by Theo Walcott
‘Oh no?’ said Mr Wood. ‘I can tell you, TJ, that plenty of people make a lot of noise when they’re feeling nervous. You lot are as good as any of them and I don’t even have to see them play to know that. After all, you’ve been coached by me, and they haven’t.’
There was a moment’s silence, and then they all started to laugh. ‘It’s a game,’ Mr Wood said, as he poured himself a bowl of cereal. ‘You’ve done all the hard work, now you need to relax and play as if you were playing in the park. And you need to eat.’
TJ felt a whole lot better and he managed to eat three slices of toast. But when they reached the high school where the tournament was taking place, his nerves returned in force. The car park was full of coaches and minibuses and cars. People were milling about everywhere and TJ searched in vain for a sight of his family. He couldn’t see anyone he knew. They went into the school and down a long, echoing corridor to a classroom that the boys were sharing with another team. Miss Berry took the girls away to their own changing room, and a few minutes later they all met up on the field.
Notices were pinned to boards on the edge of the field showing the groups for the first stage of the competition and the pitches where the games were to be played.
‘That’s us,’ said Jamie. ‘Pitch Five. We’re playing Kingsmead School first, then Highfield, then Redhill. That doesn’t sound too bad.’
‘We’re on first,’ said Tulsi. ‘We’ve only got twenty minutes and then we’ve got to play.’
‘Good,’ said Mr Wood. ‘Let’s go and warm up. Oh, and Rob, I’d like you to be captain today.’
‘But . . .’
‘No arguments,’ said Mr Wood with a smile. ‘I know you’ll do a good job.’
They found their pitch and saw that their supporters had arrived. TJ ran over to say hello to his family. There were dozens of familiar faces there: Mr Coggins in his ancient blazer, and the dinner ladies, and Mr Burrows and Mrs Logan. There were several other teachers too, and everyone’s family. Although . . . TJ looked along the touchline and couldn’t see Danny’s mum anywhere. But then he saw more faces. Krissy Barton, Deng and Kelvin from Hillside School, and Leroy, the Wasps captain. ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked them.
‘We came to support you, of course,’ laughed Krissy. ‘You’re the District champions. You’re representing all of us.’
‘So you’d better win,’ said Deng with his usual grin.
‘TJ,’ called Mr Wood. ‘Get a move on!’
TJ joined in the warm-up. As they zigzagged in and out of a line of cones, he glanced over at the other team and was shocked to see the two boys from the night before. The curly-haired one and the boy called Bazza. He felt his stomach lurch, as he remembered that Bazza had scored goals against the Manchester United Academy. Jamie had seen them too. ‘I hope you’re feeling confident,’ TJ said. ‘I think you might have some saves to make.’
Kingsmead School won the toss, and the Parkview team took up their positions. TJ was starting up front with Ebony. Leila and Rob were in midfield, and Danny and Rodrigo at the back. Kingsmead kicked off and the ball was instantly played back to the curly-haired boy. ‘Yes, Spike,’ called a Kingsmead attacker – a tough-looking boy with bleached hair. Spike slammed a pass out to the Kingsmead left wing and TJ tracked back, trying to put pressure on the attacker. The attacker moved away down the wing, but TJ caught him easily. He was sure he could make the tackle, so he hooked his left foot around the ball. But the ball had gone, and his boot connected with the other player’s shin.
The ref’s whistle blew for a free kick, as the attacker massaged his leg. ‘Sorry,’ said TJ, offering his hand. ‘You were too quick for me.’
The attacker got to his feet, ignoring TJ. ‘You OK, Wes?’ asked Spike, with a hard look at TJ. ‘That was nasty, that was. Get in the area. I’ll take this.’
TJ ran back, following Wes into the penalty area. The ball flew over his head and he heard Jamie shout, ‘Keeper’s!’, as he rose above everyone to claim the ball. ‘Get forward,’ he yelled, and he threw it out to Rob in midfield. Rob controlled it, then turned, looking for a pass, but all the Parkview players were closely marked. He gave it back to Danny, who picked out Leila on the right. Rob raced towards her, calling for the ball, and when it arrived he turned it neatly around his marker and into Ebony’s feet on the edge of the centre circle. She took a touch. She yelled, ‘To you, TJ!’ But by then Spike had taken the ball away from her.
