Author's Note: Asians, Latin Americans and Europeans readers will get a kick (LOL!) out of this! I supposed to upload this piece last, last week - which was one week before the FIFA World Cup starts, but I couldn't since mah ISP wuz teh sukt, plus I had to leave the country for one week. I've always wanted to put soccer into one of my HA! fics someday, but I found it hard to incorporate it since America isn't a soccer playing nation... until I remembered Rex and his motley English chaps and the America-Britain rivalry. Well, here's a toast to the beautiful game, and the start of World Cup 2006 (though I am a wee late). I hope Americans will enjoy this as well... if they can get the joke. :) And I hope I got the English cussing right.
Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.
Episode 7: Football/soccer frenzy
I
It was an average afternoon in the park where Arnold and his gang were currently waiting for Gerald to show up with the ball. The sky was blue, birds were chirping, old people babbling about the good old days as they walked, parents spending time with their babies, and the wind was blowing softly. As they waited, they laid back on the warm, soft grass looking towards the sky, watching the clouds.
"I's say that cloud over yonder looks just like a mouse." Stinky said to his friends while pointing at the particular cloud.
"You sure?" asked Sid, "Because I think it's a hamster."
"Crimeny, I can't believe this…" Helga said in disbelief of Sid and Stinky's ineptitude, "It's obviously are those crappy looking shoes that Rhonda wears everyday."
"Hey…" Rhonda shot back, "for your information Helga, these Caprini shoes are made for comfort, style and is compatible with all kinds of weather and terrains!"
"Whatever." Helga scoffed in a bored tone, "it still looks stupid to me."
"Hey guys," Lorenzo said to all of them, "I've rescheduled my timetable today just to play with guys, but I don't see we're doing anything here. I don't want to waste my time lazing around and do nothing. Where's Gerald anyway?" he asked to them, getting tired of waiting.
"Just relax Lorenzo. Gerald always keep to his words, he'll come back here with the ball." Arnold replied back optimistically, knowing that his best friend wouldn't bail on them.
"I'm hungry…" Harold complained whiningly. "Do you guys have any Mr. Fudgies or something?"
"Always thinking about that bloated piece of fat, aren't you Pinkboy?" Helga teased him, smiling.
Harold couldn't find a better comeback to retaliate her insult back, and so he just said to her, "You… you're bad person Helga! You just don't understand me! Ahh! Look at what you've done Helga! Now I'm being sorry for myself!" he cried out, which made Helga smirk. Just next to the lying crowd, Phoebe, Sheena, Lila, and Nadine were playing jump rope, chanting a rhyme to accompany the play.
Curly was in the bushes as he looked at the jump roping girls while waiting for the rhyme to finish, smirking devilishly. He had this idea of foiling the next skipper's jump by scaring the daylights out of her. Phoebe was next after Nadine. The rhyme was about to finish and he thought this would be the perfect time to jump on them. And so he did, but he had his shirt got caught on the branches and fell face down to the ground, startling the girls and the gang. There was a momentary pause, and a hysterical laughter followed suit as Curly looked at them in complete embarrassment.
"Serves you right, Curly!" Rhonda pointed at him and laughed.
"Haw, haw!" Stinky laughed at him, "that really bites!"
"Your attempt of scaring people: Lame out of ten!" Sid pointed at him as he laughed.
"Hey guys," someone suddenly interjected, "did I miss anything funny?" Gerald asked all of them, as he spun a ball on his finger.
"Uh Gerald…" Sid spoke quizzically, "I don't think that's a football…"
"Of course it's not. It's a soccer ball. I've been playing it for some time and thought we should give it a shot sometimes."
"Heck no Gerald!" Harold opposed angrily, "I'm not going to play a lame wussy sport like soccer!"
"Actually Harold, soccer, if played in the professional level is sometimes quite aggressive due to all the tackling maneuvers made and injuries suffered while playing the game. Soccer, or football it's being called outside the United States is the most popular sport of all time and is enjoyed by all age groups and both genders alike." Phoebe enlightened Harold, as others paid attention to her explanation.
