I'm not the biggest fan of El Matador, but I thought I'd give him just one moment in the spotlight.
Enjoy.
To Shazara: Live and Kicking is a fun episode, but the reality show aspect and El Matador's "victory" ruined it for me. I don't know if I want to do it. And even if I did, I need new challenges.
Supa Strikas are facing Hydra next. Hydra's captain Strong had just scored a hat trick against Orion and all three goals were from headers. But not just any headers. Powerful and accurate headers that are taken from very difficult angles, such as heading it through tight defenses. Since El Matador is Supa Strikas' expert header, Coach asked the Battering Ram himself - El Ariete - to train El Matador in the three principles of heading.
Unfortunately, all that training is going badly.
It's been two hours and El Matador hasn't gotten out of the "power" phase of the training. El Ariete keeps shooting soccer balls at him via cannonballs, but all El Matador is doing is running away from the balls while screaming like a girl. Also, his head hurts from the cannon-powered soccer balls.
"C'mon, Forehead. Just one ball in the barrel, and then we can finally move on to Accuracy training," said El Ariete.
El Matador comes out of the bush, with a hot compress bag on his aching head, and says, "As long you stop using the cannons!"
El Ariete shakes his head in embarrassment.
"Strong was more gutsy than you were, and even he couldn't jump off the plank," said El Ariete. "If you wish to out-header Strong, you need to show guts and learn how to take a hit. No pain, no gain."
"If I get pain, I might sit out the next game. My teammates cannot win without me," El Matador boasted.
Tired of El Matador's ego, El Ariete fires another soccer ball out of his cannon... without warning. It hits El Matador in the face.
The next day...
"Match day, live from Hydra's Floating Stadium," Brenda started.
"It's a battle between the two hardest heads in the Super League, Brenda. Strong vs. El Matador," said Mack.
"El Matador may have the biggest head, but Captain Strong has the skills to go with that hard head of his," said Brenda. "Let's see if El Matador's training in Ibiza pays off."
Hydra start on the attack. Liquido swiftly dribbles pass Cool Joe and jumps over North Shaw's tackle. In mid-air, he passes the ball to his fellow blue-haired striker. He was about to pass the ball to Strong, but Blok quickly tackles him and steals the ball.
Blok kicks the ball to Dancing Rasta and the midfield attack is on. Twisting Tiger gets possession of the ball and he starts twisting pass Hydra's midfielders. He ends the twisting with a kick to Shakes. Shakes has El Matador in his sights, so he kicks the ball high for him.
El Matador jumps for the header, but Strong and Liquido are in his way. Unable to take the shot at the risk of injuring himself, he froze in the air. Strong headers the ball away while El Matador falls on his back.
"Ooh! Tough fall for El Matador," said Mack.
"And now Hydra have a chance to capitalize," said Brenda. "Here comes Strong leading the attack."
Strong skillfully gets pass Dancing Rasta and Klaus. Blok went for a slide tackle, but Strong jumps and then kicks the ball to Liquido. He gives Liquido a hang signal. Pointing at the sky. Liquid nodded in response.
With Twisting Tiger coming towards him, Liquido had to pass high early to Strong.
Shakes and North Shaw try to gang up on Strong, but he had that confident smile on his face. Jumping high, Strong headers the ball hard, right through Shakes and North. Big Bo dives left, but the ball was zooming in too fast due to Strong's, well, strong header.
"GOOOOOOAAAL!"
"One again, the Hydra captain shows why he has the deadliest header in the Super League," said Mack.
"Unlike El Matador, Strong is actually willing to challenge tight defense with heading, which gives Hydra the advantage," said Brenda.
With El Matador chickening away from a double-team defense, Shakes decided to take matters into his own hands. He outruns the Hydra player marking him as Cool Joe prepares for takeoff. El Matador tried to catch up, but he was being smothered by the two defenders guarding him. He decided to run the opposite direction.
Cool Joe crosses the ball high into Hydra's box. Shakes had two defenders in his way, but he wasn't going to let that get in his way. Shakes jumps high and heads the ball through the two defenders.
"GOOOOOOAAAL!"
"And Shakes evens it up 1 a piece as halftime approaches," said Brenda.
As the Ref blows the whistle, a ticked-off Shakes approaches an embarrassed El Matador. El Matador tried to sneak away, but Shakes' loud voice stops him.
"Dude, did you even finish the training?!" asked Shakes.
"I... well... you heard the doctor. My head hurts," El Matador said, making an excuse.
"What did El Ariete say?" asked Shakes.
"Ah... no pain, no gain, I think," said El Matador.
"Then stop being scared and show some guts," said Shakes. "You're the self-proclaimed best player in the Super League, right? Then remember that when you're heading."
"Yeah, you're right, Shakes. I am the best," said El Matador, feeling motivated.
Time for the second half.
"The score's tied at 1. Can Supa Strikas come out ahead?" Brenda started.
"That depends if El Matador can show some guts and get a header through Hydra's defense," said Mack.
Liquido uses Blok to block Twisting Tiger's path and then crosses the ball high into the keeper's box. Strong jumps high for the header, ready to put his team up by one. Unfortunately for Hydra, Big Bo leaps high and snatches the ball before Strong could header it. Strong cushions his landing with a tumble while Big Bo throws the ball to the midfield.
North Shaw gets pass Liquido with a swift move as he leads the attack.
Shakes is attracting some attention in the, which gives El Matador more room for a goal. North passes the ball to Twisting Tiger, who twists pass three Hydra players, leaving them tripping themselves. Tiger crosses the ball high into the box.
"El Matador has an open goal!" Brenda exclaimed.
"I don't think so, Brenda, because here comes Strong," said Mack.
The only obstacle between El Matador and the goal is Strong. Deciding he's tired of being afraid, he jumps after the ball. Strong does as well. The two were closing in on the descending ball. Despite their heads being too close together, El Matador did the unthinkable.
El Matador heads the ball... and Strong's head, hurting them both.
While Strong and El Matador fall down, Hydra's keeper dives right. He dove too low, though.
Supa Strikas lead 2-1.
"What a goal, Mack," said Brenda.
"Well, Supa Strikas may have grabbed the victory, but El Matador and Strong are both gonna need to see a doctor," said Mack.
Strong and El Matador lie down on the ground holding their aching heads. El Matador header-ed the ball so hard that it hurt both him and Hydra's captain a lot. El Matador was seeing stars while Strong was seeing double. The two managed to sit up to glare at each other.
"Nice shot. For a bighead," Strong insulted.
"Nice defense. For a little-head," El Matador insulted.
The two heading masters then fainted again due to extreme forehead pain.
Ouch!
I know Liquido is said to be Hydra's captain, but Strong is the Hydra player wearing the captain's arm band.
Strong's header goal in "No El in Team" wowed me so much that I decided to make heading his specialty, hence this chapter.