Spike’s pass was genius. It was as good as anything Rob had ever done. He hit it with the outside of his left foot, curling the ball past Danny’s outstretched foot and directly into Bazza’s path. But Jamie was ready. He had seen the danger and moved out of his goal, and now he was facing the Kingsmead striker. He stayed on his feet as long as he could, but as Bazza lifted his foot to hit the shot Jamie dived to his right.
Somehow, Bazza had disguised the direction of his shot perfectly and sent Jamie the wrong way. Jamie stuck out a foot, but it was useless. The ball rolled into the net, and it was 1–0 to Kingsmead.
CHAPTER 19
‘COME ON, PARKVIEW,’ called Rob, as they kicked off again. ‘We have to be quicker! We’re going to have to fight for this!’
But although Parkview did their best they never managed to put any pressure on a ruthless Kingsmead side. Even when TJ managed to get a shot on target, late in the second half, the goalkeeper made a fine save, diving to his right. When the final whistle blew the Parkview players trooped off the pitch with their heads down. They had lost their first match 1–0.
‘We’re stepping up a level here,’ Mr Wood told them. ‘So now you know what you’re up against.’
‘We’ve got no chance,’ said Jamie.
Mr Wood looked at him sharply. ‘Come on, Jamie,’ he said. ‘That’s not like you.’
‘Well, they did everything better than we did,’ Jamie said glumly.
‘That’s not true,’ replied Mr Wood. ‘In fact, I thought it was a very good performance after you went a goal down. You fought for every ball and they simply couldn’t get past you. Danny, that was outstanding. Now, we’ve got half an hour before our next match and I want you all to remember how we’ve practised keeping the ball. A good first touch and then make sure you don’t give it away. There’s some space over there where you can go and kick some balls around to keep warm. Try to relax. Oh, and Tulsi, you’ll be starting this time.’
‘I’m not sure I want to,’ said Tulsi to TJ, as they jogged over to the far side of the playing field. ‘It looked really scary.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Ebony. ‘I gave the ball away and they scored.’
‘Rubbish,’ said Jamie. ‘We were all slow. I should have saved that goal. He won’t beat me so easily next time. No one will.’
Fifteen minutes later the team lined up for their second match against Highfield. ‘You realize if we lose this then we’re out,’ said TJ to Tulsi, as they prepared to kick off.
‘Let’s not lose then,’ said Tulsi grimly.
The whistle blew and she tapped the ball to TJ. He played it back to Rob and sprinted for the corner flag. It was a move they’d used lots of times, but this time the defender was ready, crowding TJ as he controlled the ball. He turned away from the defender, resisting his attempts to tackle.
‘Yes, TJ!’ called Tulsi, and he saw her running towards him. He laid the ball into her path and raced past the defender, heading for the goal line. Tulsi played the return pass skilfully. He caught the ball just as it was about to run out of play and hooked it across the six-yard-box with his right foot. He saw Rob tearing into the area as fast as he could run, and for a second he was sure that Rob would score, but as Rob struck his shot a burly defender threw himself in front of the ball and it ricocheted out of play for a throw-in.
‘That’s much better, Parkview,’ called Mr Wood, and for the first time TJ heard the sound of the dinner ladies chanting from the touchline. He ran across and took the throw quickly to Rob. Rob gave it back to him, and
TJ saw his chance. He moved infield, teasing the defender who came to mark him, pretending he wanted to go outside, and then slipping past him on the inside. Rob raced past TJ, bursting into the penalty area again. A defender hesitated, then followed Rob, and space opened up in front of TJ. He took one more touch and then blasted a curling left-foot shot into the top corner of the goal.
TJ punched the air as the Parkview supporters celebrated. Then he heard Mr Wood’s voice. ‘Enough, TJ. Concentrate.’
He took a deep breath and jogged back. Seconds later he saw why Mr Wood had been so keen for the Parkview players to stay focused. Highfield attacked in force.
Every Parkview player had to get back and defend – even Tulsi. But Danny and Tommy seemed to be everywhere, and when they didn’t manage to block a shot then Jamie saved it. At the end of the match TJ’s goal was the difference between the two teams.
But they had all paid a price. ‘I feel as if I’ve run miles,’ gasped TJ.
‘You have,’ Rob told him. ‘I expect you’ve run about—’
‘Don’t tell me,’ said TJ. ‘It’ll only make me feel worse.’
