Consider this a special request. I haven't really given Dancing Rasta any chance in the spotlight because of how fundamental he is, but maybe pitting him against the Samba King, Don Aldo, will prove to be the right move here.
Enjoy.
Supa Strikas are facing Palmentieri at the Ramba Stadium in a day. They're training in the jungle in order to adjust their speed, agility, and balance for Edwin's men. The forwards are currently running on quicksand to increase their speed. The midfielders are running on rocks on water and swinging on vines to test their agility. The defenders are dribbling soccer balls on logs on water to practice their balance.
Tiger had just completed the agility course (jumping over rocks, swinging on vines, and kicking a ball while swinging) for the third time in the past hour and done it flawlessly.
"I see Tiger's gotten better at the agility part of the training," Shakes said with light mocking, remembering Tiger's embarrassing first try on the agility course.
"This type of agility training was different than the ones I was used to," Tiger said defensively.
"But hey, check out Rasta. He's killing it today," said North.
Rasta is running through the agility course with grace and fundamental precision. He jumps over the rocks like he's doing dance steps. He swings on the vines while carefully turning his body in the air. Big Bo throws him a ball, and Rasta beautifully kicks it in time as he safely lands on his two feet. The ball bounces off a tree and lands in Shakes' hands.
"Wow, captain. I guess all that dancing from last night's party really prepared you today," said Shakes, wowed.
"Nothing gets me more hyped than a little dance on any field," said Rasta.
"In that case, show me your balance," Coach challenged.
Rasta moves to the balance part of the training. He stands on the log on the lake and starts dribbling the ball to the opposite end of said log, trying to keep his balance. Rasta shows the poise that he is known for on the dance floor. He's not doing it too fast or too slow. He's balancing his pace just as much as he's balancing the ball.
"Blok," Coach signalled.
Blok kicks a ball towards Rasta. Rasta sees the ball and quickly catches it on his right foot. Rasta kicks the second ball up high, dribbles the first ball to the opposite end of the log, and then catches the second ball with his right foot as it falls.
"Don Aldo may be the Samba King, but he's no dance maestro like our captain," said Shakes.
"And tomorrow, he's gonna show it to them," said Cool Joe.
The next day...
"Match day at the Ramba Stadium," Brenda commentated. "Palmentieri have proven themselves to be one of Supa Strikas' toughest competitions, but the Samba King is preparing to rewrite that sentence."
"The Samba King against the Dancing Strika. Whose dance moves will prevail?" Mack wondered.
"They both got the moves, but who will outdance the other?" Brenda added.
Don Aldo gets off to a good start by evading Cool Joe's tackle with a smooth swerve and eluding North Shaw with a dance-like dribble move. Blok tries to get in the way, but Don Aldo goes for a fancy spin dribble move to easily dodge him.
"Don Aldo is showing off quite early in this game," said Brenda.
With no other defender to get in his way, Don Aldo aims for the lower left corner and shoots. Big Bo dives quickly and blocks the shot with his outstretched arm.
"But Big Bo is there to say no," said Big Bo.
Now, it's Dancing Rasta's turn. Don Aldo chases him up the field and gets right in front of him. Rasta starts doing some fancy dribbling to keep Don Aldo guessing. Rasta goes left twice and then goes right, only to get tackled by a Palmentieri striker.
"Ooh, Dancing Rasta had Don Aldo beat, but he didn't anticipate the help defense," said Mack.
"And it looks like Don Aldo is going to try again," said Brenda.
Don Aldo mesmerizes El Matador with some fancy dribbling, bouncing the ball off his foot and tapping it left and right. El Matador goes for the tackle, only for Don Aldo to leap to the right, leaving El Matador in the dust. North and Blok go at Don Aldo at the same time, but the Samba King dribbles through North's legs and jumps right between the Strikas' defensive duo.
Don Aldo takes another shot. Big Bo goes right, but the ball curves the other way.
"GOOOOOOAAAL!"
"Palma get on the board first," said Brenda. "All thanks to the Samba King's signature flare."
"Dancing Rasta better put on his dancing shoes, because it's gonna be quite a dance battle down there," said Mack.
Blok takes the ball to the midfield and kicks it high to Dancing Rasta. Rasta dodges a Palmentieri defender with a nifty self-pass dribble, only to stop when Don Aldo gets in his way. Rasta dribbles the ball off his knee a few times, preparing for something. Rasta taps the ball to his left and then kicks it to the right, but Don Aldo's swiftness allows him to steal the ball.
"Rasta may have the fundamentals, but Don Aldo has the flashy speed," said Brenda.
"And here comes another Palma attack," said Mack.
Don Aldo tricks Klaus with a self-dribble heel kick and then swerves pass Shakes as he runs towards the box. Don Aldo passes the ball to a Palma teammate as he outruns North to the goal. Don Aldo gets the ball back and takes another shot. Big Bo dives right, but he couldn't catch the ball in time.
