by Theo Walcott
Mr Wood pushed them all really hard in training. After jogging round the field and sprinting, everyone practised individual ball skills and then they worked on passing, shooting and ball control skills with partners. By the time they started playing 2 v 2 games in the 10-metre squares that were marked out on the field, TJ’s legs were starting to ache. ‘This is harder than the Player Development Centre,’ he said to Rob as they played a keep-ball game against Jamie and Tulsi.
Mr Wood smiled as he walked past them. ‘It’s not, you know. It’s just that you haven’t been doing much PE. You’re all a little unfit. But you’ll soon be back up to speed. Oh, and Rob, could you stop behind for a minute after school? I’ve got a message to give you.’
‘What message?’ asked Rob, but Mr Wood had already moved on to the next group.
After school TJ waited for Rob when he went in to talk to Mr Wood. He remembered his first day at Parkview when he’d walked home with Rob after school. It was amazing how much Rob had changed in a few months. He’d been a bit weedy back then, and he used to let other kids push him around. He was nothing like that now.
‘Hey, TJ,’ called Rob as he came out of the entrance with a shocked expression on his face. ‘You’ll never believe what’s happened.’
‘Try me,’ said TJ.
‘OK, you know when we went to watch Wanderers? And I told Mr Wood about my idea for Marshall switching wings?’
‘Yes,’ said TJ. ‘So?’
‘Well, Mr Wood did tell the goalkeeping coach and he said something to the manager and he thought about it and then he decided to do it. It was my idea and he did it. That’s awesome, isn’t it?’
‘Really?’ said TJ, stopping and staring at Rob. ‘Mr Wood told you that?’
‘And there’s more,’ Rob continued.
‘They’ve invited me to watch Wanderers play Manchester United this weekend. And I can take a friend so I’m going to take you. If you want to come.’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ said TJ. ‘Of course I do. That’s amazing! Thanks, Rob.’
‘Do you want to hear the best bit?’ asked Rob. ‘After the match we’re going into the dressing room to meet all the players. It’s incredible.’
On Sunday morning Rob’s dad took Rob and TJ to the Wanderers ground. Mr Wood was waiting for them outside the entrance.
‘I’m going to show you round the facilities before the game starts,’ he told them, ‘and then we’ll have a slap-up lunch in the Premier Restaurant. After that we’ve got great seats in the stand. Does that sound OK? We’ll start with the pitch. This way.’
Mr Wood led them down a couple of flights of stairs, past the dressing rooms and into the tunnel. As they walked up it towards the oblong of sunlight at the end, TJ imagined how it would feel to be walking out as part of the Wanderers team. He could almost hear the crowd roaring ahead of him, and as he turned to Rob, he knew that he was thinking the same thing.
Wanderers defeated Manchester United by three goals to one, with two spectacular goals coming from Marshall Jones and a third from young Dexter Gordon. Half an hour after the game was over, Mr Wood led the boys downstairs to the Home dressing room. When the door opened, a round of applause greeted Rob and TJ, and the Wanderers manager stepped forward and held out his hand to Rob.
‘Fans are always trying to give me advice about tactics,’ he said. ‘And most of the time they don’t know what they’re talking about. But you came up with something I never even thought of. Thanks, lad.’
Rob turned red, and he couldn’t say a word.
‘Rob’s an expert on stats,’ Mr Wood told the players. ‘I bet he knows everything about all of you.’
‘I hope not,’ grinned Paco Sanchez, shaking hands with a dazed Rob.
‘How many shots did we have on goal today?’ called Marshall from the other side of the room.
It was as if a light had switched on in Rob’s head. ‘Easy,’ he said. ‘Seventeen. Eleven on target. Not bad really,’ he added, to the sound of laughter from the team.
‘And these lads are having even more success than Wanderers at the moment,’ said Mr Wood. ‘They’re playing in the final of the Cup next week.’
‘Maybe one day they give us a game,’ grinned Paco Sanchez.
‘It’s all because of Mr Wood,’ Rob told them. ‘He’s a very good coach.’
‘We know,’ said the Wanderers manager. ‘That’s why we’ve offered him a job. We’re hoping he’s going to come and coach young players in our Academy.’
CHAPTER 16
‘IF YOU GO and work at the Academy then you won’t be able to teach us any more,’ said TJ to Mr Wood, as they waited outside the ground for TJ’s dad to arrive. Even now, an hour after the game had finished, small groups of Wanderers supporters kept bursting into song as they passed by.
