Hana Against the Giants
A tiny village team faces a mighty club in the cup. Can heart beat height?
The Midnight Owls were the smallest team in the whole village cup. Their pitch had more daisies than grass, their goalposts leaned, and their ball had a patch on it.
‘We’ve been drawn against the Thunder Boots!’ shouted Coach Enzo. The team gulped. The Thunder Boots were enormous. They had matching boots, shiny shirts and their own bus.
‘We might not be big,’ said Hana, ‘but we can be clever. And we can practise.’ So every morning, before the dew had dried, the Midnight Owls trained on the daisy pitch.
They learned to pass quickly. They learned to dribble round cones, and then round each other. Freya practised shooting at a flowerpot. Each day they got a little better.
Match day came. The stadium was loud, and the Thunder Boots looked like towers. Tomas the tiger laughed. ‘Are you lost?’ The Midnight Owls stuck together and shouted ‘Roar like a team!’
The Thunder Boots were big, but the little team was quick. The ball zipped between them, and they couldn’t catch it. At half time, the score was 0-0, and the crowd was on its feet!
With one minute to go, Freya flicked a pass through a gap. Hana ran faster than ever before. She shot with her left foot, and the ball curled into the corner. GOAL!
The final whistle blew. The little team had done it! The villagers cheered. Tomas shook Hana’s hand. ‘You are not small,’ he said. ‘You’re the biggest-hearted team I’ve ever played.’
The little lesson
Practice, teamwork and a never-give-up spirit can take you very far.
Let’s talk about it
- What does ‘underdog’ mean?
- What do you think was the team’s secret?
Finish stories to collect Hana as a sticker in your Sticker Book.
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Opal and the Handshake
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Manu’s Little Kickers
The big kids always use the pitch. So Manu and friends make a team of their own.
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