Striker Boy Kicks Out (18 page)

“Decision's already made,” replied Fox firmly. “Nat you're on.”

No way – I'm on for the whole second half!

Although Dennis Jensen was clearly crushed, he gave Nat a positive smile.

“Nat, you and Robbie are charged with dragging us back into the game by getting the ball into the back of the net, supported by Adilson and Jermaine, with Jobson and Carigio backing you up. Think of it as a six-man attack where we're taking the game to them, and pray they don't catch us on the break early in the half. Let's make life seriously uncomfortable for them in the next forty-five minutes.”

“Remember, lads, a draw will put us into Saturday's final!” cried the Wildman. “We CAN do it!”

Nat and the rest of the team shouted their support.

So when Nat moved back down the tunnel he was in his Rangers kit, and instead of heading for the subs' bench, he strode to the centre circle with Robbie Clarke. He jumped up and down several times, heading the air.

“I'm not ready to go home,” said Robbie.

“Me neither,” nodded Nat.

From the whistle, Rangers attacked, and Nat was right in the thick of things. In the fiftieth minute, he released Adilson, who took a quick shot that went just over the bar.

Jermaine Clifton then had a half-chance that he scuffed. In the sixty-first minute, Nat received a pass from Emi in the centre circle. He looked up and saw Clarke just up ahead and they swapped passes. Nat was now approaching the penalty area and switched play out to the left, where Adilson controlled the ball beautifully with his instep, cut past a defender and crossed. The ball flew above the heads of the Lazio back four. As it bounced, Nat edged past Lazio right-back Franco Dessoti and toe-poked the ball past Paulo Calari.

GOAL!

Sixteen minutes on and I've scored!

Nat ran straight for the Rangers fans, waving his arms wildly. The fans went crazy, and when his teammates reached him, they pummelled him with joy. Ian Fox was screaming so loudly that Nat could pick his voice out among the thousands of others. But he wasn't
celebrating – he was yelling at his players to get back into their own half for the Lazio kick off.

“OK, lads, that's enough!” commanded the Wildman. “We're back in the game. Let's get another goal!”

The next ten minutes were nervy ones. Lazio were determined to grab a third goal and kill off the game, and if it hadn't been for a quite superb save from Graham Dalston, they'd have had their way. His incredibly athletic dive, low and to his left, allowed him to make a fingertip save from a vicious Tassi bullet from just outside the Hatton Rangers penalty area.

From the resulting corner, Fellini went close with a header, but the Wildman hooked it off the line. Lazio now sensed victory was theirs for the taking and started firing in shots from all sorts of angles. Ian Fox was leaping about bellowing at his players to maintain possession and make some chances of their own.

By the eightieth minute, Rangers were starting to look slightly desperate and Adilson was reduced to taking a shot from sixty yards which went ridiculously wide. Nat was determined to create some havoc in the Lazio penalty area but the service to him and Robbie Clarke was almost non-existent, because the rest of the team were so busy defending. Nat made a decision – if he wasn't going to be passed the ball, he'd have to go and grab it for himself.

So when Lazio captain Ade Ragani stood over the ball on the halfway line, Nat sprinted over to him. Ragani saw him coming, but instead of passing, he shielded the ball
with his body and leaned into Nat's challenge. Nat bounced off the defender, but recovered quickly and managed to get a touch on the ball. It rolled a couple of yards away from Ragani and Nat pounced. As Ragani tried to drag the ball back, Nat rounded him and pushed the ball further away. Ragani tugged at his shirt, but thankfully the referee played the advantage instead of blowing for a free kick.

Nat hared forward. He was accompanied by Clarke, Adilson, Jobson and Carigio who were all racing in his wake towards the Lazio penalty area. It was five against three Lazio defenders – Ade Ragani was off the pace.

“Yes, Nat!” screamed Jobson, who was now in the penalty area. Nat saw that Jobson was in the best position and released the ball. Jobson took it in his stride, but as he pulled back his leg to shoot, a massive lunging challenge from the Lazio keeper Calari sent him crashing to the ground. The ball rolled to Lazio's right-back, Franco Dessoti – who hacked it out of play.

The referee hadn't been brilliantly sighted, and for a couple of agonising seconds, Nat thought he'd just wave play on. But one of his assistants was waving his flag wildly. The referee nodded emphatically and pointed to the penalty spot. A split second later, he pulled out his red card and brandished it at Calari. The Lazio keeper went crazy, leaping up and jutting his head right into the referee's face. His teammates surrounded the referee, protesting that Calari's challenge was without malice and that he'd reached the ball.

But the referee was unmoved. He took several steps
back and shooed them away. Dean Jobson stood up. Calari ran after the official and carried on his protest. The Wildman ran over and put an arm round Calari's shoulder, but the Lazio keeper pushed him away and carried on shouting. The Wildman backed off.

The referee stood his ground, his finger still pointing to the touchline for Calari to follow. A furious and devastated Calari looked up to the heavens, and with a massive shake of his head, began the trudge towards the Lazio bench.

As Calari came off, one of the assistant referees held up an electronic board to indicate that Luigi Fellini would be coming off to enable Lazio to bring on their substitute keeper Oscar Piesca – a promising young ex-Juventus player who'd already represented Italy at under-twenty-one level.

Should I take the penalty?
Nat wondered.

Dean Jobson ran to retrieve the ball and placed it on the penalty spot.

I guess not!

However, as soon as Jobson laid it down, Paulo Carigio raced up to him.

“Let Nat or Adilson take it!” he shouted.

Dean Jobson glared at him with disbelief. “I was fouled – I'm taking the penalty! And, in case you've forgotten, Adilson
missed
the last one!”