‘It’s a hard decision,’ said Mr Wood. ‘This is a big chance for me. And you all know that I’m only a temporary teacher at your school.’
‘You mean, you might not be there next week?’ said Rob. ‘But we need you for the Cup Final.’
‘You managed to win the semifinal on your own,’ Mr Wood pointed out. Then he grinned. ‘As it happens,’ he said, looking with amusement at their anxious faces, ‘Mr Burrows has already asked me to work next week and I’ve said yes.’
TJ and Rob both breathed sighs of relief. A few moments later TJ’s dad pulled up at the kerb. He got out of the car and shook hands with Mr Wood. ‘Glad you’re back,’ he said. ‘And thanks for doing this. How was it, boys?’
‘Amazing!’
‘Fantastic!’
‘And next week we’re going to win the Cup, eh, Mr Wood? You’ll be there to help them?’
‘I just told them I will,’ smiled Mr Wood.
‘Good news!’ said Mr Wilson, as they climbed into the car.
‘But he’s not back for good, Dad,’ said TJ.
‘And Wanderers have offered him a proper job, coaching at the Academy.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘The manager said so, so it must be true,’ said Rob. ‘It’s a disaster.’
‘Hmm,’ said TJ’s dad. ‘I guess we’ll just have to find a way to show Mr Wood how much we want him to stay.’
‘It won’t work,’ TJ said. ‘Who wouldn’t want to go and work at Wanderers?’
‘We’ll see,’ said TJ’s dad. ‘At least we can try.’
‘What’s your dad going to do, then?’ asked Jamie when TJ and Rob met their friends before school the next morning.
‘Don’t know,’ TJ replied. ‘He’s been on the phone a lot though.’
‘The best thing we can do,’ said Tulsi, ‘is to win the Cup. Mr Wood won’t want to leave a winning team. And there’s a big Regional Tournament coming up after Christmas.’
‘We’ve got Rob now,’ said Jamie. We’ve got a secret weapon for the final. Swinburne are the only ones who know how good he is. Does anyone know who we’re playing?’
‘I should have looked,’ said Rob. ‘But I’ve been busy. That’s the trouble with playing football all the time. I don’t have time to keep track of everything else.’
They didn’t have to wait long to find out. Mr Wood was waiting for them in the classroom. ‘The other semifinal was played on Friday afternoon,’ he told them. ‘And the winners were our old enemies – Hillside School!’
‘Oh no!’ groaned TJ.’
‘What’s the problem?’ asked Jamie. ‘They’ve never beaten us in a proper match. It’s perfect!’
‘No, it’s not,’ said TJ. ‘They know all about Rob. No more secret weapon.’
He told Jamie how he and Rob had played with Deng and Krissy in the park. Jamie shrugged. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ he said. ‘We’ll still be too good for them.’
‘I heard that, Jamie,’ Mr Wood said. ‘Hillside are a very good team, and they’re getting better all the time. What’s more, young Deng is turning into a very good player indeed. You should know that because you see him at the PDC every week.’
J
amie nodded.
‘So let’s take this seriously,’ Mr Wood said. ‘We’ll have extra training tomorrow after school, and another session on Thursday. And then I’ll pick the team.’
When training began on Tuesday night TJ could see that Rob was looking worried.
‘What’s up?’ he asked him.
‘I feel like everyone’s watching me,’ he replied.
‘I reckon they’re all too busy to worry about you,’ said TJ.
‘No they’re not. Look.’
TJ put his foot on the ball and glanced in the direction Rob was pointing. Sure enough, several faces were looking their way. And on the edge of the field there was a group of mums and dads and kids who’d stayed to watch training – and they were all looking towards Rob and TJ.
‘It’s fame,’ grinned TJ. ‘They’ve heard all about the semifinal and they want to see you play.’
‘Well, I don’t like it,’ said Rob. And for the rest of the afternoon he played like the old Rob, cautious and dull. As TJ walked home with Rob a bunch of kids ahead of them were talking. Suddenly TJ heard one of them say Rob’s name. They obviously didn’t know that TJ and Rob were behind them. ‘Everyone says Rob’s some kind of a genius,’ the boy said.
‘Doesn’t look like it, does it?’