"Two-nil Palmentieri," said Brenda. "Don Aldo is outdancing and outplaying Dancing Rasta today."
"And with Supa Strikas doing a mediocre job on defense, Rasta's gonna have to change dance moves soon," said Mack. "Maybe go from classics to a pop beat."
A steal by a Palmentieri defender gives Don Aldo another opportunity to score. El Matador and Cool Joe each take their turns defending Don Aldo, but the Samba King beats them with a graceful leap and a fancy dribble that has them looking at another direction.
Fortunately for Supa Strikas, Twisting Tiger zooms in and swipes the ball from Don Aldo, karate-kick style. Tiger stands on his hands and finishes the Twisting Tackle with his upside-down twisting move. Tiger passes the ball through Palmentieri's midfield defense and it lands right at Rasta's feet.
"What beautiful defense and passing by Twisting Tiger," said Brenda.
"And with Don Aldo way back, Rasta has a chance to show off some moves," said Mack.
Rasta easily dodges a Palmentieri defender with a swift left dribble move and passes the ball to Shakes. Shakes quickly takes his shot, targeting the upper-left corner. The shot was so sudden that Palmentieri's defender dives too low to the right.
"GOOOOOOAAAL!"
"Shakes puts Supa Strikas on the board, but his team still trails by one," said Brenda.
"And while Dancing Rasta did a nice move on that possession, everyone is gonna be wondering, can he beat Don Aldo when the challenge presents itself?" Mack said.
"We'll have to find out in the second half, Mack," said Brenda.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ SUPA STRIKAS ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
The second half begins and Palmentieri still lead the game, 2-1. Don Aldo has bested Dancing Rasta in both the soccer and dancing department, making everyone question if Rasta can lead his team while dealing with Don Aldo personally. Coach decides to give Rasta a pep talk on the sidelines.
"Don't be hard on yourself. We all knew Don Aldo wouldn't make it easy," said Coach.
"I know the problem now, Coach. I have to beat Don Aldo, yes, but not to best him. It is to win for the team," said Rasta.
"That's the right thinking. Now, get out there and show Don Aldo how to really dance," said Coach.
North kicks the ball away from a Palmentieri striker and towards the midfield. Rasta catches the ball and, once again, gets caught in a one-on-one matchup against Don Aldo.
"Dancing Rasta vs. Don Aldo, once again," said Brenda. "Can Rasta pull it off this time?"
Dancing Rasta starts the matchup with some fancy dribbling, all the while making sure he doesn't give Don Aldo an opening for a tackle. Rasta keeps his eyes on both Don Aldo and the ball, keeping his opponent guessing on what he intends to do. Don Aldo keeps up with him pretty well, shifting his feet and focusing on the Strika captain's dribbling.
Rasta dribbles the ball off his right knee, off his left foot, and then off his left knee. Rasta's off-knee dribble sends the ball high, but instead of waiting for it to fall, Rasta leaps and headers the ball to El Matador. Rasta runs pass the distracted Don Aldo as he gets the ball back from El Matador.
"What fantastic trickery from Dancing Rasta," said Brenda.
"But Don Aldo is not letting him get away that easily," said
Don Aldo tries to catch up with Rasta to tackle the ball from him. Rasta turns around in a stylish way as he dribbles the ball around Don Aldo. Don Aldo persists, but Rasta jumps over his tackle with poise. Rasta kicks the ball towards the box and straight to El Matador.
El Matador does some stylish dribbling and tricks the Palma goalee into diving with a fake shot. El Matador easily taps the ball into the net.
The game is tied 2-2.
"Supa Strikas are just dancing all around Palma in the second half, led by their captain," said Brenda.
"The Dancing Strika? More like the Dancing Maestro," said Mack.
A Palmentieri midfielder jumps over Blok's tackle, only to get immediately tackled by North upon landing. North kicks the ball all the way to Rasta. Don Aldo tries to swipe the ball from him, but Rasta goes for a swift heel tap that leads to a dance-like spin move that shakes Don Aldo off of him. Rasta kicks the ball to the right side of the box, where Tiger is.
Tiger stands on his hands as he catches the ball with his two feet. He twists upside-down to keep Palma's defense at bay and then shoots. Palma's goalie failed to react to the shot.
Supa Strikas lead 3-2.
Dancing Rasta leads the attack once again, with Don Aldo in his way. Rasta pulls off a series of graceful spin moves before passing the ball to Klaus. Klaus passes back to Rasta. Rasta dodges Don Aldo with a couple of self-pass kicks and then sends a powerful kick all the way to the box. Shakes looks like he was about to take a shot...
Only to pass it behind him without looking. Rasta has outrun Don Aldo to the ball and takes his shot with power.
Supa Strikas lead 4-2.
"I think we know who wins this dance battle," said Brenda.
"Dancing Rasta didn't just show us some moves. He did it with a combination of style and simplicity," said Mack.
"Well, no matter how flashy the players get, the fundamentals will always have a place in the Super League," said Brenda.
Well, request/suggestion completed.