Team Spirit by Jamal Orme

Author:Jamal Orme
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kube Publishing Ltd

11

A Solid Start

Abdullah took up a vantage point next to Mr Bateman and Imam Munieb. He had difficulty even squeezing in, such was the vast red wall of Sedgecombe Shuttles supporters surrounding the neighbouring Group A pitch. Waiting for their game with Sidling Dynamo to begin, they were already creating quite a din with their drums and their chanting. One fan had even brought a trumpet.

In the middle of it all, Mr Zidane was attempting to yell instructions to his son, but they didn’t appear to be reaching him. Amir was warming up furiously, bringing his knees up to his waist, and looking extremely focused.

‘Sedge-combe!’ Bang-bang-bang! ‘Sedge-combe!’ Bang-bang-bang!

‘My dad’s coming along later,’ murmured Faris to Ismail, as they took their positions on the sidelines, both entranced by the noise from the next-door pitch.

‘Is he bringing a drum?’ asked Ismail hopefully.

‘Captains please!’ announced the referee, and Khalid trotted over to the centre circle for the coin toss. Ibrahim looked up. The first drops of rain had begun to fall and the wind seemed to be picking up.

‘Ready, brothers?’ cried Khalid, returning to his position. Ravenhurst had won the toss and would kick off. Every Shabab player said ‘bismillah’ and Ibrahim felt a surge of adrenalin rush through his body.

Both games began at the same time. Ravenhurst launched a long ball forward, which swirled unpredictably in the air. Yunus had difficulty judging where it was going to land and could only head it out for a throw-in. As soon as the Rangers player had taken it there was an almighty roar from the neighbouring pitch. Ibrahim looked over to see Amir being congratulated by his teammates. He had scored already! Amir noticed Ibrahim and pointed at himself before holding up his index finger for his rival to see. The goal count had begun.

Ibrahim shrugged back at him as coolly as he could.

‘Ibrahim, get in the game!’ shouted Coach Saleem, as Khalid’s clearance sailed past the striker without him realising. Ibrahim turned and raced after it. To everybody’s surprise, and with a little help from the wind, he managed to keep the ball in play by the right touchline. He looked up to survey his options. Ali was first to arrive on the scene. Ibrahim swung in a cross and his friend met it with a blistering shot. The ball rocketed into the top corner. The Rangers goalkeeper didn’t even move.

‘Beauty!’ cried Mr Bateman, thrusting his open umbrella upward and nearly taking off on a gust of wind. ‘Left foot!’

‘All that practice was worth it!’ shouted Ibrahim, hugging his friend as the other players closed in to offer their congratulations.

Ibrahim looked towards the Shuttles match to see if Amir had noticed Ali’s goal, but found himself watching ‘The Prince’ skip around the Sidling goalkeeper to tap the ball into the net, amid more deafening cheers from Sedgecombe’s faithful fans.

‘Try to forget about him,’ he told himself. ‘It’s about what you do, not what he does.’ Determined to get himself on the scoresheet, Ibrahim made run after run, looking for space that Ali or Junayd could exploit with an inch-perfect pass.

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