Goal Fever! by Mike Conklin

Author:Mike Conklin [Conklin, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781524627478
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 2016-10-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26: Fountain of youth

With the first qualifying match and deadline for tiny Dominica’s final roster fast approaching, a totally discouraged Buttsy went for a drive around the island in his Ford SUV. “I’ll be back by sundown,” he told his family, who now had joined him and were comfortably situated in the Coconut Guest House.

He needed the time to think. Things were not going well.

After assembling Dominica’s national team and three weeks of training, there was no escaping it: The talent level was thin; too thin.

A first–round elimination would be a disaster. It seemed to be a real possibility. The players simply would move on, but, truth be told, he was growing very fond of this tiny, island nation.

At best, Buttsy figured the Euros, Prometheus, and maybe 1-2 others–Liverpool and Mujabe, most likely–for starting spots on his 15-player roster.

But no one came near being the kind of forward he needed, someone who smelled goals from the moment he walked into the stadium or, on the other hand, at least was capable of splitting defenses with quickness and some razzle-dazzle dribbling to make the goals easy for a teammate.

Until he rounded out his lineup with more skilled and speedy players, he was working with–at best–a mediocre, low-scoring unit that could be competitive in an English second division league.

This simply was not good enough.

As a defensive guru with many tricks in his kitbag, Buttsy was confident he could come up with schemes to carry Dominica a long way in the early rounds against lesser teams. But you needed goals to win and advance.

Certainly scoreless ties, which counted for a point in the early group standings, would not get the Fighting Parrots out of the first round. Or would they?

Buttsy’s wife Suzi knew he needed to clear his head and take a long drive. He had not been shy about verbalizing a growing list of personnel complaints over dinner.

The Soccer House had paper thin walls. She was very aware of late-night, loud strategy sessions with his inner core.

Though Buttsy had not been outside Roseau much, there were few paved roads and it was impossible to get lost if you stayed on the asphalt. You could circle the entire island in less than three hours, which was his plan on this night. He needed to think.

The drive became un-inspiring for the coach. No combination on his roster, he thought, was going to create more goals unless they could convince the opposition to play without a goalie.

Not even a gorgeous Caribbean sunset could elevate his mood, but soon after the sun disappeared and he flipped on his headlights, a solution hit him with a flash.

Actually, the solution–a soccer ball–hit Buttsy’s passenger-side windshield in a flash.

KA-BOOM !!

As he slowed to drive through Pointe Michel, a quiet coastal town (pop. 181), the spheroid dropped from the sky and turned the windshield glass on the passenger side into a spider web of cracks.

It was a soccer ball. He slammed the brakes, pulled to the side of the road, grabbed the ball, and went looking for the launch point.

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