"Yeah." Gerald nodded at Phoebe, "You amaze me a lot Phoebe. I didn't know you like soccer." He said warmly to her, smiling.
She giggled back, "I guess I have too much time on my hands reading this kind of trivia…"
Gerald smiled back at her, and then he looked towards the gang, "So, how about it? C'mon, let's give it a change for awhile you guys."
"Yeah, why not?" Arnold said to all of them, "Let's give it a shot. Who knows, we might enjoy it."
"But most of us ain't know the first thing about soccer." Stinky replied back, which was followed by nods of agreements from the others.
"Well, we have Helga here to teach us about it since she went to soccer practice and all." Arnold answered as he pointed to Helga. She widened her eyes in shocked that Arnold actually knew that she went to soccer practice. She began to sigh blissfully and a lovely smile formed across her face, dreaming of her beloved football headed boy. But just then she snapped back by slapping her face and an angry scowl developed soon after that.
"All right you losers!" she said angrily, "since most of you are ignorant about this sport, and tall-hair boy couldn't even tell the difference between a football and a soccer ball," she snidely mocked Gerald, which made him glare at her in annoyance, "and not to mention that my mood is somewhat fine today, I'm gonna teach you morons the basics of this game. So huddle up and listen!" And Helga proceeded to teach them the fundamentals of soccer to all of them as they listened to her attentively. Her explanation was clear and understandable, and by the end of the explanation, most of them understood the basic rule of the sport.
"So, basically the ball can touch any part of your body except for your arms and hands?" Arnold asked again to make sure.
"Are you deaf, Football Head? Yes, no arms and hands are allowed throughout the play, except for the goalkeeper and during throw-ins." She told her in an aggravated tone.
"Uh… okay." Arnold replied nonchalantly.
"Pay attention next time, Arnoldo." She then turned to Gerald and yelled to him, "Hey, Tall Hair Boy! Throw me the ball, will you?"
Gerald could only rolled his eyes in annoyance and proceeded to throw the ball to her rather harshly, but Helga managed to catch it back perfectly, "Don't forget Gerald, I'm in soccer practice." She said to him in a snide tone. Gerald glared back, but then ignored her because he knew that fighting will go nowhere. Sighing as he shook his head, he went to his position.
There were thirteen of them, and they were split into two teams, with exception for Phoebe since she rather watched her friends play rather than playing with them. Gerald, Rhonda, Sid, Lila and Lorenzo were in Arnold's team while Harold, Stinky, Nadine, Curly and Sheena were in Helga's team. Lorenzo and Harold were selected to be the goalkeepers. Arnold, Gerald, Stinky and Helga were in the center field, with Helga's team being the first one to kickoff first. Helga glared at Arnold resentfully. Arnold smirked back. The whole field went silent. And then Helga kicked the ball to Stinky. So began the first half of the match. There was nothing exciting happened on the first five minutes, as nobody on both teams tried to score a goal yet. At the far side of the field, Rex-Smyte Higgins III were walking casually in the park, minding his own business while eating ice-cream when all of a sudden the ball rolled to his feet, and he stopped at his tracks.
II
"Hey Rex!" Gerald shouted to him. "Throw us the ball, will ya?"
Rex smiled and chuckled softly, being amused by them, "Heh, you, of all people are playing football?" he began to laugh snobbishly.
"Nooo, Rex. We're playing soccer, not football. So throw us the ball, man." Sid said back.
"Oh, hohoho!" he laughed snobbishly again, slapping his knee. "You silly Yanks never ceased to amuse me! Do you want to know why I called it football in the first place? It's because we play it with our foot instead of our hands!" he mocked them since Americans played football with their hands.
Helga was angry with the remark, and immediately she retort back, "How about if I land my foot up your—"
"Enough, Helga!" Arnold quickly cut her off, "Look, Rex. Just give us the ball, will you? We don't want to start a fight."
