Lige's Final English Exam

About the Piece

     This piece is about the national star, Lionel Messi scoring a goal in a very tight and agressive game against Chile. I chose this piece because I am a big soccer fan and my favorite player is Messi. This piece was part of my NaNoWrimo and I revised it to show off the new literature skills that I have learned since November. I made it describe things better and show more emotion. This small excerpt is obviously fictional, but it is very realistic. Now that it describes things and shows more emotion, it overall makes the story a lot better.

The Actual Piece

The Shootout

We have been battling Chile for 130, grueling minutes. It is only one to one, we are going to the penalty shootout, the stage that determines who wins the game. This has been one of the most intense football matches in years. Sweat dripped down my teammate’s faces. I was equally exuding. Our faces were red like tomatoes and still out of breath. Our manager yelled at us for what we had done bad, and not payed attention to the things that we did well.

I sat down at my spot in the dressing room. I drank from my water bottle and poured it all over my face. I grabbed a towel and dried my soaking wet neck and head. It was raining only a bit, it was cooling in the intense heat of the game.

Our manager gave our goalkeeper, as I call him, Romero, some tips and reminders to help him. Our manager, who I also have a nickname for, Gerardo has always been nice like that.  

We strutted out of the dressing room confidently. The shooting order has always been the same. I start. No pressure. That’s what I always think, but I think that those words alone put more pressure on you then before. The crowd’s screams and cheers were all silenced out. The only thing that I could hear was when I was a kid, my dad saying the inspirational line that made me such a great football player. “If you can’t score, you can’t come home.” It was quite cruel that I think about it now, but it got me to where I am now. The rain made the field feel like a swamp. The soaked grass made my cleats feel like they were swimming. ButI needed to concentrate on this shot, it would either make my bench frown and sulk, or scream with joy. We shoot first. I looked at my cleats and thought to myself how much those shoes have been through.

I walked up to the penalty line and sneered at the keeper. Cameras flashed everywhere that I looked. The rain now dripping down the goalkeeper's face, he looked like a warrior, it didn’t scare me though. I could beat him. The referee rolled a ball to me and I put it on the line. Butterflies flew around my stomach as I put the ball on the line. The keeper clapped his gloves together, I took a couple steps backwards and stood for what felt like a million years. I glued my eyes to the right, bottom corner. The referee blew the whistle and I charged towards the ball. I lifted my left leg and struck the ball right under the middle, exactly what I was aiming for.

It soared through the air, curving to the right side. The keeper dove to the right, and put his fingers on it. Would he save it? His fingers were on it, but the ball was too far in the corner. It went off the keeper’s gloves right into the bottom corner. Thank goodness. I exhaled and  ran towards my teammates cheering and with the biggest smile imaginable. I looked back. The keeper stood up. Frustrated, he cursed at the sky.

About Me! The Author

  My name is Lige Wheat-Dardano. I am 13 years old. As you can probably tell, I love soccer. I also like food, friends, family and animals. When I grow up, I want to go to college to get a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, then I want to be an author. My writing has improved since last year dramatically, even since November when we wrote our NaNoWrimos. I used to use the same words in my stories over and over. But now I am expanding my vocabualry to make the story that I am writing flow better. I am also putting myself in the shoes of the character that I am writing about and write down what I would be thinking if I were that character. There are other things that I have improved on and proud of, but those two things are what I am most proud of. I really think that I have made improvement in the past months, years, even weeks. My writing will improve in the next years, I am positive.