The Own Goal

On Friday, Tove played in a school soccer game. Her team wore green. She played in defense. She liked to kick the ball far.

Pada hari Jumat, Tove bermain dalam pertandingan sepak bola sekolah. Timnya mengenakan seragam hijau. Ia bermain sebagai pemain bertahan. Ia suka menendang bola jauh-jauh.

Later, a girl from the other team ran at her. The ball came fast. Tove kicked it hard. It flew past her goalkeeper and into her own goal.

Kemudian, seorang gadis dari tim lawan berlari ke arahnya. Bola datang dengan cepat. Tove menendangnya keras-keras. Bola itu melesat melewati kiper timnya dan masuk ke gawang sendiri.

For a moment, nobody spoke. Then the other team shouted. The score was one to zero.

Sesaat, tidak ada yang bicara. Lalu tim lawan bersorak. Skornya satu lawan nol.

Tove's face went red. She wanted to hide. Her teammates ran to her. One girl laughed. "Nice shot! Wrong goal!" she said.

Wajah Tove memerah. Ia ingin bersembunyi. Teman-temannya berlari menghampirinya. Seorang gadis tertawa. "Tendangan bagus! Gawangnya salah!" katanya.

Tove laughed too. Another girl said, "It happens to everyone."

Tove ikut tertawa. Gadis lain berkata, "Itu bisa terjadi pada siapa saja."

They lost the game by one goal. Tove felt bad, but she did not cry.

Mereka kalah satu gol. Tove merasa sedih, tetapi ia tidak menangis.

After school, she went to the field. She put a ball on the grass. She kicked it at the wall again and again. Before each kick, she looked up and checked the goal.

Sepulang sekolah, ia pergi ke lapangan. Ia meletakkan sebuah bola di atas rumput. Ia menendangnya ke tembok berulang-ulang. Sebelum setiap tendangan, ia mendongak dan memeriksa gawang.

Her brother stood in goal for her. "Again," he said. She kicked a hundred balls that week.

Kakaknya berdiri di gawang untuknya. "Lagi," katanya. Minggu itu ia menendang seratus bola.

On Friday, the same team came back. Near the end, a girl ran at the goal. Tove ran too. She put out her foot and stopped the ball.

Pada hari Jumat berikutnya, tim yang sama datang lagi. Menjelang akhir pertandingan, seorang gadis berlari ke arah gawang. Tove ikut berlari. Ia mengulurkan kakinya dan menahan bola itu.

She looked up first. Then she kicked it far away, out of the field.

Ia mendongak lebih dulu. Lalu ia menendangnya jauh-jauh, keluar lapangan.

"Nice stop!" her goalkeeper shouted.

"Penyelamatan bagus!" teriak kipernya.