The Academy

Brock’s standing up for Leo surprises everyone, and Leo thinks that he’s earned the other player’s respect.

That night, the Iguana squad plays against the Monitors. Their defense is particularly strong, but their goalie is not the strongest.

The first half sees the Iguanas struggling to penetrate the Monitors’ defense, as expected, and they ultimately score on a wild shot. At halftime, Samantha encourages Leo to engage more with the game. She compliments his defense, but he’s still running too much all over the field. Brock also tells the forwards to be more aggressive, even if the defenders are big.

When the game resumes, Brock tries to show the other team how physical he’s willing to be to intimidate them. Seeing Tig in the stands, Leo also feels more inspired to get involved in the game. Ultimately, however, the Iguanas lost 2-0.

Walking back to the Castle, Tig comes up to Leo. Sensing Leo’s frustration with his play, Tig reminds Leo how much he loves soccer. He tells Leo to play for fun. Now he has the skills to do really well, but he needs to relax and have a good time. When Leo says that Samantha isn’t letting him play as a forward, Tig asks who’s responsible for that.

Robbie is watching their game over on his phone when Leo gets back to the room. Leo leaves and practices tricks, trying to have fun.

The next morning, Leo’s attitude feels improved. He feels like winning isn’t the most important thing. He has to be himself. Samantha announces that they’ll switch to a 3-4-3 formation, and Leo remains at midfield.

The Iguanas play the Gila Monsters in their next World Cup match. Leo pretends to be back in Ohio and finds some peace with being at midfield. He’s also able to be more aggressive in this formation. The game tires Leo out though, and he fights for each move. Samantha congratulates him at the halftime mark. Leo decides to change his strategy to conserve his energy, but he knows that it means making sure all of his plays are good. In the final minutes, Leo and José are able to move down the field, and José ends up scoring. The Iguanas embrace, and Samantha runs onto the field. Then, unexpectedly, she falls down, screaming in pain and holding her knee.

Tig races onto the field to help Samantha, and she goes off the field on a stretcher. Tig speculates that she came down on her knee hard when she was running onto the field. Leo insists on going with Tig to the clinic. Soon, the whole team joins them. Eventually, Samantha emerges on crutches. She’ll have to rest the next day.

Coach Tanner takes over for Samantha at practice, and the team has a break from games that evening. They’ll play the Monitors in the semifinals the next day. The Iguanas all stay up practicing together. Leo feels the team coming together. Brock even jokes that Leo’s performance will keep him on his “good side” (244).

At the end of the night, Leo gives a brief speech. He says that they should play the game for Samantha.

The next day, Samantha makes it to the game. She moves Leo to the right midfield and Robbie to the left. She also makes adjustments to how they’ll address the defense on the other team since it was hard to break through during their last matchup. Leo tries to reassure Robbie, whom he knows is nervous in a new position. Leo also still wonders why Samantha refuses to have him play at forward.

Leo takes a penalty kick at Samantha’s direction, much to his surprise. He sends it to Brock, and while it goes out of bounds, it has surprised the other team. Later, José suggests that he and Leo try to replicate the previous day’s play to score. However, José gets tackled. At halftime, Samantha encourages them to be creative so that the other team can’t predict what they’re going to do. The Iguana defense is strong and holds off the Monitors in the second half.

Close to the end of the game, Javier takes a corner kick, and it gets deflected. Leo goes for it, dodges the defenders, and gets out of a tight position in the penalty box. He approaches the goal, kicks the ball through a defender’s legs, and gets closer. Finally, he shoots, and the ball ricochets off of a defender’s leg and into the goal.

The game goes on, even as Leo’s goal shocks everyone. The Iguanas’ defense holds up, and they end up winning the game. This sends them to the finals against the Komodos. Leo knows that he will have to defeat Diego at center forward in order to enter the Academy in that position.

The next morning, Samantha is back to coaching, though she’ll let Coach Tanner take over the afternoon since she can’t stay on her crutches all day. Leo invites her to the night session because they have a gift for her. Samantha also asks him if he knows what a “number ten” is, and Leo knows that “wearing number ten on the back of your jersey commanded instant respect” (259). That player is a team leader, like a quarterback, but for soccer. Samantha explains that jersey numbers used to align with positions. A number 10 now is reserved for a player who is creative offensively. She says that Leo is their “top playmaker” (260). She wants to play him right behind the forwards. However, she warns him that this could be difficult since it means that having him by the forwards puts him up against some of the best players and could make it harder for him to be chosen for that role for the Academy. Leo wants to do it anyway.

