G-o-o-oal (Soccer) ©Best

Following is the entire text of the story. The words in red represent the personalized information.

John Robert Smith
The Soccer Superstar © Best
Love,
Uncle Doug
October 2, 2008

Today was the day! John Robert Smith, age 9, from St Paul, MN, still couldn’t believe he had been lucky enough to win the big soccer sweepstakes. The grand prize had been tickets to watch his favorite team the Thunder at the stadium. Johnny was especially excited because as the big winner he was going to get to sit on the bench with James Alberts! Also, Johnny could take Dad and Uncle Doug to the game, too.

Once inside the stadium, Johnny, Dad and Uncle Doug were ushered to the Thunder locker room
“Johnny, you’ve been such a big fan of ours that we’d like to make you an honorary member of the Thunder,” the coach said. “Here’s your very own uniform.”
The coach then turned to the players. “Okay everybody, let’s win this one for Johnny!”
The team all cheered and ran out to the field.

Johnny, Dad and Uncle Doug hurried to their seats on the bench. They didn’t want to miss the opening kick off.
As they sat down, the referee tossed the coin. The Thunder won the coin toss, and decided that they would kick off.
The ball was kicked into play. The players dribbled the ball down the field.
“Go team!” yelled Johnny.

Johnny watched excitedly as the ball went up and down the field. His team kept making runs at the goal but hadn’t been able to score yet. The opposing team was the Timbers and they had already scored once.
Suddenly, Johnny heard a whistle. One of the Thunder had been fouled by the other team and was lying on the ground clutching his leg.
With all the excitement on the field, no one noticed that the ball was zooming through the air right towards Johnny. What could he do? Thinking fast, Johnny gave the ball a mighty kick. Up, up in the air the ball went.

That was quite a kick.” The coach said to Johnny. “We have an injured player and the team needs a player to kick the free kick. Have you ever kicked a free kick before Johnny?”
“Sure! I love playing Soccer! I know I can score on the free kick for you,” Johnny said.
Johnny could not believe his good luck. He was actually going to get a chance to help the Thunder win the game!

James Alberts walked up and said, “Glad you are going to try our free kick, Johnny. We know you can score.”
Johnny lined up in front of the goal to kick the ball.
The coach yelled, “I know you can do it, Johnny.”

Johnny looked at the soccerball lying on the field. With all of his might, he kicked the ball straight at the goal.
The goalie from the Timbers jumped towards the ball as it flew through the air. The soccerball sailed by the goalie’s hands and into the net.

Now the score was tied, but Johnny wanted the Thunder to win.
Johnny used all his soccer skills. He dribbled the ball down the field, he trapped the ball with the top of his foot. He even used his head to pass.
“Way to go Johnny,” yelled the coach from the sidelines. “That was a great header!”
Johnny kept looking for the shot but hadn’t scored another goal. There was less than a minute left in the game and Johnny was getting tired, but he couldn’t disappoint his team.

The ball came towards Johnny but he was far from the goal. Suddenly, he saw an opening.
“Do I really have the shot?” wondered Johnny.
There was only one way to find out. Johnny used all his strength and tried a long kick. The crowd grew silent as the ball flashed through the air. The ball hit the edge of the goal for just a second, then bounced into the net. Score!

Johnny had scored the winning goal! The Thunder had won the game! The crowd started chanting, “Johnny, Johnny!” The other players hoisted Johnny above their shoulders and marched him around the field.
“This has been the best day of my life,” Johnny said to Dad and Uncle Doug.
As the coach handed Johnny the Most Valuable Player trophy, he said, “Johnny, you can play on our team any day. You’re a real soccer superstar!”

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• Quality, hard-cover personalized children's book
• Washable hard cover
• Fully illustrated color pages
• 24 pages
• Measures 6" x 9"