GOAL: Glory Days

Goal! #3

by Robert Rigby

You saw him on the screen in the hit movies The Dream Begins and GOAL Living the Dream. Now the saga of young professional soccer player Santiago Muñez continues in this final installment of the GOAL trilogy.

With a fresh start and a warm welcome from his old fans in Newcastle, Santi returns to England and to the team where his career began. Soon he’s back at the top of his game, and when he is selected for a 2010 World Cup squad, it seems as if his dream of playing in the World Cup finals is within reach.

But when Santi is injured during an international warm-up game, he worries that this could be the end of it all. With no time to waste, the pressure is on for him to get back on the field. Will his injury keep him from achieving his ultimate goal? Or will he recover in time to play in the greatest competition of his life?

Genres: Sports, Childrens

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Robert Rigby began his career as a journalist, then spent several years in the music business as a songwriter and session musician. He turned to writing for radio, television, and the theatre, and has also directed and performed in children’s theatre throughout the country. He has become an established young people’s playwright, and his award-winning work with youth theatre companies has been seen in Britain, Europe, the USA, and Africa. He wrote the novelizations of the movies Goal! and Goal II, and his scripts for television include the long-running BBC children’s drama series, Byker Grove.

Reviews

[Andrew Sammut · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and a half stars. This was quite an enjoyable read however I feel as though the first 2 volumes in this trilogy are better. Once again I'm not quite sure whether the title glory days makes much sense or not for the simple reason that Santiago, although being the recipient of many awards, fails to help Spain make it through to the World Cup Final. I love how his friends and family members are all supportive and how he reciprocates at every turn. Although it's about a guy turned millionaire famous all over the world, the theme of humility still seems to resonate.

I haven't yet watched the movies however I now wish to. I've never been the biggest of football fans but Rigby managed to design a world that's extremely enjoyable. This is perhaps due to its fast-paced nature, its relatable aura, and how well developed the characters are. I feel as though this one focussed more on Enrique than on Santiago and now am wishing that there are more volumes in this series. Would highly recommend for fans of sports and people who aren't alike. One thing that put me off especially was how many typos there were. I expected better.

[Collin Clack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was one of the most heart warming and inspirational books that I have ever picked up in my life. This book was almost impossible to put down and is a must read. In the book " Goal Glory Days" by Robert Rigby, describes the overcoming of obstacles for the international soccer star Santiago Munez. Santiago is a amazing soccer player who is trying to make the Spain 2010 world cup team. Barring no injuries or setbacks, Santiago is a lock in for the team... Right?

Santiago is playing for the Newcastle United Magpies after spending last season with Real Madrid. He is trying to balance his family life including his 3 year old daughter and now his stepbrother Enrique is coming to stay with the family. Enrique is playing and schooling for the Newcastle junior team until a few kids start to bully him and could wreck his chances. Santiago is doing exceptional for Newcastle and ends up getting an invitation to the world cup. Everything is going great until during an international warm up match, Santiago breaks his metarasal bone and is out for 6-8 weeks. The only good news that he gets is that he if all goes right will be back in time for the world cup.

In the end Spain reaches the world cup and loses to England in the Penalty shootout. Overall Rigby never made me unintrested in the book. His use of diction and imagery kept me into it throughout. My favorite use of imagery came on page 237 " Santi struck the volley perfectly, and from the moment boot made contact with ball there was no doubt where latter would finish up- in the net." Overall this book is a must read and keeps you into it the whole time. I would recommend this book to any sports lover or simple fan of great books.

[Peter T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book to bits. It is a good book because itis about a boy who lives in the slums and was caught playing football and was deemed good so moved over to Newcastle. He played well and was signed by real Madrid and led England to the world cup final. He took the deciding penalty and.......... Read the book to find out what happens.

[Eduardo Yanez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic.A good soccer adventure with ups and downs this will really satisfy every soccer fan.Will you read it?

[Lucson Saty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Santiago was glory his dream in Soccer, he win the world cup with Spain in 2010.