Later that night, Samantha arrives on the pitch, and Leo requests that she put on a blindfold. They bring her to a spot on the field where they’ve set up a table and two chairs. Her favorite dessert is on the table. Tig waits there, then goes to Samantha to apologize again. He says he’d understand if she wanted him to go away, but he’d like to talk. The team leaves, and on their way out, Samantha stops Leo and thanks him.

As Leo goes to bed that night, he feels good. He decides to sleep like his lizard would—without worry.

On Sunday night, the Iguanas and Komodos go to the London Dragons stadium for their final championship match. Leo is awestruck being in an actual Premier League stadium. The stands are bustling with people, including London Dragons players, the youth team, and even the scout who recruited Leo. Samantha encourages him not to be nervous, and Leo tries to be calm like his lizard.

The Iguanas’ strategy is to try and slow Diego down where they can and score as much as possible instead of trying to lean too heavily on defense. The game starts, and Leo accidentally messes up his first pass. The Komodos score first.

José suggests that he take on their playmaker, Fabio, emphasizing how important Leo is at center midfield. This makes him feel like he’s back playing like he always has, and he thinks that this position might be better for him. In a surprise long pass by Alejandro, the Iguanas are able to move the ball down the field, and Dayo passes it to Leo, who sends it to Javier. Javier scores.

Learning that slowing down Fabio is crucial to the game, José stays near him. Leo leads the attack. However, Diego spurs on, scoring a goal before halftime to put the Komodos up 2-1. Leo is intimated by their goalie, but imagining his lizard standing on the keeper makes Leo lighten up.

As they retake the field, Leo thinks that this is the last 45 minutes of playing for the London Dragons summer camp. He wants to soak it all in. When Leo goes aggressively on the attack, another player trips him, earning a yellow card. Brock calls for a red card, but Samantha calms him down. Samantha has Leo take a penalty kick.

Leo remembers Tig telling him to not let the goalie guess where the ball goes. However, Leo sticks with his favorite spot, and Charlie saves it. The Iguanas feel defeated, but when Robbie scores a penalty kick by taking advantage of Charlie’s weakness, their spirit returns.

Leo rallies an attack, passing the ball unexpectedly to throw off the other team. As a pass comes toward him, there is not much time remaining. Leo quickly analyzes the field. With the ball just inches above the ground, Leo kicks it at the goal. Despite being 30 yards from the goal, the ball goes in. The Iguanas win the World Cup.

Leo’s team jumps on him. He sees Tig go over to Samantha, and she grabs his hand. They lift the World Cup trophy, and Leo’s goal plays on the screen. At the Castle, they continue to celebrate, and it isn’t until he goes to bed that Leo remembers that he would find out the next morning if he made the London Dragon Youth Academy.

He wakes up and goes down to breakfast. Director Hawk is waiting there. He goes in order of team’s ranking in the World Cup. When it comes time to announce the players from the Iguanas, only José’s and Dayo’s names are called. Leo is sad but congratulates his friends. José tells him that he’ll see him in the Premier League.

Leo is also sad to leave his friends and hangs out with them most of the day. He wants to visit Costa Rica to see Alejandro one day. Later, Tig and Samantha come to see him. He hugs Samantha, and she explains that she advocated for him to join the Academy. She thinks they made the wrong decision. She tells him to show them.

On the flight home, Leo senses that something is off with the decision not to send him to the Academy. His dad picks him up, and Leo gives him the news. When Leo says that his goal in the World Cup wasn’t important, his dad corrects him. Leo says that now he can’t help out with the money for the house, and his dad corrects him, saying that the money wasn’t cash. It was a scholarship to go to the Academy. He emphasizes that he’ll always take care of the money for Leo and Ginny.

At home, a surprise party catches Leo off guard, welcoming him back. He recounts his adventures to his friends and then goes to see his lizard. Messi, however, seems upset with him. Then, Leo’s dad comes in and says that there’s a video call waiting for him. On it is Giles Pearson, who is the Director of Scouting for the Lewisham Knights Youth Academy. The Knights are the Dragons’ rival team. He offers Leo a spot with their youth squad—no tryout required. Sensing that his father already knew about this offer, Leo accepts immediately.