“This isn't playground football!” shouted Carigio. “There's too much at stake!”

“Back off, Paulo!” shouted Jobson with disgust.

Adilson, who'd been over by the bench, ran up to them.

“The boss wants me to take it,” he declared.

Jobson stood there for a few seconds, looking as if he'd just been condemned to death. He then shoved Paulo Carigio in the chest and stormed off. But Carigio ran after him and shoved him back.

“Pack it in!” shouted the Wildman, coming between them. The combatants glared at each other for a few seconds and then strode away, seething, in opposite directions.

“OK, Adilson!” called the Wildman. “Take it and bury it!”

Adilson picked the ball up, rolled it over in his hands and placed it down again. He caught Nat's eyes and Nat clenched both fists at him in encouragement. Adilson nodded and tried to block his miss against Celtic out of his mind.

The referee was busy moving all of the Lazio players out of the area.

In the Lazio goal, Piesca waved his arms above his head and then stretched them out on either side of him. His big frame seemed to make the goal shrink. Adilson took a deep breath and walked back several paces.

Nat almost couldn't bear to watch. If Adilson missed, they'd be back in England tomorrow afternoon. But he kept his eyes open as Adilson took his run up.

The Brazilian struck the ball high and hard. For a second it looked like he'd skied it, but it dipped
and crashed into the top right-hand corner of the Lazio net.

Adilson was mobbed by the Rangers players, with the notable exception of Dean Jobson, who was still steaming about the manager's decision to let Adilson take ‘his' penalty. With Lazio now down to ten men, Hatton Rangers cashed in on their numerical advantage and kept everyone behind the ball. The Italians, roared on by their supporters and bench, tried desperately to break through the Rangers defensive wall but they had no luck. The referee ended the game on ninety minutes plus two added on.

It was over!

Two-two.

Hatton Rangers had just played themselves into their first ever final.

All eleven players and the subs ran over to their fans and applauded them wildly, and the fans reciprocated. Adilson was leaping in the air. He grabbed Nat, making it impossible for Nat not to join his crazy victory dance. The Wildman went to every player, slapping them on the back and uttering triumphant words of praise.

“We'll see you for the final!” called out the Wildman to the ecstatic supporters.

Stan Evans ran over and hugged Nat. “You were the difference, son!” he shouted in Nat's ear.

Back in the changing room, the players carried on their wild celebrations. There was singing and cheering and someone managed to get their hands on a bottle of champagne, which the Wildman opened and spayed round the changing room to whoops of delight.

“We've done it!” yelled Andy Young. “We're in the FINAL!”

Everyone cheered.

“Talorca beat Hamburg!” shouted Stan Evans, who had just been notified of this score by an El Mar
official. “We're playing them on Saturday night!”

Nat gulped as he thought of Alberto Tieras and his gigantic frame. Playing against Tieras was going to be a massive challenge, whoever made it into the Rangers first eleven. Swinton's missing notebooks drifted into his brain for a few moments, but the euphoria of the win brought him back to the celebrations.

When Stan Evans finally got everyone quiet, Ian Fox walked into the centre of the room and indicated for everyone to sit down. It took a couple of minutes for the players to calm down, but then they were all sitting, waiting for the boss to speak. Nat had expected Fox to at least be cracking a smile or two, but he looked very serious.

“First of all, well done, lads,” said the Rangers manager. “That was a very strong second half performance, and this time you followed my instructions to the letter. To get back from two-nil down is a big achievement.”

The players clapped and cheered. Fox raised his hand and they stopped.

“However, my enjoyment on this historic occasion for Hatton Rangers Football Club was marred by what I saw after the penalty was granted.”

There was instantly silence in the room.

“I've been in the game a long time,” continued Fox, “and I've known certain players who don't see eye-to-eye with each other, but unfortunately what we saw tonight is just one in a number of incidents that have occurred between Misters Jobson and Carigio.”

He eyed Dean and then Paulo. They both looked down at the floor.

“I've stuck by you as a pairing in spite of the many squabbles you've had, but tonight was the lowest point. We're out here in Spain, representing not only our club, but English football, and you two behaved in a disgraceful way. We were given a penalty and then two things happened. First, Dean ran to get the ball because he thought that as he was fouled it was
his
penalty. Dean, I needn't remind you that you are not our first, our second or even our third penalty-taker. And then Paulo, instead of waiting for me or the Wildman to make matters straight, you got in Dean's face. What the hell did you think you were doing? Did you think that would help team harmony?”

Lots of other players, including Nat were now looking at the ground too. The atmosphere was tense and very uncomfortable.

“I will
not
have a repeat of what happened here tonight. I will
not
have two of my players arguing like school kids at a critical point in a match. I know it wasn't a Premier League or an FA Cup game, but I told you how seriously I wanted this tournament to be taken. Your antics were a kick in the face, not just to Stan and me, but to the entire team. For that reason, I'm sending you both home.”

It was as if a bomb had just splintered the room apart. There were gasps of shock from everyone, including Stan Evans, who clearly hadn't known that the boss was about to drop this stick of dynamite. Nat looked up and gaped at Ian Fox.

I know what they did was out of order, but sending them home? They're both internationals. They're both vastly experienced. They're both top players. Surely you don't need to make their punishment this radical?

“Hang on a second, boss,” began the Wildman, but Fox held up a finger to indicate that, on this occasion, even the Wildman should remain silent.

“There's an eleven o'clock flight from Talorca to Heathrow,” said Fox. “I want you both on it. I'll talk to you when the rest of us are back in England. Take your stuff and go. A car is waiting for you next to the team bus –
if
you can be trusted to travel in the same vehicle.”