[Bryan Ortiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing, Was about the 2006 in Germany, The match was France vs Italy and the match was a final. The game was in the in the 110 minute and Zinedine Zidane got a red card for head butting a player from Italy in the chest. Italy and France game ended and went off to penalties where Fabio Grosso scored the penalty to win the world cup for Italy. Soon all the matches for champions league and La Liga started 3 weeks after the world cup final. In La Liga it was Real Madrid vs Valencia, Madrid were holding the win so far until one mistake almost costed them to tie the match but eventually Madrid's defense held off Valencias forwards to win the match and get the 3 points they needed to off to the quarter finals. As Real Madrid had to go against Bayren Munich lost 2-1. Real Madrid then got eliminated from the champions league. So Madrid was sent to the Europe league to go against other teams. Madrid also lost in that league SO they had one more League to win which was La Liga they failed as well and the winners of La Liga were Barcelona. Real Madrid then had one of their worst seasons in years. from not winning the champions league to not winning the Europa league and La Liga. So the end of the season was coming up and this new season was Real Madrid season. Real Madrid first game at their home ( Santiago Bernabeu) they had to verse Barcelona but this was pre-season at the time to get ready for season. Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 with a goal from Roberto Carlos. The season soon stared 2 and a half weeks later and the first game was Real Madrid vs Alavez and Real Madrid winning 5-2. Madrid were first in the table and Barcelona was in second place. Real Madrid soon put Santiago in there squad to play against Barcelona in El Classico. Both teams did really good in El Classico which the game ended 3-3 as a tie. Time soon went on and Real Madrid ended in 2nd place behind Barcelona. Barcelona soon went on to win La Liga. The top scorer for la liga was Samuel Eto'o with 26 goals in total. A few years later Real madrid won the UCL final in 2014 and the top scorer of the UCL was Cristiano Ronaldo. Real MAdrid later went on to win The UCL 3 times in a row.

[Majid Marrakchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading this review you should know this is a trilogy and this is the third book

Thursday October 16, 2014

Santiago Munez, an amazing soccer star in the world of 2009. In the first book Munez played for Newcastle FC, a famous England club in the Barclays Premier League. In the second book, Munez played for Real Madrid, a very famous Spanish club who won 10 champions league (him winning the ninth one). In this book, Munez is playing for Spain in the world cup. Munez is nomally Mexican, but due to his many years in spain and how strong he is, Spain asked him if he wanted to play with them. At the begenning of the book we see Santi coming back to his old club, Newcastle FC. You could see that the fans are very excited to see him play with them again and to have a star on the team. At the end of the first month with Newcastle, hes at the best of his game. HIs passes, shooting, dribbling, and defending are amazing. Spain calls him and informs his that he is selected for the 2010 World Cup and Santi cries of joy! Munez has a dream of scoring the winning goal in the World Cup final and he might achieve it. First match of the world cup and Santi is warming up.

Santiago Munez hears something crack, thinking its something else he tried to go to the pitch to see and falls. Munez knows then that he is injured. Munez missed the first match and he is up and ready to go for the second one. The second match is an important one because Spain have to win. Munez scores a goal and Spain wins, leading to Munez deciding to celebrate it with his friends. Munez is going out with his girlfriend, agent, and two best friends who play for England. They all have dinner in a good restaurant and coming back to their house their car crashes. They wake up finding themselves in the hospital. Munez with a broken arm, his girlfriend who cant breathe, one of his best friend who has a broken nose, and the other who is dangerously injured. Munez hurries to the doctor to ask him if he can play in the world cup and the doctor says that his injury is too luch and that he is not allowed to play.

Friday October 24th


The doctors tell Santiago Munez that his ribs are broken and that he is not allowed to go out of his room for a day. Charlie and Liam, Santiago’s best friends, were in the car crash and had a concussion. Charlie had something deeper which caused him headaches later on. Sophia, Charlie’s girlfriend is fine and she was also in the car crash. The next day, they all head out from the hospital and the same day, Charlie and Liam are called saying they are in England’s world cup squad. During the night Charlie, Liam, Santi, and Sophia go out to celebrate and while they are doing that, Liam’s agent meets one of Liam’s ex’s. Liam’s ex is named June and she tells the agent that she has a kid, and that Liam is the father. The next day, the world cup starts for England and they win the two first match of the group stages with Liam and Charlie as subs. The third game is tight, its 0-0 and at the 70th minute, the coach decides to put on Liam and Charlie to maybe win the game.