"Sure, whatever you say, Rugby-head." He smirked, and picked the ball with his foot, juggle it many times using his head, chest and both of his feet and finally he kicked the ball to the group of American kids as they looked at him in amazed disbelief of Rex's footballing skills. The ball was caught by Helga, who wasn't impressed at all by his skills. Rex smiled and said to her, "Nice catch, girl. But then again, it's not good enough. Well, I must depart now before I die laughing from watching you Yanks playing football. Ta-ra!" he waved at them, and walked away. "I bet you couldn't even hit the side of Admiral Nelson's Column even if it were just two meters in front of you!"
Arnold felt challenged, irked and insulted by his remark, and thought something must be done to teach him a lesson. "Hey Rex, wait a second." He called him.
"Yes, my hideously misshaped headed friend?"
"How about if you prove us wrong, by playing with us right here, right now?" he challenged him, which surprisingly was agreed by Helga.
"Yeah, you boasting Limey jerk, come on! Don't just talk the talk!" she ridiculed him angrily. "Come up here and prove to us your worth! And bring your team with you!"
"Interesting proposal, mates." He replied excitedly, rubbing his chin as he pondered about the proposal, "Very well then, I accept your challenge. We'll meet again here in the next 30 minutes, savvy?" his bait worked. He wanted to play against them but he didn't want to be the one who proposed the match.
Helga and Arnold glared at him and said, "It's a deal." in unison. They then gazed at each other in surprised gaze that they said it together. Rex smirked and replied back, "Jolly good then. Cheers mate." And he left them, laughing maliciously.
"Now what have you two got us into!" Rhonda yelled angrily at Arnold and Helga.
"Yeah, man!" Sid said to concur with Rhonda, "Didn't you see how well Rex played with that ball? There's no way we're ever going to defeat them! We're goners for sure!"
"Relax guys, I've got a plan. Besides, we have Helga here to guide us." He replied to them. Helga sighed softly at Arnold's reply since he actually had faith in her.
"Still, we can't depend on Helga alone. Face it, Arnold. We don't know squat about soccer. How are we supposed to win against them English guys?" Gerald snapped back.
Suddenly, Lorenzo walked in a rather gallant walk kind of way and said to Helga, "Helga, pass me the ball." He said boldly.
Helga shrugged and passed him the ball. And like Rex, he too did a series of ball juggling and even better perhaps. Lorenzo could balance the ball perfectly with his forehead and the back of his neck, juggling the ball using his heel, head, chest and two of his feet. In short, his footballing skills are just like Rex's, but better. "You're not the only one who goes to soccer practice, Helga."
Helga chuckled and smirked, and said "Well, at least I'm not the only one here who knows how to play this game."
"It's for the love of the game, man." Lorenzo said back, smiling. They then both shook hands and said to their peers, "We'll be the strikers (Principally responsible for scoring goals)."
"Okay… how about the rest of us?" Arnold asked them.
"Hmm… Arnold, Gerald, Nadine and Sid will be the midfielders (Responsible to assist both the striker and defender)." Lorenzo suggested, and Helga nodded in agreement.
"Nice lineup." She complimented, and it was her turn to make a suggestion, "Harold, Sheena, Phoebe—"
"I'm sorry Helga, I think I better sit this one out." She said to her, politely declining her position.
"What? C'mon Pheebs, don't be such a wuss." Helga tried to persuade her.
"I'd be the best for me if I become the observer of the match, I assure you." Still, she persisted. Helga sighed in defeat and said to her, "All right, fine. Go ahead. Lesse… who do we have left…" she said thoughtfully as she tapped her chin with her index finger. Finally, she said, "All right, Harold, Sheena, Rhonda and Curly, you guys will be the defender (duh)."
"I object, Helga!" Rhonda opposed angrily, swiping her hand across her body, "there's no way I'm ever going to be with this… this freak!" she said, pointing to Curly.
