Sometimes, more often than not, all you just is a little bit or a lot of luck.
Enjoy.
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Once again, Supa Strikas face off against the mighty Azul. This means that Shakes and El Matador have to once again deal with the giant guarding Azul's goal. That giant's name is De Los Santos, the best goalkeeper in the Super League. Supa Strikas have scored past De Los Santos before, but it's never been easy for them. Today's match is another reminder that De Los Santos will always be the most dominant goalie in the world.
"The second half is underway and the scores are still tied at 0," Brenda commentated.
"Supa Strikas' defense has kept Azul away from Big Bo, but De Los Santos is swatting away Strikas' shots like flies," said Mack.
"Even if Supa Strikas can keep up their impressive defensive effort, it won't be enough if they can't get the ball into the net past Santos," said Brenda.
Once again, Supa Strikas are on the offensive. They've done a brilliant job in keeping the ball away from their own half of the pitch. All that is left now is to try and get the ball into the net. They've tried and failed so many times, you might as well say, it's their bazillionth try to score.
"Hey, Cool Joe! Over here!" El Matador called, waving his hand.
Cool Joe gets past an Azul player and then crosses the ball to El Matador.
El Matador kicks the ball towards the goal. Unfortunately, the ball is caught by De Los Santos. In fact, he didn't even have to move to catch El Matador's shot.
"Better luck next time... again," Shakes teased.
"Hey, you've had as much bad luck as I've had all game long," said El Matador.
De Los Santos throws the ball to the other side of the pitch. Unfortunately for him, Twisting Tiger intercepts the ball. He twists past three Azul players, leaving them falling face-first to the ground, and then kicks the ball to Shakes.
Shakes targets the upper-left corner and kicks the ball as hard as he can. De Los Santos dives quickly and punches the ball away.
"I thought striking ze top corners doesn't vork anymore," said Klaus.
"It was worth a shot," said Shakes.
"Yeah, a terrible shot," El Matador mocked.
What follows is a series of attempts by Shakes, El Matador, and Klaus trying and failing to score against De Los Santos.
Shakes shoots towards the lower-left corner, but De Los Santos knocks it away.
El Matador shoots high towards the right side, but De Los Santos catches the ball with ease.
Klaus goes for the far right side, but De Los Santos dives and denies the shot.
Shakes jumps after Cool Joe's cross and then tries a mid-air sideways kick, shooting the ball through two Azul defenders. De Los Santos steps a little to the left to catch the ball.
El Matador tries a high-flying header, but ends up heading it towards De Los Santos.
"I don't know what El Matador was thinking there, but that has to be the most embarrassing attempt today," said Mack.
"And it looks like Supa Strikas' striker trio are winded from all the shooting," Brenda pointed out.
"They look worse than me when I ran a marathon, Brenda," said Mack.
Shakes, El Matador, and Klaus are slouching with their hands on their kness and trying to catch their breath.
Meanwhile, Azul have finally gotten past Supa Strikas' defense. One of Azul's strikers takes a shot, kicking the ball towards the left side. Big Bo smacks the ball away. North Shaw gains possession of the ball and passes it to Dancing Rasta. Supa Strikas' midfielders circle around the midfield while the strikers try to regain some energy.
"Maybe we should try shooting it off the post," El Matador suggested.
"No can do. Santos adapted to that one too," said Shakes.
"Vat about ze Knuckleball?" asked Klaus.
And so, Shakes tries the Knuckleball. The ball curves and circles in the air, but De Los Santos reacts at the very last second to catch it just as it was about to zoom into the high right side.
"You really think I wasn't prepared for that, Shakes?" De Los Santos said. "I trained day and night just for that shot. You better have another trick up your sleeve to beat me."
"That's it. I'm all out of ideas," said Shakes. "I guess we're just gonna have to settle for a deadlock draw."
Twisting Tiger steals the ball from an Azul striker, twists circles around him, and then passes the ball to Cool Joe. While Cool Joe tries to find an open striker, Tiger stands in the very center of the pitch, looking directly at Santos. Tiger takes out his lucky charm and holds it right in front of him. He studies all corners and sides of the goal, as well as where De Los Santos positions himself.
