by Rich Wallace
After three more steps Ben found himself in front of the goalie. It was a tough angle to shoot from, but Ben shot the ball hard and the goalie left his feet, diving toward it. The ball rose past the goalie’s hands and sank deep into the net.
The Bobcats had the lead!
Ben circled around the goal and raced back onto the field, leaping into the air as he reached Kim. He shook his fist and opened his mouth wide. He couldn’t yell; his throat was too tight with emotion. He hadn’t even thought about those moves this time. They just happened.
“Great passing!” he finally said.
“Great shooting!” Kim replied.
The last couple of minutes were a blur for Ben as he and his teammates kept the pressure on. The Wolves never even crossed midfield. The Bobcats had won another game.
As Ben ran off the field, Loop was running on. Loop held up his hand and Ben slapped it with a high five.
“Great game,” Loop said.
“For once, we agree,” Ben replied, beaming.
Ben looked around at his smiling teammates. They’d finally won two straight. Over their last five games, they were 3-1-1, as good as any team in the league. Things were definitely looking up for the Bobcats.
They’d made it happen today. They’d played harder than they ever had, and they’d played smart.
Best of all for Ben, he’d finally made that fake in a game.
Larry was right—everybody has bad days and great days. The great days make you forget about the bad ones in a hurry, Ben thought. We can beat any team in this league.
He couldn’t wait to prove that at next week’s game.
BEN’S TOP TIPS FOR SOCCER PLAYERS
• Practice shooting and passing the ball with the inside of your foot instead of your toes. You’ll be more accurate.
• Keep your eye on the ball when you pass it or shoot it.
• If you usually kick the ball with your right foot, try using your left. You’ll be harder to stop if you can use both feet.
• Sometimes the most effective pass will go backward. Find an open teammate to pass to, then move to an open spot for a return pass.
• When playing defense, watch your opponent from the waist up instead of looking at the ball. That will tell you which direction he plans to dribble and keep you from getting faked out.
Don’t miss
Kickers #3: Benched
It’s a race to the Kickers soccer league play-offs. Nine-year-old Ben is pretty sure that if the Bobcats win two of their last three games, they’ll earn a tournament spot. But in their game against the Tigers, the Bobcats are a mess on the field—they’re not passing well at all—and Ben decides to take control. Someone has to win this thing, and his teammates just aren’t measuring up.
Then the whistle blasts, the red card waves, and Ben is out—benched for dangerous moves. Not only that, he’s barred from the next game, too—a key bout against the Rabbits. How can he possibly help his team to the play-offs from the sidelines?
The Kickers series, from award-winning sports novelist Rich Wallace, features nonstop soccer action, black-and-white art, and league statistics and soccer tips throughout.
Also available:
Kickers #1: The Ball Hogs
Kickers #4: Game-Day Jitters
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2010 by Rich Wallace
Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Jimmy Holder
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wallace, Rich.
Kickers : fake out / Rich Wallace; [illustrations by Jimmy Holder]. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Nine-year-old Ben and other members of the Bobcats co-ed soccer team improve their skills and begin to win, especially after Ben learns the importance of concentration from his older brother and finally masters the fake-out.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89633-0
[1. Soccer—Fiction. 2. Teamwork (Sports)—Fiction. 3. Determination (Personality trait)—Fiction. 4. Behavior—Fiction. 5. Family life—Fiction.] I. Holder, Jimmy, ill.
II. Title. III. Title: Fake out.
PZ7.W15877Kif 2010
[Fic]—dc22
2009021350
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