"Oh come on, my dearest!" Curly replied back lovingly, "I know you always want to be beside me!" he said as proceeded to go closer to Rhonda and got his face closer to her in an attempt for a kiss.
"In. Your. Dreams, you little freak." She said angrily to him through her clenched teeth as she shoved him away. "If he's in, then I'm out!" she then stomped her way to the bench where Phoebe was sitting.
Helga groaned in frustration as she slapped her forehead in annoyance of Rhonda, "Fine, Sid, you change place with Rhonda and vice-versa! Curly, you stay! If you won't I swear I will smack you silly with old Betsy here!" she said irately as she showed him her fist. Curly gulped, and agreed to his position.
"Hey, whatabout me?" Stinky asked them.
"You're thinking what I'm thinking Lorenzo?" Helga said to him, smirking.
"I certainly do, Helga." Lorenzo replied back, "For a tall guy like you, I think it'd be the best if you be the goalkeeper."
"Hot diggidy dawg!" Stinky cheered, "Means I won't have to do all them running after the ball."
"But what about me?" Lila asked.
"I've got a special place for you," Helga said with a snide voice, "you'll be the substitute, if any one of us got injured, you'll be the one who'll replace us."
"Well… that's ever so good… I guess…"
III
The 30 minutes dateline had passed, and that ugly English mug still hadn't shown up to the field with his motley team. Helga felt that Rex chickened out from the match. He was all talk anyway, she thought. Arnold, on the other hand felt that Rex was just delaying to make them nervous so that they couldn't concentrate on the game very well. Gerald was passing the ball back and forth with Lorenzo, doing their part to warm up. Lorenzo was ready to face the opponent, for he will emulate his favorite soccer player, Jorge Campos, when playing against the English kids. The other kids were sitting on the grass, getting bored and tired of waiting for Rex's team.
"They're not coming." Sid said to all of them as he watched the horizon.
"Yeah…" Nadine said, "Let's just play without them, you guys."
But suddenly, "Who says that we're not coming? We're late because I was too busy finding great chaps to play with me! Lo and behold, ladies and gentlemen: My team!" Rex said cried out energetically, as he showed them his team with his hand. His team was consisted mostly the kids from the Pig War reenactment, and Arnold's team knew each and everyone of them well. And it looks like this match was destined to be the continuation from the Pig War reenactment. It seemed like fate was not without a sense of irony.
Rex then introduced his ragtag team to Arnold's gang as he pointed to each individual and said their name, "This is Scott, Ashley, Steven, Sol, David, Paul, Michael, Wayne, Jamie and finally, Peter. Myself included, there's eleven of us, and should be suffice for the course duration of the match."
"But… don't you have any substitutes at all? What happens if one of you got injured?" Arnold asked him.
"We won't." Rex replied arrogantly, "Because we already know that we can beat you." And his team laughed pompously with him.
"You said it, gov'nur! These bloody Yankees won't stand a chance against us!" One of them replied back.
"These blokes are asking for it!" yet another kid said.
"Now, now, chaps. We do not want to underestimate these good lads. For all we know, they could be a force to be reckoned with." One of them said to the team. He was then greeted by a wall of silence, but he began to snicker, and it grew louder, and finally he burst into a boisterous laugh, and the other team members laughed with him too.
"Oh, let's just stop with the hearty mock and sarcasm, mates." Rex said, trying to stop himself from laughing some more, "Let's carry on with business." He said as he grasped both of his arms together, rubbing in glee. His team members nodded and went over to the field to take their positions. Rex then went over to centerfield and face-to-face with Arnold. They exchanged glares with each other. Rex then rummaged through his pocket for a coin.
"You'll regret for ever challenging us, Yankees." He said with a smirk.
"I'll make you eat your own words, you Limeys." Arnold replied back, also smirking.
"I call heads." Rex said.
"Tails." Arnold replied back, and Rex flipped the coin. The coin dropped to the grass, and revealed the wager.
"Tails it is." Arnold smiled, raising his eyebrow to him.
Rex scoffed, and replied back, "Very well then. Consider this as an act of charity from us."
