Goal Fever!
by
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U-S-A ! U-S-A ! U-S-A ! The roar started a full 30 minutes before kickoff. There were 102,000 spectators in the Los Angeles Coliseum on a brilliant, sunny Sunday afternoon, one of the five largest crowds to assemble for a soccer match in the United States and easily the largest to cheer almost exclusively for Americans against an outsider. The Vice-President of the United States, with two Cabinet members, was among the spectators. U-S-A !! U-S-A !! U-S-A !! The chant grew in intensity, penetrating what supposedly were sound-proofed walls of two adjacent locker rooms beneath the restless fans. The coaches and players on both teams could not avoid hearing the growing roar. Two teenagers in one locker room were playing games on their smart phones as if they were in their home. U-S-A !!! U-S-A !!! U-S-A !!! For the Americans, the challenge was obvious. This was a match they must win to avoid humiliation totally unthinkable only weeks ago. Their coach emphasized the need to stay calm, play their game, and not commit adrenalin-fueled mistakes of aggression. He appeared oblivious to the noise. As the players filed out the door with grim expressions and thoughts of lost product endorsements on their minds, the coach shook their hands.”You’ll be OK,” he said. “You’ll be OK. These guys are a fluke. Just a bunch of minnows.” For the visitors in the other room, the atmosphere was sweatier. Their air conditioning wasn’t working. This team was about to play the mighty Americans in front of a totally hostile crowd larger than the entire population of the tiny Caribbean nation they represented. To their knowledge, not one supporter was in the Coliseum crowd. At last word, a delegation of VIPs from their homeland, including the president, was circling LAX in a chartered Air Sunshine flight trying to get clearance to land. The players gathered around their coach, whose name was Buttsy. He climbed on top of a chair and said: “We got ‘em right where we want ‘em, boys.” As his players filed out the door, he held his hand out to two teens filing past him and said: “You can’t take your phones with you. Give ‘em to me and I’ll stash them. You can play with them after the game.”
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About the Book
The tiny Caribbean island nation of Dominica (pop. 73,000) has an identity problem. Often confused for the Dominican Republic, and with its banana-dependent economy shaky at best, it sets an unusual goal to make a mark on the global stage—qualify for the World Cup soccer tournament finals. Can the Jamaican bobsled team become The Mouse That Roared? There is not much of a chance until its wily, imported Italian coach discovers secret weapons—a trio of overlooked, local teenagers. Two—Pato and Tato—just happen to be identical twins whose complementary skills make them difficult to defend. The third, Bluto, possesses a kick that could stun a charging rhino. Dominica’s route will be full of hazards. Rival Caribbean national teams, seasoned superstars, and a US squad with every possible advantage have their own goals to accomplish. Much is at stake, but success in international soccer will solve many problems for this tiny island nation that unites in the effort.
About the Author
Mike Conklin is a former Chicago Tribune sportswriter whose many assignments included World Cup and professional soccer. He taught writing full-time at DePaul University, edited and authored more than a half-dozen books, contributed to Soccer America as well as other national publications, and conducts writing workshops.