Golden Goal Read online

  “I’m gonna be fine, Harry,” Jamie yelled. “My leg … it just passed the test!”

  Jamie bent down and straightened his shin pad. Then he looked up and stared Rick Morgan straight in the eye.

  You’re only on the pitch because I saved you from being sent off, Jamie said with his glare. You’re on this pitch because I want you on this pitch…

  And now I am going to finish you.

  “Play it short,” Jamie whispered to Glenn Richardson, who was standing over the free-kick.

  Without saying anything, while the Foxborough wall was still trying to organize itself, Richardson flicked the ball subtly to his left. To Jamie…

  Jamie collected the ball and charged towards Rick Morgan. He charged at him with such speed and power that Morgan seemed spellbound, unable to react.

  “Come on,” Jamie roared aloud as he soared towards Morgan. “Let’s see how hard you are now, Wolf!”

  Every single Hawkstone fan rose to his or her feet. Jamie Johnson was in full flight.

  Jamie passed the ball from one foot to the other as he approached Morgan. Then he lifted his head and looked up at his opponent.

  In his eyes, he could see Morgan’s fear. They both knew that Jamie was going to take him. It was just a case of when. And how…

  Now! Jamie shouted to himself inside his brain. Take him now! Destroy him!

  And with that, Jamie dug deep into his body to find another level; a level he’d never been to before. From somewhere deep inside, he found an extra yard of pace.

  As he rocketed forward with a lightning burst of speed, he felt so powerful it was almost as if he were running with the strength of two people.

  He swept the ball outside and inside the full-back, hypnotizing Morgan with his snake skill.

  Morgan’s ageing body could not keep up with the rapid changes in direction. His legs twisted around themselves as they tried to chase after Jamie. But it was useless; Jamie was too quick…

  So, in the end, after all his taunts and threats, the only thing Rick Morgan could do as Jamie sped away from him was … fall over.

  He sat on his bum like a baby.

  Jamie didn’t bother to look around. He was clear.

  He cut into the area and drew back his left leg.

  It was the leg that had been in plaster. The leg that had lost half its muscle mass while Jamie had been in hospital. The leg that was held together by a bunch of metal screws.

  Jamie gathered all the power his body had ever possessed and channelled it into a strike. His foot flashed into the ball, pelting a supersonic rocket of a shot soaring towards the goal.

  It was unstoppable.

  The ball scorched into the top right-hand corner of the goal. It nearly ripped a hole right through the net!

  As the ball went in, Jamie remained perfectly still. For a single second, he looked up towards the sky and smiled.

  He knew who he’d scored that goal for…

  Then he turned to stare at the Foxborough bench. Foxborough, the club who’d released him. The club who’d told him his career was over.

  He wanted to run over to them, point to the name on the back of his shirt and shout: “Jamie Johnson! That’s who I am! I told you I’d come back!”

  But before he could do any of that, or even kiss the Hawkstone badge on his shirt, he was pulverized by his teammates. They collapsed into a human pile of joy. They were shrieking in delight and relief. Their wild screams sounded like a group of apes in the jungle!

  While they were celebrating on the ground, Archie Fairclough sprinted out of the Foxborough dugout and dive-bombed on top of them! Then he ran over to the Hawks fans and ripped off his shirt to reveal a T-shirt underneath, which said:

  We are staying up!

  We are staying up!

  The Hawkstone fans were now roaring his message back to him as he did a little jig of celebration in front of them. Archie knew the referee would probably send him to the stands for this but he didn’t care. There were only a couple of seconds left. Hawkstone were going to do it. They were going to stay up. And his old maintenance assistant was the one who’d scored the goal!

  Meanwhile, in the Foxborough dugout, Brian Robertson folded his arms aggressively across his chest. He knew the game was up. He’d just seen the Premier League title stolen away from them by the boy they’d released.

  “The kid’s a flipping star!” he shouted angrily. “We should never have let him go.”

  Sitting next to him, Tommy Taylor nodded back enthusiastically.

  “You’re right, boss. We should never have let him go, boss.”

  “For God’s sake!” Robertson roared. “I just said that!”

  “It wasn’t simply a good goal,” the TV commentator said, as millions of people at home watched the referee blow his final whistle. “It was a goal that saved an entire football club. Now that truly is a golden goal!”

  Hawkstone United stay in the Premier League

  “Can we have a quick interview, Jamie?” asked Esther Vaughan, as the Hawkstone players celebrated in front of their fans. It was the sweetest victory any of them had ever experienced.

  Jamie smiled at Esther. Then he walked straight past her.

  “We’re live on TV, Jamie,” she shouted desperately. Her director was in her ear, demanding she get Johnson. Johnson was the only one the people at home were interested in.

  “It’ll be good for your profile, Jamie! Where are you going?”

  The reporter turned and motioned for the cameras to follow Jamie. He’d run behind the Hawkstone goal and had now made his way into the crowd.

  The fans were lifting him up above their heads, carrying him on an ocean of pride, up towards the top of the stand.

  The reporter may not have known where Jamie was going, but he did. He was going to see the people that mattered most…

  The first thing he did was hug his mum.

  “Jamie!” she said. “What an unbelievable goal you scored! Right in the top corner!”

  Jamie smiled. It sounded as though his mum was actually getting into her football! And she wasn’t the only one. Jamie suddenly saw that Jeremy had ripped off his shirt and was swinging it around his head, dancing like a madman with the other Hawks fans around him! He’d even tied a Hawkstone scarf around his forehead like a bandanna!