Arnold ran back to his position, as Lorenzo and Helga ran to the middle of the field. As they pass each other, Arnold gave some words of encouragement to them. Lorenzo thanked Arnold for those words and Helga threw some sarcastic remarks at him, but in a good-natured kind of way. The ball was positioned in the middle of the field by Phoebe. She took some steps backwards, paused to see whether both team were ready, and finally she shouted, "Begin!"
"Righty-ho, gentlemen! Let's defeat these revolting Yankees!"
"All right, fellow American dudes! Let's kick some Limey butt! Aaauuuww!"
Lorenzo immediately kicked the ball to Helga as she ran forward to the opponent's side of the field. Helga received the pass and pressed forward as Lorenzo and the midfielders followed her into the opponent's field. Ashley and Steven went over to Helga, trying to steal the ball away from her. Ashley made a sliding tackle, but Helga was quick to her feet, and evaded the tackle, with the ball still in her possession. But she couldn't make it pass Steven, and he managed to steal the ball away from her. Helga groaned in frustration and ran back after him, as he chuckled in satisfaction of triumph. He then pushed forward, evading the tackles and obstacles from Arnold's team. Pride blinded him from his concentration, and Nadine managed to take the ball from him. She then passed the ball to Curly, Curly to Gerald, Gerald to Sid, and Sid to Lorenzo again.
Lorenzo passed to the ball to Helga, Helga to Lorenzo back, Lorenzo to Gerald, Gerald to Helga and she shoot the ball… but was caught by the goalkeeper, Scott. Scott motioned his hands to ask his teammates to go long, and after he was satisfied with the position, he kicked the ball as hard as possible to the farthest teammate from him, Ashley. Ashley gave the ball a header to pass to her teammate on her opposite side. David received the pass, and proceeded to the goal. He ran as fast as he could, getting ready to shoot but, it was a trick! He actually passed the ball to Sol behind him, and quickly he shoot the ball but it hit the goalpost. The ball bounced back to Sheena and she immediately kicked it away but was intercepted by Ashley again. She shot the ball, and finally the English kids scored a goal!
They were elated with joy when she scored the goal so much that her teammates ran up to her and gave her a hearty compliment. The American kids weren't satisfied by it, as they watched the joyful scene. Helga was totally angry with the result that she yelled at everyone for being so inept at this.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" she shouted angrily at her teammates. "Didn't I tell you guys to be on alert? HUH?"
"C'mon Helga." Lorenzo tried to calm her up, "We still have time. Besides, these guys are new at this. Give them a chance."
Helga scoffed back, and went back to her position on the field. The others followed suit. "One more mishap like that and you guys are so going to regret it!" she shouted loudly at them. The American team's morale didn't go down from the scolding though, as they were still determined to win this game. The ball once again was placed by Phoebe, and a new round started.
IV
As the kids play ball, two old men were walking down the footpath near the field, talking and ranting about almost everything. "If it wasn't for us Rex, Britain would be in Germany's grasp by now!"
"Oh, hogwash Phil!" Rex-Symthe Higgins Senior replied back. "We'd survive on our own even without the American's help! It seems to me that your history is a wee bit fuzzy. Don't you recall the Battle of Britain? Why, we defeated the Germans despite the overwhelming odds." He then looked to the left, "I say now, it seems that our grandchildren are playing a round of footie."
"Footie?" Grandpa Phil replied, scratching his head, "What kind of sick, twisted person are ya, Rex?"
"Ya bloody fool! Football, man! Football!" Rex snapped back.
"What are ya talking about Rex? They're playing soccer for cryin' out loud!" Grandpa Phil retorted back.
Rex Senior sighed in annoyance, and replied, "Blimey, it is football, Phil! It's ya bloody Americans went all willy-nilly changing its name to soccer!"
