Other dub names: Just for Kicks (4Kids), Tactics vs. Willpower (Studio 100)
The first two-part episode of the series, themed around soccer, a.k.a. association football.Soccer Game, 1st half
Barry is listening to a football game on the radio. His team loses, which infuriates him. Dokko notices that the team's tactics were bad. Barry disagrees - he thinks the attitude is what one needs to win. The two make a bet. They will hold an experimental match. Dokko's team consists of Krash, Chiko, and Carlin, while, Barry gets Pin, Wally, and Rosa.
Two teams meet on the football field. Olga is a referee. The match starts with Krash quickly taking possession of the ball, but he does not listen to Dokko's advice. He lets Pin take the ball from him, who runs to the goal with Wally, but the two get carried away and run past. Carlin hits a free kick, and the ball flies to the other end of the field to Rosa. Rosa hits the ball and it flies to Carlin again. This is repeated several times until Carlin accidentally scores the ball into his own goal. Barry is pleased, Olga announces a break and makes tea.
Soccer Game, 2nd half
Olga announces the start of the second half. Barry sends his team to the field, wishing they would not return without a victory. Dokko shows his team a new game plan and also sends it to the field. Krash prepares to hit the ball and sees that Olga has fallen asleep again. Wally pushes her aside and she blows the whistle for the start. Krash regains possession of the ball. Dokko checks the plan and demands to give the ball to Chiko, but he's trampled into the ground instead. Krash kick the ball, which bounces off the bar, hits Chiko and rolls into the goal. Dokko is pleased; his tactics have started to work.
Olga blows the whistle. Krash quickly gets the ball again. He runs to the gate, but Pin and Wally grab him by the ears and pull him back. Olga gives them a yellow card and assigns a free kick. Pin and Wally line up near the gate. Olga whistles, and Krash hits the ball with such force that it crashes into the two and flies with them to the goal. Rosa jumps and accidentally catches Wally, letting the ball roll into the goal.
Barry cries and calls his team pacifists. Olga blows the whistle, and Rosa immediately hits the ball. The ball flies all over the field and hits Carlin's goal, who didn't notice it because he was reading the newspaper. After the score is even, Dokko and Barry decide to take the field. However, Dokko just reads notes in a notebook and lightly kicks the ball, and Barry screams and runs around him without paying attention to anything. Finally, they hit the ball at the same time and fall to the ground screaming. Dokko and Barry get up and leave the field, realising that both tactics and attitude are important and call it a tie.
Tropes:
- Letting the Air out of the Band: When Krash runs with the ball to the goal, cheerful music plays, which slows down sharply when Pin and Wally pull his ears.
- Mood Whiplash: The tense scene in which Krash waits for the referee's whistle to hit the ball is suddenly interrupted when he notices that the referee, Olga, has fallen asleep next to the ball.
- Opposing Combat Philosophies: Barry and Dokko argue what is more important in association football: attitude/mindset or strategy/tactics. 4Kids dub even has the two compare the situation to Brains Versus Brawn.
- Opposing Sports Team: While the episodes don't distingush either of the teams on good and bad, Pin and Wally briefly play this role after Krash scores first goal, being pretty much the best player, who they have difficulty catching up to. The two try to detain Krash by pulling him by the ears, then try to downplay their penalty, but Krash gets the second goal anyway.
- Own Goal: Carlin (playing the gatekeeper) scores the very first goal this way. He got so distracted throwing the soccer ball between him and the opposing team's gatekeeper, Rosa, he didn't notice how he accidentally shot it in his own goal.
- Shout-Out:
- Krash is constantly dribbling, throwing opponents and juggling the ball like Ronaldinho
. - Rosa wears a Lev Yashin’s cap.
- Pin plays with protective glasses just like Edgar Davis.
- Krash is constantly dribbling, throwing opponents and juggling the ball like Ronaldinho
- Word, Schmord!: When Dokko claims that the team he was rooting for doesn't have good tactics, Barry responds with "Tactics - schmaptics!". In the original Russian version, he says that "Tactics - haulm", in reference to his gardening hobby.
