Nico and the Underdogs
A tiny village team faces a mighty club in the cup. Can heart beat height?
The Green Giants 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 Mighty Mountains!’ shouted Coach Jonah. The team gulped. The Mighty Mountains were enormous. They had matching boots, shiny shirts and their own bus.
‘We might not be big,’ said Nico, ‘but we can be clever. And we can practise.’ So every morning, before the dew had dried, the Green Giants trained on the daisy pitch.
They learned to pass quickly. They learned to dribble round cones, and then round each other. Juno practised shooting at a flowerpot. Each day they got a little better.
Match day came. The stadium was loud, and the Mighty Mountains looked like towers. Elsa the elephant laughed. ‘Are you lost?’ The Green Giants stuck together and shouted ‘Little feet, big heart!’
The Mighty Mountains 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, Juno flicked a pass through a gap. Nico ran faster than ever before. He shot with his left foot, and the ball curled into the corner. GOAL!
The final whistle blew. The little team had done it! The villagers cheered. Elsa shook Nico’s hand. ‘You are not small,’ she 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 Nico as a sticker in your Sticker Book.
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