Goal 2 [Paperback]

Robert Rigby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 2007

Santiago has made his mark in the UK Premier league as a magic midfielder with Newcastle United. But European football now beckons and he finds himself playing alongside stars such as Beckham, Raul and Zidane for Real Madrid. But playing in the UEFA Champions League can bring new pressures - new challenges: fighting to keep his place in the squad, trying to resist the temptations surrounding a successful footballer, aiming to maintain his relationship with his girlfriend back home. Sometimes dreams can turn sour...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

As well as writing the novelization for the first GOAL! movie, ROBERT RIGBY is also the co-writer of the BOY SOLDIER series with Andy McNab. A professional screenwriter whose work includes scripts for Byker Grove, he has also run literacy, drama and writing projects, doing outreach work in Education Action Zone schools and writing and staging drama for and with young people. He is particularly interested in writing that appeals to reluctant boy readers. Most importantly, he is also a very keen football fan.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1
SANTIAGO EFFORTLESSLY avoided a lunging tackle and closed on the goal.
 The Newcastle faithful, a sea of black and white on all four sides of St. James’ Park, roared their approval as Santiago brushed off a second challenge.
 His eyes lifted for a split second and his brain made the instinctive and instant, computer-like calculation: range, trajectory, power.
 And then, with hardly a break in stride, Santiago struck a perfectly weighted and flighted ball past the despairing dive of the keeper into the top corner of
the net.
 The crowd erupted, joyously celebrating what was to be voted the Premiership goal of the season as Santiago raised both arms to the sky in acknowledgment of their adulation.
 The fans’ roars thundered around the stadium, into the city streets, and down to the River Tyne.
 And as Santiago stood, arms raised, the echoes of those cheers could be heard across Europe in a darkened room at the very heart of Spain.
 A group of men, all expensively suited, were staring intently at Santiago’s frozen image on a huge plasma screen.
 They spoke softly, almost conspiratorially, in Spanish, as if they were afraid that unwanted listeners might overhear their words.
 The electronic shutters on the windows slowly began to open and daylight spilled into the screening room, revealing a desktop cluttered with photographs, sheets of statistics, videocassettes, biographical notes, everything dedicated to the life and football career of one young man: Santiago Muñez.
 The man at the center of the group turned to one of his colleagues. “Harris and Muñez played well together at Newcastle; maybe they would be good together here.”
 “Buy they play in the same position now,” came the instant reply.
 He nodded toward the plasma screen and within seconds the Muñez highlights reel was rolling again, cutting to a different match and a bustling run by Santiago that ended in another spectacular goal.
 “Exactly,” said the first man.
 
Santiago had grown to love Newcastle and its people, who had adopted him as an honorary “Geordie,” which is how the locals were known.
 It was a long way from his Mexican roots and just as distant from the run-down district of Los Angeles in California where he had grown up and developed his natural skills as a soccer player.
 He would, almost certainly, have still been playing local league soccer, as they called it back home, had it not been for a chance encounter with Glen Foy.
 Glen, an ex-Newcastle player himself and a onetime scout for the club, was on vacation in L.A. when he saw Santiago playing in a park match. He knew instantly he was watching someone special, someone blessed with footballing gifts granted to very few.
 Against all the odds, Glen arranged a trial with Newcastle for Santiago, and what followed had since become part of the folklore of the famous Tyneside club.
 Sometimes, even after a season and a half, it still seemed like a dream to Santiago—a dream come true.
 He missed the sunshine of L.A. and he missed his grandmother, Mercedes, and his younger brother, Julio, but life in Newcastle had incredible compensations—the designer clothes, the top-of-the-line BMW, the beautiful new home.
 And then, of course, there was Roz.
 Roz was a nurse; they had met soon after Santiago arrived in Newcastle, and little more than a year later, they were planning their wedding.
 Life was wonderful. It could hardly get better. Santiago had moved swiftly from park player to St. James’ Park hero.
 Fans of Newcastle United, collectively known as the Toon Army, knew he was a great, natural goal scorer, and many of the faithful predicted that someday he would challenge the scoring feats of even the legends, Jackie Milburn and Alan Shearer.
 But, of course, that depended on the club being able to hang on to a player now regarded as one of the hottest properties in football.

Text copyright © Robert Rigby, 2006
Film material copyright © Goal Limited, 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work
should be submitted online at www.harcourt.com/ contact or mailed
to the following address: Permissions Department, Harcourt, Inc.,
6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Corgi Childrens (January 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552554081
• ISBN-13: 978-0552554084
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,304,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I bought this book for my son., October 24, 2007

By 

Water Lover (Long Island, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: GOAL II: Living the Dream (Paperback)

My thirteen year-old son has been playing soccer since he was apprxoimately 5 years old. He loved the Goal I movie and I am always looking for ways to encourage more reading.

When I told him that I ordered the Goal II book, he started checking the mail each day to see if it arrive. While I have not read the book yet, Goal II had a magnetic effect on my son; he couldn't put the book down and he finished reading it in less than two days. Based on his reaction alone, I would suggest any soccer lover buy this book!

5.0 out of 5 stars My son loved this book!, May 23, 2010

By 

LJ (Draper, Ut) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: GOAL II: Living the Dream (Paperback)

This was a book series that my 11-year-old son made sure he had when we got into the car for long drives and took religiously to school with him in case he had a moment of free time in class. Too bad he finished it so quickly! If your son likes soccer, this book has the perfect formula for 10 to 12 year olds. It has been made into a movie, too, so we had a fun family night watching the movie after my son had finished reading it.

3.0 out of 5 stars nice follow-up, for a sequel, May 13, 2009

By 

R. R. Bednarek - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GOAL II: Living the Dream (Paperback)

Though the first one was better--usually, they are--this story is enjoyable as well. My 13 y-o son, a soccer nut, loves the stories of Santi and his league-mates.