‘It’s OK, TJ,’ said Mr Wood. ‘I’m going to give you a rest in the first half of the next game. We’ll see how Tulsi and Ebony do together. And Danny, you need a break as well. Tommy and Rodrigo can defend.’
‘We’ve got to score some goals if we’re going to go through,’ said Rob. ‘Redhill just beat Kingsmead two–nil over there. And they already beat Highfield three–nil. We have to beat them by three goals, and then hope Kingsmead don’t beat Highfield by more than that.’
They all looked at each other. The idea of scoring three goals against a team that had just beaten Kingsmead seemed ridiculous. It was all as good as over. ‘We should just enjoy ourselves,’ said Jamie with a grin. ‘What have we got to lose?’
‘That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,’ said Mr Wood. ‘The ref is waiting.’
TJ felt strange, watching the game from the touchline, but he knew Mr Wood was right. He needed time to recover from all his running in the previous match. And as he watched, TJ could see that something had changed. The Parkview players suddenly seemed to have plenty of time on the ball, even though the Redhill players marked them closely. Rob was like a spider in the middle of a web, spraying deadly accurate passes around the pitch. They took Redhill by surprise, and a short distance along the touchline TJ overheard the Redhill coach turn to his assistant and say, ‘I thought this lot were meant to be poor.’
‘Oh no,’ gasped the assistant. ‘Look at that!’
Rob had chipped a pass over the heads of the Redhill defence and Ebony was onto it. She waited for the goalkeeper to dive at her feet and then lifted the ball neatly over his body and into the net. She didn’t celebrate, but ran and picked the ball out and carried it back to the halfway line.
Suddenly, three goals looked possible after all.
CHAPTER 20
AS HALF TIME approached the score was still 1–0 to Parkview, and they were still putting pressure on the Redhill defence. TJ was starting to wonder if Mr Wood would bring him on in this game at all. Tulsi had narrowly missed from the edge of the penalty area and Rob had seen a long-range effort saved brilliantly by the goalkeeper. It seemed as if it was only a matter of time before Parkview scored a second goal.
‘What do you think?’ TJ asked Danny, who was standing beside him on the touchline. When Danny didn’t reply, he turned to look at him. Danny was miles away, with a worried frown on his face, not really watching the game. ‘What is it?’ asked TJ. He realized he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Danny since they’d been on the bus the day before.
‘It’s my little sister,’ Danny said, after a pause. ‘She was all hot and miserable and Mum took her to the doctor. That’s why I was late for the bus yesterday. And I tried to call home last night, and this morning, but no one answered.’
‘But . . . your mum must have said it was OK for you to come.’
Danny nodded.
‘And if there was anything wrong they’d have let you know. We all had that letter with the number of the Youth Centre.’
‘You’re right,’ Danny said, looking slightly more cheerful. ‘Thanks, TJ. Hey look! Ebony’s through!’
Rob had caught the Redhill defence out, playing Ebony in on goal with a single penetrating pass. But the last Redhill defender was fast. As Ebony hit her shot, he caught up with her and made a desperate attempt to tackle her. The ball hit his leg and ballooned into the air, flying over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net. It was 2–0 to Parkview.
TJ found himself yelling at the top of his voice, but then he felt Danny grab his arm. ‘Ebony’s hurt,’ he said.
Mr Wood ran onto the pitch. After a few moments he shook his head and lifted Ebony to her feet, then he helped her to limp painfully over to the touchline. ‘Quickly, TJ,’ Mr Wood called beckoning to him. ‘Don’t just stand there. You’re going to have to come on right now.’
But before TJ could run onto the pitch the ref blew for half time. ‘Is Ebony going to be all right?’ asked TJ, as the Parkview players gathered around Mr Wood. ‘It looked like it really hurt.’
‘She turned her ankle as she shot,’ Mr Wood said. ‘She’s OK, but she won’t be playing any more football today.’
‘How are Kingsmead doing against Highfield?’ asked Rob.
‘You don’t need to know,’ said Mr Wood. ‘If you win this game three–nil then you’re through to the knockout phase. So you need to score one more goal, and stop them from scoring. That’s your job. Don’t waste time worrying about Kingsmead.’