"Why you… don'tcha be saying that, you Limey!" Grandpa Phil replied back, while pointing at Rex senior threateningly. They then started to bicker relentlessly about which name was right as they made their way to the field. And as they came ever close to the field, Gerald made the home team proud by scoring a goal. The match was now at a tie with 1-1. "Haha!" Grandpa Phil laughed happily, "Score one for the boys back home!" he then looked at his English rival and pointed to his face saying, "In your face, Rex!"
Rex senior narrowed his eyes and looked at Phil back irritably, "Ohh, it's not over yet. I assure you my lads—" he looked around and saw a couple of girls on the team, "and the girls will win against your pitiful band of chavs."
"Now you're not making sense." Grandpa Phil replied, "The heck are 'chavs'? Don't you export your silly British words at me!"
"Oh, pish-posh, let's just be quiet and watch the match, shall we?" Rex senior said back, as the both of them sat on a bench conveniently placed on the side of the field. He noticed Phoebe on the sideline, "You there, young lass," Rex Senior called her, "What is the current score?"
"It's a tie one to one, sir." Phoebe replied back.
"Hah!" Rex Senior said happily, "Looks like my lads scored the first goal! Haha!" he then stood up and yelled to the English kids, "I say there, all of you!"
"Grandfather?" Rex-Symthe Higgins III said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
"To give support, of course." Rex Senior replied back, "Now hear this, these bloody Yankees rotters do not know the first thing about football, so don't give them a chance at all to win this game, you hear that correctly?"
"Yes grandfather." Rex III replied, "We will, these sods are a pushover, anyways." He said arrogantly.
Grandpa Phil was pretty steamed upon hearing the conversation between Rex and his grandfather that he stood up and yelled to the American Team, "Listen you guys, even though the most of you don't know jack squat about this game, but by gum, win it for the homeland!"
All the American kids stopped at their movements, and they looked at Grandpa Phil incredulously. "Man, what is your Grandpa babbling about?"
"I don't know…" Arnold shook his head as he stopped his ball at his feet, "He must've forgotten to take his raspberries juice again." He then looked down at his feet, and realized the ball was gone, "Hey, where's the ball?"
With all the American kids got distracted by Grandpa, one of the English kids successfully stole the ball back from Arnold and they immediately launched an attack on the American's goal. Stinky was very nervous since nobody, not even the defenders were there to help him out. "Uh… fellas…" he said with a scared tone. With no one in sight, The English kids ran at full force, as if a locomotive going at full speed to a stalled car in the middle of the tracks. Realizing it was the situation was hopeless, with him sweating all over, Stinky made the decision to run away from his post. "AARRRRGGHHHH!"
Wayne smiled at himself, and tried to shoot at the goal from afar. It scored a perfect goal in the center! "GOOOAALLL!" the English kids yelled jubilantly as they ran around the field like maniacs. Wayne took off his number eight shirt and spun it around in the air as he ran across the field in joy.
"That's two strikes to one, Phil." Rex Senior said to Grandpa, as he smirked evilly at him.
V
"All right fellas, come on! Come on!" Grandpa stood up and shouted some pep talk to the team, "We can do this!" the team on the other hand, was having an internal conflict themselves as they blamed each other for the mess they were in.
"WHY THE HECK did you leave your post, Stinky?" Helga shouted loudly at him, demanding an answer. "You're supposed to catch the ball, not running away from it!"
"Where the heck are the defenders?" Stinky reasoned back, "They're supposed to help me out! Not standing around like some dang fools!"
"Hey, don't you call us fools, Stinky!" Curly retorted back. And the team just went all crazy and the sportsmanship between them was weakening. As they debated between themselves, the English kids looked at them with a smile on their faces.
"Look at those blokes. They're completely in disarray." David said to Rex, smiling.
"I told you this is going to be a bloody walk in the park." Rex replied back, "With them gits completely in disorder, the chance of winning this match is in our hands, mate."
As the fuming argument continued amongst the Americans, Arnold then suddenly stood out and said to them, "Listen to yourselves! Is this what we've become?" Everyone else stood in silence, lowering their head down from embarrassment because they weren't cooperating like any teamwork should've done. Arnold then continued his speech, "Over there, there are a bunch of people who look down on us because we're not familiar with the game, because we played the other football, and because we really don't stand out in the world in this game."
