Free Starting Eleven by Bali Rai Page B

than us?’ I asked, changing the subject to something
I
wanted to talk about.
    ‘
No!
’ said Jason.
    ‘How do you know?’ I added, pleased that they seemed so sure.
    ‘Because we’re
too
good,’ replied Abs.
    ‘When we play at the park we’re always the best ones there.’
    ‘My dad showed me this Brazilian lad on YouTube,’ said Chris. ‘They call him “The Seal”. He was running with the ball on his head.’
    ‘
No way!
’ the rest of us said together.
    ‘It’s true. I’ll show you if you like. He was wicked,’ replied Chris, before stuffing some more nuts into his mouth and crunching on them noisily.
    ‘I don’t think
he’s
going to be there,’ said Abs. ‘Or Wayne Rooney.’
    Jason groaned. ‘Trust you to bring a United player into it,’ he said.
    ‘We were talking about the best,’ Abs told him. ‘So I mentioned
the
best.’
    I told Abs and Jason to shut up.
    ‘We aren’t just going to walk into the team, are we?’ I added.
    ‘Prob’ly,’ replied Chris.
    ‘But we have to show the coach what we can do,’ I insisted.
    Abs shrugged. ‘We will,’ he said, acting confident.
    ‘Yeah – and what if you don’t make it?’ I asked him, starting to sound like a skipping CD.
    ‘P.M.A.,’ he replied.
    ‘Huh?’ asked Jason.
    ‘Positive Mental Attitude,’ said Abs. ‘My dad says that’s what you need to succeed. We have to think like winners to be winners. That’s how I know for certain that I’ll play for Man U when I’m older.’
    After school I walked home with Chris. When we got to my house, I saw my dad’s car on the drive. He’d finished work early, just like he’d promised me.
    ‘My dad’s going to drive us to the trial,’ I said to Chris.
    ‘Nice one,’ he replied. ‘I’ll just run home and get my kit.’
    Chris lives around the corner and he was back in ten minutes, with a sports bag hanging from his shoulders. I was standing by the car with my dad when he arrived.
    ‘Hello, Mr Singh,’ Chris said to my dad.
    ‘Hey, Chris,’ replied my dad with a smile.
    ‘Did you remember your new boots?’ I asked my best mate.
    ‘Yeah – my mum had my stuff ready for me. Are we picking up Abs and Jason too?’
    ‘They’re coming with Jason’s mum,’ my dad told him.
    ‘I’m nervous,’ I admitted.
    My dad ruffled my hair. ‘You’ll be fine. Just do your best – you can’t do any more than that.’
    I nodded.
    ‘Right – let’s go!’ Dad said. He looked more excited than me and Chris.
    The drive to the youth club took ten minutes. It was on the edge of Stoneygate Park and the football pitch was behind the clubhouse. We met up with Jason and Abs in the car park.
    ‘Hi, Mrs Partridge,’ I said to Jason’s mum.
    ‘Hello, Dal,’ she replied.
    ‘Are you staying to watch us?’ I added.
    ‘Of course I am,’ she beamed. ‘You’ll be great – all of you.’
    I nodded, looking around the car park for the competition. There were loads of cars and lots of other parents. And more importantly there were lots of other boys too.
    I nudged Chris. ‘Have you seen how many players there are?’ I said.
    ‘Yeah – I didn’t think there’d be so many,’ he told me.
    I looked around again and my stomach started to do funny things. I was so nervous. But I held it in and took a few deep breaths. We could only do our best, I told myself, repeating what my dad had said.
    *
    There were fifty lads in total, according to Abs. He’d counted them. The coach, Mr Turner, came over. He was friendly looking but with a serious face. He split us into five groups for the warm-up. I was in the same group as Abs, but Chris and Jason were separate. We ran and did short sprints and then worked through a course of ladders and cones. Very quickly a few lads had to stop because they weren’t fit enough and that made Abs laugh.
    ‘We’re going to breeze through this,’ he whispered to me as we lined up to take another run through the ladders. ‘Half of them are tired already