globe.

Kojo walked across the pitch.

Zidane looked up from one knee.

"Your football," he said, "isn't mine."

Kojo replied softly:

"It was never supposed to be."

Then helped him up.

The old and the new shook hands.