Lorenzo lifted his hand, "Arnold, we hosted the World Cup back in 1994…" he said to him.
"Out of pity!" yelled one of the English kids. The Americans ignored them.
"Yeah, but still… they're light-years in front of us, we still have lots of catching up—"
Lorenzo lifted his hand again, "Arnold, we're ranked 5th in the world ranking…"
"The rankings are skewed!" yelled yet another English kids.
Lorenzo was about to explode from the demoralizing, and he prompty shouted, "Shut up! We kicked your sorry butt 1-0 in 1950!" that got them to shut up.
Arnold rolled his eyes in realization that he wasted his breath, and finally he gave up his aspiring speech, "All right, forget what I've said, and let's just kick those Limey butts." And then there was cheers coming from the American kids. With the newly found spirit, the American kids went back to their position and they were determined to defeat the English kids. Again, the play started again and the American kids went on the offensive and attacked the English's defenses. The game then went on and on and on, pretty much bore Grandpa Phil to tears, while Rex Senior on the other hand, didn't even blink because he didn't want to miss any action at all.
"My word, how do you people even put up with this sport?" Grandpa yelled frustratingly. "It's so boring! Passing back and forth, back and forth, and with no scores at all! Where's the action at?"
Rex Senior looked at him with narrowed eyes, "That is why you Americans will never appreciate the beauty of this sport. Look at the play, it's all about tactical prowess and strategic planning. There's offence and defence, and there's hearty drama and suspense every time when they're attempting to score a goal."
"I don't even know what you're talking about." Grandpa Phil replied back.
Suddenly, at the English side of the field, an aggression was made where one of the British kids made a sliding tackle on Sid, injuring his knee. "AUUGHH!" he yelled in pain, holding his knee tightly.
"Oh, he's just faking it." Sol scoffed, pointing to Sid. Phoebe then immediately rushed to the field and went over to Sid to inspect the injury. After a thorough examination, Phoebe concluded:
"Unfortunately, he has to leave the field. If I let him play, the injury on his knee will get worse." She said to the American team, which frustrated them even more. They had no choice but to let him go, and put Lila in. Helga slapped her forehead and thought they were done for.
"All right, let's get this over with." Helga said frustratingly. "C'mon, start with the free kick already." One of Rex's teammates placed the ball in front of him and went long near the goal post. After Rex chose the person he was aiming for, he then kicked the ball, sending it to his chosen teammate. But the ball was successfully intercepted by Helga and she immediately ran up to the opposition's goal, while the others ran after her. She saw Lorenzo on the far side of the field and passed to the ball to him. Lorenzo received it and shot the ball to the goal! It missed, hitting the post and deflected to Lila. But Lila stood stunned, with the ball still at her feet.
"What should I do?" she asked.
"KICK IT!" Lorenzo and Helga yelled back. So Lila kicked the ball, and it rolled… and rolled… and rolled… to the goal very slowly, but it went in for some reason. And the American kids triumphantly shouted with joy. Grandpa on the other hand, was humming some patriotic song using his nose, to Rex Senior's ire.
VI
The score was now tied 2-2, and the match's tension was on the highest level. By now every one of them were tired and wanted to take a break. As Phoebe put the ball on the centerfield, Arnold and Rex walked to the middle. Before the English kids began the kickoff, Arnold raised his palm, and pause the game. "Look around you Rex, everybody is tired."
"Yes, I am very well aware of that." Rex nodded.
"So, what about this:" Arnold proposed, "Any team who scores the next goal will be considered the winner. How's about that?"