Tiger smiled. An imaginary light bulb just lit up over his head.
"Shakes!" Tiger called. "Get me the ball. I think I can get it past Santos."
"Hey, I couldn't score past him. What makes you think you can?" El Matador questioned arrogantly.
"We've tried everything, El Matador," said Shakes. "Might as well let Tiger take a shot at it."
El Matador sighs in defeat and says, "Okay, fine."
North Shaw steals the ball from an Azul striker with a slide tackle. He runs all the way to the midfield and passes to Shakes. Shakes avoids a couple of Azul defenders as he tries to find Tiger. He stood there in the right wing, just waiting for the ball. Shakes kicks high towards the fiery-haired midfielder. Tiger kisses his lucky charm, wishing himself good luck, and then proceeds.
"Looks like Twisting Tiger has his eye on goal," said Brenda.
"Well, who better to score against the mighty De Los Santos than someone with deadly accuracy?" Mack said.
While Shakes and El Matador keep Azul's defense busy on them, Tiger tries to find a spot to shoot at. Using the crosshairs in his brain, he targets the upper-right corner.
Tiger kicks the ball in the air and then spin-kicks it with force. De Los Santos dives to the upper-right corner. Just as it looked like Santos was about to block it, the ball bounces off the post and hits the back of the net.
"GOOOOOOAAAL!" Brenda cheered. "What an unbelievable shot from Twisting Tiger. Strikas now lead one-nil."
"With only fifteen minutes left, Strikas have more than enough time to add to that lead," said Mack.
El Matador runs his way towards the box with style before passing the ball to Tiger. Tiger targets the upper-right corner again. Tiger twists and then kicks the ball as hard as he can. However, it looked like the ball was about to fly into the stands. Even Santos thought so. Unexpectedly, the ball curves towards the upper-right corner.
De Los Santos dives quickly towards the upper-right corner, but the ball curves more to the left and...
"GOOOOOOAAAL!"
"After Shakes' Knuckleball failed, you'd think trying any kind of curveball against Santos would be ill-advised. Looks like Twisting Tiger just proved us wrong," said Brenda.
Twisting Tiger is twisting and zooming him way past every Azul player in his way. There was only fifteen seconds left, but Tiger wants the hat trick. He targets the ground on the left side of the goal. Tiger starts twisting. An Azul player tries to tackle him, but Tiger jumps in the air as he continues to twist. He takes his shot towards the spot he targeted.
De Los Santos dives right, but the ball bounces off the grass underneath him and into the net.
"History has just been made, ladies and gentlemen. Twisting Tiger is the first player to ever score a hat trick against De Los Santos," said Brenda.
"I'm beginning to wonder why they didn't go to Twisting Tiger to begin with," said Mack. "Could've saved Shakes and El Matador all that embarrassment."
All of Tiger's teammates surround him and cheer for him. The crowd cheered as well, cheering Tiger on.
"Dude, that was amazing," said North. "Maybe we should just let you score all the goals from now on."
"Hey!" El Matador objected. "I'm the star striker here."
"Yeah, but you weren't the one who scored 3 goals past the big bad Santos," said North.
"Razarag Zigazor?" asked Blok.
"Yeah, how did you do it, Tiger?" Shakes asked, translating Blok.
Tiger takes out his lucky charm and kisses it, saying, "Just lucky, I guess."
"Luck or no luck, this is your game, Tiger," said Rasta.
"Hey!"
De Los Santos walked towards Supa Strikas. Everyone stepped back as De Los Santos stares down Twisting Tiger. Just when it looked like Santos wanted a fight, he just extends his hand forward, seeking a handshake. Tiger obliged.
"Nice job," said De Los Santos. "But you just got lucky."
"Hey, sometimes, luck is all you need," Tiger said positively.
Well, that was fun. Hey, Twisting Tiger is my favorite Supa Strika.