  Jamie turned to look at Jack… He moved towards her. She smiled and clasped her hands around his neck. Then she whispered something into his ear.

  “JJ … what took you so long?”

  Jamie just looked at her. Then they both started laughing.

  “Well played, Jamie,” said Dave Lewington, shaking Jamie’s hand as Jamie got back down to the pitch. Dave was the only Foxborough player, besides Bolt, who’d been man enough to congratulate the Hawkstone team.

  Jamie looked at the other Foxborough players. They were all in a state of shock. None of them had actually believed it was possible that little Hawkstone United could come to the mighty Foxborough and stop them winning the league.

  As he watched Rick Morgan slink his way back down the tunnel, Jamie smiled. He’d just remembered something he’d learned at school. Wolves can only survive in packs.

  “Jamie!” begged Esther Vaughan as the Hawkstone players headed past her and into the tunnel. “Please, just give us a couple of minutes. Your fans want to hear from you.”

  Jamie thought for a second.

  “Sure,” he said. “No problem.”

  “Thanks, Gary,” said Esther breathlessly to the presenter into her microphone.

  “Yes, I’m delighted to say that we can now speak to the star of today’s show, Jamie Johnson… And Jamie, the first thing to ask is: who writes your scripts? You couldn’t have scored at a better time, could you?”

  “Yeah, it was a great time to get a goal,” agreed
Jamie, squirting water over his head to cool himself down. “Obviously, credit to the gaffer for playing me. He took a big risk and I’m glad it paid off for him. The lads are all buzzing!”

  “I bet they are!” beamed Esther. “Not many teams come here and beat Foxborough on their own patch. You must be looking forward to the future after that. Do you think this team can challenge for the League next season?”

  “We’ve got a good bunch of players here, but I think we’re just going to enjoy today at the moment,” said Jamie, raising his hand up to acknowledge the jubilant Hawks fans who were all singing his name. “This club means a lot to a lot of people. And I’m one of them.”

  Jamie looked at Esther as she was about to ask her next question. There was no doubt about it – she was more nervous than he was.

  “Great… And what about that tackle, just before you scored? You looked in real pain. What was going through your mind at that moment?”

  Jamie smiled and looked straight into the camera.

  “I was thinking about a piece of advice someone gave me a long time ago,” he said. “That if people foul you, it means they’re scared of you. You’ve just got to keep coming back for more.”

  Interview with Dan Freedman

  You’ve been to the World Cup twice, what was it like?

  Before becoming an author, I worked as a journalist with the England Football Team. That meant living in the team hotel, having breakfast with players like Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard and then going to watch them train and play in the World Cup Finals. They were some of the greatest experiences of my life. I realize how lucky I was and I thought about those times a lot when I was writing this book.

  Can you do all of Jamie’s best moves?

  Of course I can – I’m a phenomenal footballer, one of the best in the world. See, that’s the good thing about being an author: you can just make stuff up.

  Who are your favourite footballers at the moment?

  You can’t ignore Messi’s majestic talent and I absolutely love the way that Xavi never ever loses the ball. Gerrard for his passion and loyalty to his club and, for the future, Jack Wilshere. So young but soooo good!

  You visit lots of schools – what’s the funniest question you’ve been asked?

  Lots of kids seem fascinated to know what car I drive (a Golf, if you must know). Some ask me if I ever get bored of football (no). And one boy asked me which footballer had the biggest appetite when it came to meal times! The school visits are great fun because they are a chance for me to meet the people that I write the books for.

  Who is the most famous person you’ve interviewed?

  Take your pick: David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sir Alex Ferguson. At the time, I had to pretend that it was no big deal and that I was all cool about it but inside I was thinking: “Oh my God! I can’t believe I’m interviewing him!”

  So have you ever had a kick around with Wayne Rooney?

  No – I think I would be too worried about injuring him if I timed a tackle wrong! That would be a disaster! I did once get to play against Demetrio Albertini though. He was one of the best midfielders in the world when I was growing up – he won the Champions League with AC Milan. I played against him in midfield in a friendly game. Would you believe me if I told you we won?!

  What inspires you to write these books?

  When I was younger I wasn’t a massive reader. People used to tell me to read all the time but there were no books out there that excited me. They all seemed boring. The Jamie Johnson series is for people out there who are like I was. I try to write the kind of books that I would have been desperate to read.

  What’s the best game you’ve ever been to?

  In 2002, I was in Japan for the World Cup quarter-final: Brazil v England. It doesn’t get much bigger than that!

  Jamie Johnson books are often about triumphing over the odds. Can you give us any tips on how to become a professional footballer?

  I think it’s about your physical and mental dedication. Are you training as hard as you can? Are you working on your weaker foot? Do you believe in yourself? Are you trying to improve every time you play? And, if you get knocked back, how will you react? If you come back stronger, you’ve got half a chance.

  And the other thing to remember is that even if you don’t make it as a professional footballer, there are so many other jobs that you can get which involve football. Doctor, physiotherapist, coach, architect... The possibilities are all there, it’s a case of going for your goals.

  Want more thrilling footballing action? Catch up on Jamie Johnson’s journey to the top.

  Scholastic Children’s Books

  An imprint of Scholastic Ltd

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  First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2009

  This electronic edition published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2013

  Text copyright © Dan Freedman, 2009

  The right of Dan Freedman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him.

  eISBN 978 1407 14391 0

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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