‘And all that stuff about him helping the Wanderers team. I reckon Jamie and Tulsi and TJ are just making it up.’
‘Well, it doesn’t matter. Mr Wood will never pick him if he isn’t any good.’
Rob looked miserable. ‘Just ignore them,’ TJ said as the other kids turned down a side street. ‘They don’t know anything. They haven’t seen you play properly.’
‘Neither has Mr Wood,’ said Rob glumly.
‘You’ll just have to show him in training on Thursday. ‘He’s on your side, you know. We all are.’
On Wednesday night at the PDC, Deng was waiting for TJ and Jamie. ‘This time we’ll beat you,’ he grinned. ‘We won our semifinal easily.’
‘You’ll need to watch out for him though,’ said Leroy, watching Rob set off along the running trail with TJ’s dad and big brother, Joey. ‘It would be us in the final if it hadn’t been for Rob.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Deng. ‘We have a plan for him.’
But when training got under way on Thursday afternoon it soon began to look as if Rob wouldn’t even make the team. He worked hard, but then so did lots of other hopeful players. Rob had to show Mr Wood that he could do things other people couldn’t do. And now even TJ was starting to think that if Rob was going to let his nerves get the better of him it might be best if he went back to doing the stats.
Don’t be stupid, he told himself. Rob could make all the difference in the final. No one else could pass the ball like he could. And that gave him an idea.
‘Mr Wood,’ he said. ‘Could we have a go at that passing drill? Like piggy-in-the-middle but with two players in the middle where you have to get the ball through the gaps.’
‘OK,’ said Mr Wood. ‘Nice idea, TJ. You work with Rob. We’ll make this the last thing for today. Off you go, everyone.’
TJ hit the ball to Rob, squeezing it between Tulsi and Rafi in the middle. Rob controlled it, and just for a second he froze.
Jamie laughed. ‘Hey, Rob,’ he said. ‘It’s only a game. Don’t look so serious.’ He capered around in front of Rob, waving his arms in the air, and Rob’s face split into a grin. You couldn’t help laughing when Jamie was around.
Rob clipped the ball through Jamie’s legs to TJ. TJ moved the ball a metre to one side and hit it quickly back to Rob. This time Rob didn’t need a touch. He flicked it first time, curling round Tulsi’s outstretched leg directly to TJ’s feet. TJ felt his heart lift as he saw Mr Wood watching them and Rob hit pass after brilliant pass.
Parkview’s secret weapon was back.
CHAPTER 17
THE CUP FINAL was played on Saturday morning on the same Astroturf pitch at the High School where they had played the semifinal. But it couldn’t have been more different. At the semifinal only Mr Burrows and Miss Berry had been there to cheer Parkview on – once Mr Potter had left. But now there were dozens of supporters for both sides.
‘It’s going to be a proper Cup Final,’ Mr Wood said, and TJ could see the excitement in his eyes. ‘I wouldn’t have missed this for anything. Off you go and get changed.’
TJ waved to his family as they made their way inside. Everyone seemed to be there. He saw Mr Coggins the caretaker, and Janice and the other dinner ladies. The small lady in the green sari was Tulsi’s gran from Birmingham, and those two little bullet-headed boys were Jamie’s kid brothers. It wasn’t exactly like the fifty thousand fans who filled the Wanderers stadium for every game, but it felt just as good to TJ. He turned to Rob, who was walking beside him. ‘Isn’t this fantastic,’ he said. ‘It’s the best . . .’
He stopped. Rob was looking green. ‘I feel sick,’ Rob said. ‘I mean it, TJ. I think I might actually be sick. I didn’t know all these people were going to come. I thought it would be like the other match. I wish Mr Wood hadn’t picked me.’
TJ found himself suddenly feeling angry with Rob. ‘If you didn’t want to play then you should have said,’ he told him. ‘There were plenty of others who wanted to play.’
‘I do want to play,’ said Rob miserably. ‘I’m just not sure I’ll do a very good job with all those people watching.’
‘It’s the same for all of us,’ said Tulsi, who had been walking in front of them and now turned round impatiently.
‘No, it’s not,’ said Jamie unexpectedly. ‘Some people get much more nervous than other people do. My dad says being nervous shows how much you care. He says people who get nervous before the game are sometimes the best players. Don’t forget, we wouldn’t even be in the final if it wasn’t for Rob.’
