Yanine’s Big Dream

Fighting Words Cork, Watergrasshill National School, 6th Class, 13th April 2026

I am Yanine Lamal. I like soccer but I am afraid of the ball. I play for Barcelona. My greatest goal is to win the Ballon Dor which is a trophy for the best player of the year.

They decide on my stats by the way I am playing to see if I will win. I am afraid of the ball because I tripped over the ball and broke my leg at the Youth Cup final and missed an open goal. This affected me badly. I do still hope I can win the Ballon Dor without having to touch the ball.

I have a cousin called Happy who pushes me all the way to my dream. Sometimes he has anger issues like when I am scared of the ball or once he was playing Fifa and punched a hole in his monitor.

He does a lot of screaming and shouting while I am practicing. I know if I just kick the ball I will be fine but I am too scared. Which is a big problem because I really want to win. My teammates cannot cover for me for that long.

Anytime the ball comes near me one of my teammates gets it straight away and I back away. Happy doesn't like this because he thinks I should get over my fear straight away.