At the last minute, a cross from David Beckam cross to Charlie, while Charlie shoots the ball and Liam scores it with a header! England goes to qualify for the next round without any problems while Santi and Sophia watch all the matches one by one. The round of sixteenth starts with an amazing match disputed by England vs Columbia. The same team, of course, and Liam and Charlie as subs, of course. They start playing and the english coach realizes that the Columbians are very aggressive. At half time, England’s coach put Charlie in so that he might unblock the score and he has a very bad headache. Charlie in and he is already trying to dribble. Charlie dribbles and dribbles and he is tackled very dangerously by a Columbian defender. Charlie goes down and has a flashback about his car crash and all his bad moments. The doctor comes and picks him up and two minutes later, he stands up but he still has an extreme headache that wont go better. The match ended with a David Beckam equalizer that made England go to the quarter - finals of the world cup with Santiago Munez still watching all the games and Charlie still has the headache.

Monday, October 27, 2014

After the match, they all go to the training rooms and Charlie’s phone rings. The coach asked Liam to turn it off and call Charlie and thats what he does. He looks for Charlie everywhere and he eventually finds him in the bathroom fainting. Two minutes later Santiago Munez, Liam, and Sophia are in an ambulance and Charlie is fainting. He wakes up with his mask and talks to Sophia saying he loves her. Charlie closes his eyes begins to move very vastly, his eyeballs become white and the next thing you know is that Charlie is dead.

Sophia, Santi and Liam are in Charlies funeral and they all are crying and they are all sad. Liam goes to his ex, June, and see’s his daughter at his best friends funeral. Liam is shocked to see his daughter and he plays with her and loves her. Liam realizes he loves his ex too and he doesn't know what to do about it. Englands squad is back for the quarter finals vs portugal and the best player in the world is playing for portugal. Liam is back in the subs and England are playing. We could see a though scene of Liam crying before the game and he was sad but thats life. Will England pass to the Semi-Finals or will Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo?

Monday November 10th

The Quarter Final begins with England's same starting 11, and the only thing different is that Charlie isnt in the subs anymore. Liam's England was dieng of stress and Cristiano Ronaldo, one of Portugal's best player, hits the crossbar. Rooney very frusturated tries to dribble Portugals defence and Carvalho, a portugease defender, stops him. Rooney fouls him and unfortunately for England, he gets a red card. Except that, nothing much happens in the first half of the match. During the break time, the coach tells the English squad to have confidence in themselves. They are playing really well but dont have enough confidence. England goes to the second have full of confidence and are actually taking the quarter finals easily.

Second have starts very easy for England. They are passing and they are playing with everyone. Liam on the subs is not enjoying what he is watching and he is missing charlie. Beckam with an amazing shot scores an amazing goal and makes England lead. At the 89th minute, England thought they were going to win but with a Ronaldo thunder shot, Portugal ties it up. When Liam saw Portugal scored he went to the coach and asked him for a chance to play. The coach replied saying "You will play when its time for you to play." England and Portugal are going to extra time and really no one knows who will win. Will it be Portugal or England? Thats the question!

[Yriyoris J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the greatest soccer book that I have read in my life. If you are interested in soccer or an emotional roller coaster this book is perfect for you.

I enjoyed this book a lot due to the way Rigby writes the book. He uses imagery so well that you feel as if you were in the stadium watching Santiago Munez play phenomenally on a rainy, windy, and cold night in Newcastle. He also makes you feel as if you were with Munez every step of the way in his miraculous journey.

Even though I loved this book there were a few aspects of the book that were a little unecessary. For example, when Rigby talked about Gavin's coaching duties and the Copa Del Rey run it didn't affect what was going with Santiago Munez during that time. I feel as if Rigby put that in there to just take up space for the book. I felt as if he could've focused more on Munez's recovery.