As the second half began, Redhill made several dangerous attacks on the Parkview goal. Twice Tommy made crucial tackles, and once Rodrigo cleared off the line with Jamie hopelessly beaten. And in midfield Redhill had finally realized just how dangerous Rob could be. Every time he received the ball he found two players coming to mark him, blocking off the flow of passes to TJ and Tulsi.
The minutes ticked away and it began to look more and more likely that Redhill would score. When another shot from a Redhill attacker flashed past Jamie’s post, Rob jogged over to Rafi. ‘They’re leaving you alone when they come to mark me,’ he said. ‘You have to get forward. Do one of those dribbles you always used to do and then get it out to TJ. I’ll try and get in the area too. We have to score.’
Rafi grinned. ‘We’ll do it,’ he said.
From the goal kick the ball came directly to Rafi’s feet. He played it to Rob, just as he’d been doing all match, and the defender who’d been marking him instantly moved to cover Rob. Rob snapped a pass straight back to Rafi, who dribbled forward, flat out, into the Redhill half. TJ set off down the wing and Rafi found him with a pass down the line. As TJ ran he could see blue and black Parkview shirts streaming towards the penalty area, but Tulsi seemed to hesitate and TJ knew instinctively that she was doing what all good strikers do and making herself half a metre of space. As Rob and Rafi took three defenders with them into the area, TJ knew just where Tulsi would be. He pulled the ball back, wrong-footing every defender, and from fifteen metres out, Tulsi slammed it into the back of the net.
It was 3–0 to Parkview, and when the final whistle blew, three nerve-racking minutes later, Mr Wood was waiting for the victorious team with a huge smile on his face. ‘You’re in the quarterfinals,’ he told them. ‘Kingsmead only drew. Well done, all of you. I knew you’d do it. And by the way, Tulsi, you’ll be pleased to know that our friends from the TV got some footage of you scoring.’
They all looked over and saw Maggie Burnside and a cameraman with the Parkview supporters. She gave them a little wave and a cheesy smile, but none of them waved back.
‘OK,’ said Mr Wood. ‘Our quarterfinal is against St John’s. They’re one of the best teams here, and the main thing you need to know about them is that they’re big and strong. They’ll probably try to scare you with hard tackles. You’ll need to move the ball quickly. Speed will give you an advantage.
Take one of these drinks and an energy bar and be back here in half an hour.’
TJ jogged over to see his family. His dad was deep in conversation with Jamie’s dad.
‘Great win, TJ,’ said his brother Joey. ‘We all thought you were going out. Especially when Ebony got injured.’
TJ looked at his dad. ‘What’s up, Dad?’ he said. ‘You look like you’re bursting to say something.’
‘No,’ said his dad, with another glance at Jamie’s dad. ‘I had a bit of good news, that’s all. I’ll tell you about it later.’
TJ laughed. His dad loved keeping secrets.
The Parkview supporters all moved over to the pitch where their next match was going to take place, and TJ got his first glimpse of the team from St John’s. ‘They’re huge!’ said his mum. ‘They can’t be under-elevens.’
‘It’s a big school,’ said Mr Wood, who was waiting on the pitch. ‘And I reckon they just choose their biggest boys. Let’s warm up, Parkview.’
It seemed to TJ as if time had speeded up.
Suddenly the warm-up was over, and St John’s had kicked off. They played the ball forward and Rob intercepted the pass. He took one touch and a St John’s player hit him with a crunching tackle. Rob crashed to the ground and St John’s moved forward with the ball. TJ stared at the referee, who took a glance at Rob climbing to his feet and waved play on. ‘Move, TJ!’ yelled Mr Wood. ‘Play to the whistle!’
TJ ran. This was going to be like no match they’d ever played before.
CHAPTER 21
A ST JOHN’S forward thumped a shot at Jamie, but he got his body behind it and held on well. He raced to the edge of his area and threw the ball to TJ. TJ ran at a defender and then slipped it sideways to Rob, who moved it on to Leila before any of the St John’s players could get near him.
‘That’s better, Parkview,’ called Mr Wood, as Leila passed forward to Tulsi, who shielded the ball brilliantly before laying it off to TJ on the wing. TJ flicked the ball past the defender and nipped inside him, but the defender simply stood in his way and TJ felt as if he had run into a wall. He got to his feet dizzily, as he heard the ref’s whistle. ‘That was great, TJ,’ Rob said in his ear, as he came forward to take the free kick. ‘If we’re as quick as that, they’re bound to give away more fouls.’