‘Thanks, Jamie,’ said Rob, with half a smile. ‘But I still feel like being sick.’
Five minutes later the Parkview squad ran out onto the pitch with their blue training tops over their blue and black striped shirts. It was a cold day, so they were all wearing hats and gloves too, as they warmed up on the pitch.
‘OK then,’ said Mr Wood, as the time for kickoff approached. ‘This is the starting team. Jamie in goal. Tommy and Rodrigo in defence. Tulsi and TJ up front, and Rafi and Rob in midfield. Yes, Rob? Did you want to say something?’
For a moment TJ thought Rob was going to say he couldn’t play, but then he gulped. ‘Nothing,’ he said.
‘Remember,’ Mr Wood continued, ‘Hillside know all about us. They’ll have someone quick in defence to counteract TJ’s speed, and that tall blond boy will be marking you, Tulsi. Don’t expect to be able to stand on the edge of the area and wait for the ball. He’ll be ready for that, and he’s good in the air. And then there’s Deng.’
‘He’s really improved,’ said TJ, as Jamie nodded agreement. ‘He wins everything in midfield and you have to be really quick on the ball if you want to get a good pass away.’
‘That’ll be your job,’ Mr Wood told Rob. ‘Rafi loves running around, so he’s going to get stuck in and make those tackles. It’s your responsibility to find those little bits of space that will let Rafi pass to you and give you the chance to find TJ and Tulsi. Rodrigo and Tommy, it’s up to you to stop Kelvin and Krissy. You can do that, can’t you?’
The two boys nodded. The barrel-shaped Kelvin and tall, slim Krissy were old enemies and they had dealt with them before.
‘Just remember to stay back to begin with,’ Mr Wood added. ‘Don’t go racing forward. Hillside can turn attack into defence in seconds. Subs,’ he finished, turning to Ariyan, Leila and Danny. ‘Make sure you concentrate on the game. You have to be ready to come on at a moment’s notice. Jamie, the ref’s waiting. You’ll be our captain for the day.’
Jamie ran to the middle of the pitch where the ref was standing with Deng beside him. Deng was grinning even more widely than usual as he shook hands with Jamie. He won the toss and Hillside prepared
to kick off.
There was no room for the spectators by the side of the pitch so they were crowded together on the other side of the high wire fence that divided the Astroturf from a wide concrete path. Cheers for Hillside and Parkview rang out in the cold winter air as Kelvin tapped the ball to Krissy and she turned to play it back to Deng.
Rafi sprinted forward to challenge Deng, but before he reached him Deng had already released the ball to the tall blond defender who had stepped forward away from Tulsi. The defender chipped it into the Parkview half and Krissy chested it down for Kelvin, who back-heeled it cheekily to Deng.
Deng controlled the ball quickly, but Rafi was even faster. He stuck out his foot and just managed to deflect the ball into Rob’s path. TJ accelerated like a sprinter coming out of the blocks, taking the defender who was marking him by surprise. All that was needed now was a pass from Rob – but the pass never arrived.
TJ skidded to a halt, turned, and saw that Rob had played the ball straight back to Rafi, who was trapped in a sandwich between Deng and Krissy. Krissy put her foot behind the ball as Rafi tried to beat her and he went crashing to the ground. Then she gave the ball to Deng who curved an elegant pass out to Kelvin on the wing.
Kelvin took a touch, looking up to judge his cross perfectly, but that touch gave Rodrigo the chance he needed. He slid in and put the ball out for a throw to Hillside. His perfect tackle was greeted by loud applause from the Parkview fans.
‘That’s great, Parkview!’ called Jamie. ‘Keep at them!’
Kelvin took the throw-in. Deng controlled it, but once again Rafi was too quick for him, and once again he slid the ball to Rob.
‘Yes!’ called Tulsi, waving her arms in the air. ‘To me!’
‘Go on, Rob,’ called Jamie. ‘You can do it!’
But Rob hesitated, and Deng struck like lightning, sprinting five metres and whipping the ball away from Rob’s feet. He touched it forward and looked up. Players were running to right and left, but Deng hit a left-footed shot. TJ was right behind it, and at first he was sure that Deng had missed by miles, but then the ball started to curl. Deng had judged his shot perfectly. Jamie took off, but even he couldn’t reach it as it floated into the top corner of the goal and Hillside took the lead.