Alex loves soccer and desires to be on the Longhorn Lightning Jr. High soccer team.  Even though his past tryouts were poor, he has decided to try again.  Jake, a loud-mouth bully on the team, continually belittles and taunts Alex.  Errol is a new student from Scotland.  Errol has a strong accent, uses odd terms, and has a huge knowledge of the game.  He and Alex begin practicing together.  Errol stresses practice and teamwork and encourages Alex to keep pushing.  Sports action is exciting, the book is easy to read, and the story is fast paced.  The characters are two dimensional and the conclusion comes a bit quickly, but all-in-all this is a satisfying read for sports fans and reluctant readers.  Included are: a paragraph about the author, glossary, discussion questions, writing prompts, and additional soccer facts.