There was a book of short stories that I read as a kid that I?d like 
to read again. 
 
One of the stories was about this (African?) footballer who had a 
special kick. He could kick a soccer ball so that it would bend around 
so completely it went past the goalkeeper more often than not. 
Scientists studied his feet and kicks, but they couldn?t figure out 
how he did it. 
 
I believe the story ended with him being somehow frozen in a kicking 
pose. 

I read the story in a library around 1988. Other stories in the book? Well, I
vaguely recall a couple, but the problem is I don't know if they came
from this book or a different one altogether.
 
For what it's worth, the stories are: 
 
One was called Perfect Paul, and was about this smug kid who was
always right and made sure everyone knew about it. Something happened,
and the twist was he ended up being a social worker in the worst part
of the city.
 
The other story was about some girl who had this fantasy of being a
pop star. She imagines herself standing at the side of the stage,
hearing her screaming fans, and repeating to herself, "Me".
I can't recall how that story ended.

Where can I get this short story?

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Request for Question Clarification by juggler-ga on 06 Mar 2004 00:03 PST

Greetings, Markabe!

It turns out that "Perfect Paul" was written by a chap named Nicholas Fisk.

The story is mentioned on this web page:
'...the opening paragraphs of a short story by Nicholas Fisk, called
"Perfect Paul"...'
http://www.tess.ie/tess/Main/Resources_FionnulaKingModelling.htm

Nicholas Fisk wrote two short story collections in the 1980s:

"Sweets from a Stranger & Other Strange Tales"
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=98938872

"Living Fire and Other S.F. Stories"
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=158721884

Do either of these titles sound familiar?

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Clarification of Question by markabe-ga on 06 Mar 2004 02:50 PST

juggler,

Good to know you're on the case, it's been a while.

The two titles don't ring a bell, however it seems likely that he is
the author. Do you know which book contains Perfect Paul?

The book is 'The Ice Warrior' by Robin Chambers.  I owned it as a kid
but only have dim recollections - I do recall that the footballer was
from Zaire, played barefoot and had a habit of scoring from the corner
spot!

The other stories in the collection were The Accident, Breath Into the
Wind and Time Out.

I guess it's out of print but some second-hand copies are available at
 http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140310134/qid=1097137822/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/026-8064836-7078007

Incidentally Nicholas Fisk was a great favourite of mine around the
same period - a very popular and prolific SF author!