"AND... It's a GOAL!!"

The commentator shouted excitedly as the ball hit the bar and bounced back inside the goal. Followed him was the loud cheer from Greenly side and the dejected groans from Keeley.

It was Clooney who marvellously tricked two players and passed to Dickson for a powerful header. The keeper could only make a twitch and it was in.

Day after day, they kept winning. Of course they also had to give some goals but the middle led by Clooney gave little chance for the opponent to start an offense. In fact it was not because they were really good neither. For real, Vicka really did not need to block some balls as their opponents could not even shoot straight to the goal. They sucked as hell, he concluded.

"I am back!" Vicka announced his return after his second victory. It was a knockout Cup tournament_divided into two groups. Each group contained eight teams. After two wins they reached semi final. One more and they would be at final.

His mother welcomed him happily with a big hug but not his father. He was too tired chasing the stupid boar that had been bothering him for one and half week. It came back again yesterday and made a hole in the fence then ate some crops. He searched it the whole day but no luck in it. Sometimes he started to think it was just in his imagination and not a real boar. A phantom might be playing with him, he reckoned.

"You couldn't find it again?" he asked his father. He did not get a reply but a blank stare by his father to the corner of the house. When he had much to think, he always stared at there. It was his ritual.

He did not asked again and sat at the table for his usual dose of joy, the newspaper. The moment he read the front page, he sighed deeply.

The tension between Davia and it's neighbour Goli became worse. Yesterday there was a small clash between two armies at the site that was supposed to had millions of gallons of oil. Just earlier this week, some villagers near the site from both countries fought with sticks and stones while trying to illegally drill the oil. They hit each other with clubs and slingers to prevent the other. Now that the military involved, things could get escalated.

"Is there no way to get out of it?" His mother asked. Vicka contemplated for a while then he answered, "we could give up the oil. It is inside their border anyway. Since they don't have advance technology, we could provide it and share the profit."

The mother sighed in relief after hearing it. She was worry that the growing tension would close the border and dropped the potatoes priced. Potatoes are major crop export to Goli.

"Anyway, when was your next match?"

"The day after tomorrow, mother."

"Good. Help your father with that pig before then. It must end now or he will be having nightmares soon."

"Sure."

He checked his father for a reaction but his father still seem to be in trance so he continued reading the news.

Another week passed in the blink of an eye. Both the football and the boar problem was over too. For the boar, it was real but his father did not get it. It was another man from the village who came across with it in the forest and shot it down, so Vicka's family did not get any money out of it. However they won the cup in inter-village and Vicka got some money from it thankfully.

And just being in a winning team, most of players from their village was scouted for the regional team. Vicka was in the list.

He rejected the offer because it was not his dream to become a footballer. He wanted to be a writer. He even wrote a short story and submitted to local paper. However his work was rejected.

His dream was failing and the crops from the farms were dropping prices from border clashes. To make it worst, the next day, the prime minister Balling Roger called for an emergency assembly after his son in law was found dead in Goli prison due to poor health.

By night, the PM addressed the nation at parliament and it was broadcasted live on radio. Vicka and Clooney's families were having a celebratory dinner together at Dickson's home that night.

"Today, the nation has lost a great man who had provided jobs to thousands of families; an examplanry citizen who had organised countless charities. It is a great lost for us."

He stopped for a moment before he continued his speech. The microphone did a good job recording the voice fulled of sentiment yet gave out courage and determination.

"He could have brought much more to this world. He was detained unjustly and killed unjustly in a Goli prison. And his crime? Being a Davian. Since a year ago, the barbarians in Goli have been persecuting our citizens, the good and hardworking Davians who tired to help modernised Goli economy. They helped but their kindness was repaid with pain and blood."

He raised his voice after clearing the throat. "These barbarians have tested our patience time and time. We tried our best in civilised way. But they do not understand. If force is the only language they understand then we shall give them the talk they want. My brother may not be the first but I swear_ I swear to God and to the whole nation; that he will be last. We will tell them that our nation is good to be a friend and the worst to be an enemy!!"

The congress stood to give a standing applause at the end of the speech. Even Dickson's father stood up from his chair while he was in the middle of eating a lobster. With a big shell in his hand, he pointed its thumb to the radio placed on the shelf and yelled, "yeah! Let's give those savages some discipline. You can't expect to go free after unjustly detained a person and killed. No civilised world will just watch."

As Mr Dickson gave kudo to Balling, Mr Clooney kept nodding his head. He also seemed to agree with it. He told Mr Dickson, "we have superior economy, better weapons and larger army. It is an easy win. They messed with the wrong person. If it was former prime minister, he would have chose peace and dialogue. But Balling, he has big balls."

"Right. We will give them lessons. We will show them how to be a civilized society. Cheers."

The two clanked their glass of champagne as they predicted a win already before the start of war. But Mr Klein, Vicka's father, could not be happy along with them. Now that there was war, all his hopes and prayers to reopen the border had finally gone down the drain.

He cut the mutton on this plate and put a big chunk in his mouth as he chewed it tastelessly. It could possibly become the last decent meal for him and his family.

Meanwhile for Vicka, the declaration had help him to decide one thing clearly_ that he must get into the regional team or there might not be food on their plates next year.