[Jan Geerling · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the first two movies, but the third one should never have been made the way they did it. Perhaps that’s why i decided to read this, even while books based on movies are usually garbage.

It’s lacklusture writing, but when viewed as an ending to the movie series, it kind of scratches and itch. Whatever happened to Glen Foy, my favorite character of the series, by the way?

Only for football fans and fans of the series.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can see soccer fans loving this novel. Think it is a great story for reluctant readers, who would hopefully read this due to their love of soccer.

[Gabriel Esquer]

Esquer,Gabriel
Period 3
Mrs. Cullen


Goal
The book Goal, by Robert Rigby was a book that was filled with elements to success. A real nail biter to the reader. Life for the Munez family was filled with hardships, about overcoming obstacles to getting where they need to go. Soccer legend Santi has to fight his way through an injury to get to the world cup, and life isn’t easier for his brother with getting tormented every day.
Goal inspires a person to push themselves, to overcome obstacles to get to where they thrive to get go. Filled with powerful emotions, the Munez family is faced with barriers in which they are forced to break down. This book shows just one of the stories of a family. “Goodreads” rates this book a 4.39 out of 5, but I just might rate this, a perfect book.
We mostly experience this through the eyes of Santi and Enrique. Santi is the main character in this story. A soccer legend who has suffered an injury and now challenges himself to be able to world cup, but his brother Enriquez has a much worse situation. He is forced through getting bullied every day, going to school, and coming back with a sour facing, pushing around his dinner. Life for the Munez family is faced with decisions and triumphs. Enrique for example, is faced with bulling by three other kids at his academy. He fights to just to do well at the school and on his soccer team, but when Enrique makes a decision to join the clan so they would leave him alone, when one day he is forced to commit a crime and reveals a gut clenching dark secret from his past.
Robert Rigby writes this book with heart felt passion and emotion. With ease and finesse, he shows his powerful writing through the characters in this book. It brings a spine chilling moment when Enrique does something unshakable. You can feel the shame run through him and you almost as if you were in his shoes, but it takes on a ride when you see him try to bounce back and fight for justice.
Goal is a book about fighting major obstacles in life and being able to fight and power through. Robert shows this thought through his powerful writing. This writing will take you, whether a child and adult or even a teen on a ride of your life. Just make sure to be prepared to fight though to reach your “Goal.”

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Santiago Munez is a professional soccer player who has had every piece of luck anyone could have. He’s played with clubs like Newcastle United and even Real Madrid. But good things end somewhere and he’s been plagued with many injuries in the recent months; consequently, he gets sold to his old club, Newcastle United. While returning he gets off to a perfect start, scoring goals, having some assists, and his brother even makes the academy for the club. But while getting through a tough slide tackle. He gets injured, once again, he might miss the world cup: the biggest competition in the soccer
(Not Done)

[Bradley Lakoseljac · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book that I read was Goal Glory days. This book is about the main character Santiago coming back from missing out on the world cup in 2006 and coming back to play in South Africa in 2010, along the way Santi again deals with problems like his brother, coming back from injury again and playing second fiddle striker for his country. The message that I got from this story was that dreams can come true and that hard work always comes through in the end. I really enjoyed this book and found it a really good read and I would rate this a 9/10.

[Jose De · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book because it well written and its of the sport I like the most. What I like about the book is that it had good details to make it a very good story. It has details that tells you how good they are soccer and what they were doing. It also has a good plot. I like the ending of the book because it has a lot suspense. You don't know what team is going to win. This is why I like this book a lot.

[Ezequiel Talavera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goal by Robert Rigsby is about a soccer player named Santiago Munez returns to his first team that started his professional career, Newcastle United and he is playing at his best again. I think this book is very good because of the new things that are introduced such as issues with his family or with the team. I am determined to finish this book because it is so darn amazing.

[Tobers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay-ish

Expected Better

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now he is trying for the national team before something happens.

[Susanbarto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for soccer and sports fan alike. Could easily be one of the favorites on the shelf at school.

[Anonymous · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome! must read for soccer fans

[Tampines House]

B21333726E

[Ahmad · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to read this book on this app