The proposal sparked Rex's interest, as he stroked his chin and smiled maliciously to himself. "We accept." And then both teams huddled up and device some strategy of their own to win the match. After each teams agreed on their plan, they went back to the original position and waited for the kickoff to start. The kickoff started and the English kids went as planned as they masterfully controlled the ball to their advantage. Their plan worked and they were now just near the goal post with almost everyone on the American's side of the field. But something happened that the British kids did not intend, Curly made a sliding tackle and injured on of the strikers, Steven.
"What? No way! He's faking that!" Curly pointed angrily at him, as Phoebe quickly made her way into the field. Convinced that Steven was indeed injured, she said to the players, "I have no choice but to give the English players the penalty kick." Upon hearing that, The English players were jubilant while the American team, Helga and Lorenzo mainly, were angry at the decision. The other scratched their heads, wondering what a penalty kick was.
"C'mon Phoebe!" Helga protested, "Which side are you on?" Lorenzo protested too.
"I have to maintain a degree of professionalism by showing my neutrality here, everyone!" Phoebe retorted back, "Blame on the rules, not on me!" Despite the protests, they reluctantly agreed to the decision and had to give the English kids the penalty kick. The person who will shoot the ball is David. After Phoebe placed the ball directly in the middle of the penalty box, David walked in as his teammates and his opponents watch. Stinky was all alone, defending the goal post. He began to sweat nervously and his heart was racing fast. David could only smile back, confident that he'd score the goal. He then began his run. David's teammates were ecstatic, while his opponents feared the worst. Arnold and Rex's respective grandfathers crossed their fingers.
The ball went straight above the goal post, much to the American's delight, and the English kids' dismay.
"YA BLOODY CHAV!" Rex yelled angrily at David, "You blew it!" his anger was too shared by his teammates. "Cor blimey! Is there some kind of curse where every sod named David would always mess up a penalty kick?"
"Oh, ya bloody git!" Rex Senior stood up angrily as he took his hat off and threw it on the ground and stomped on it repeatedly, "What a bunch of rotters…" Grandpa Phil who was watching Rex Senior could only laughed at his antics. The game resumed again, after Stinky kicked the ball high in the air. Unfortunately, it landed near Rex and he immediately went through the American kids' defenses. The relief was cut short, and all the American kids scrambled to their side of the field to defend their goal. Rex wanted to do it right, as what David made before was an embarrassment enough. He was now completely surrounded, but wait! He saw Sol completely unguarded! He then passed the ball to him by lob kicking to him. Sol jumped up, giving the ball a diving header to the goal…
VII
Everyone ran up to Sol and gave him a hug, for he won the English team the match. The American kids took the final score heavy-heartedly. Rex Senior was dancing joyfully on the bench as Grandpa looked at him irritably with his long face. Grandpa then tipped him over and Rex Senior fell down to the ground, "My back!" Grandpa Phil then got up from the bench, laughing to himself.
"C'mon guys… let's go…" Arnold said to his friends, and left the field. But just then, he felt someone had put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around, and saw Rex and his gang giving them a smile.
"You blokes are indeed, worthy opponents. Our hats off to all of you. You chaps are not that bad at all." Rex said. This indeed, was a true meaning of sportsmanship. Arnold's team lost gracefully. "You know, for a bunch of Americans…" Rex added jokingly, but both of them laughed.
"Yeah, I guess we are." Rex then extended his hand to Arnold and he gladly shook his hands with him. Just then the other players did the same to each other. "Thank you for playing with us." Arnold said to Rex.
"Indeed. Ring us up when you blokes want to play with us again." He replied back, waving his hand to him as he walked away from the field. The American kids on the other hand, took the opportunity to relax in the middle of the field.
"I told you it was a great game, man." Gerald said, as he patted Harold's shoulder.
"Yeah…" he replied back, "I think I wanna play this game more." Just then, a group of Mexican exchange students walked into the field and saw them sitting the middle.
"iDios Mio! They're actually playing fútbol instead of béisbol?" said one of the students, smiling broadly.
"No, we're actually playing soccer. Wanna play against us?" Helga said with a grin.
Well, thanks for reading everyone, and leave a review! And I hope any team that you're rooting for will lose:)