Foot 2 rue

The ensemble so far. From left to right: Jeremy, Eloise, Tek, No, Tag, Gabriel and Samira. Until Season 4 starts.
Yep. Tag's still here but are the other two Gab and Eloise? Where are Jeremy and Samira? And where are the twins?!

A French Television show that aired on France 3 from 2005 to 2011, Foot 2 rue (Street Football in English and Futbol Callejero in Spanish) is based on the book, La Compagnia dei Celestini by Italian author, Stefano Benni and adapted by French animator, Steven Roux of French Bulldog Studios. The series has five seasons but the forth is still in production.

Unlike La Compagnia dei Celestini, Foot 2 rue takes place in Port Marie, which is supposed to be Marseille. The kids of Port Marie organise a Street Football World Cup with the help of a former professional footballer thus attracting tourism and becoming famous worldwide.

Although Foot 2 rue has loads of characters, it follows the adventures of seven of the main characters, all of whom are members of the Rifflers a.k.a. "Les Bleus de Port Marie". Only five of them attend the Riffler Institute.

  • Sebastien "Tag" Tagano, the captain of the Bleus De Port Marie. Charismatic and sometimes stubborn, he still is a nice guy. He is dating the teams goalkeeper.
  • Eloise Riffler, the goalkeeper of the Bleus De Port Marie. She is also dating Tag and is fairly popular due to her family's wealth.
  • Gabriel N'Daula a.k.a. "Brains", Tag's best friend, whose humanitarian parents work in Asia and Africa. He is the tactitian of the team because of his intelligence.
  • The TekNo Brothers, Tek (Tarek) and No (Noridine) are twin brothers so it's hard to tell who is who. They come from a large family as they have three younger sisters who are triplets and a younger brother. Because of their talent they have joined the olympic team is Season 2.
  • Jeremy Webert, the new boy at the Riffler Institute in Season 2 and is a bit of a prankster. He is very laid back and often argues with Tag.
  • Samira Boudouce, like Jeremy replaces Tek and No in Season 2. She is Eloise's best friend even having the same fetish for high school aged boys. As of Season 3, she is dating Jeremy.

Due to the Loads and Loads of Characters policy, Foot 2 rue now has its own Character Sheet! Also due to the high number of Five Man Bands, Foot 2 rue also has it's own Five-Man Band page. It also has a WMG page.

Tropes used in Foot 2 rue include:
  • A Father to His Men:Tag fits this trope. He even gave Tek advice how to win Liraze's heart. When Tag gets down in the dumps, his True Companions worry about him. If there was ever a Season 5, the Tag will not only be a father to his men, but also one of his kids, I'll give you no clues who the mother is.
  • Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Averted. They are the captains of five of the top teams in Port Marie buy they're not absurdly powerful. Shark, who is the captain of the Sharks of the Port, Fred, who the captain of the Vampires of the Boulevard, Val, who is the captain of the barracudas of the Shopping Mall, Laclass, who is the captain of the Vagrants of the Park and Ben, who was the captain of the Spooks of the city.
    • Parodied in one episode where Sinead informs everyone that Eloise will be kissed by Mochi much to Tag's disgust. Sinead, Sandra, Sonya, Fatou and Victoria already know about Eloise and Tag's relationship so why did the want Mochi kissing her?
    • This could be to do with the fact that the Bleus were playing against the Eagles of Jerusalem (The team which Mochi is the captain of.)
      • And also because Victoria lied about a magazine request for Urban Star.
    • Then there's Mask who invites Victoria and Sandra to join his team along with Ben and Victor but according to Mask himself, they're the kings. If only Tag was spying on him.
  • Abusive Parents: Averted with Eloise's folks, they love their daughter but they dump her at the Melville whilst they have a party at their house. Cue the sarcasm from Atsuko and Eloise is livid like hell.
    • It is heavily implied that Jeremy's mother is like this.
  • Action Girl: Most of the female members of each team. This is one of the reasons why Eloise gets loads of fanboys.
  • Age Is Relative: None of the characters' ages have been stated. Except Jeremy, Tag and Gabriel. The books (Which take place in Season 2) stated that Jeremy was years old when his parents divorce six years ago making him 13 years old in Season 2 and 3. Gabriel moved to France when he was 8 years old making him 14 years old in Seasons 2 and 3 (He already had his birthday in Season 2). On the other hand, Tag had only been admitted at the Riffler institute when he was 4 and he wanted a football for Christmas. He was 13 years old in Season 1 but he is 14 in Seasons 2 and 3 (Tag must have celebrated his birthday in between). In Season 4, he might be 15 years old.
    • Samira was 13 years old in Season 2 as she moved to France when she was 11. Jeremy got her a necklace for her birthday thus making her 14. On the other hand, Eloise looks about 12/13 but she is younger and shorter than Tag and Samira so she could be a year younger them them(She's also shorter than Jeremy, who ironically is shorter than Samira).
    • We don't know how old Tek and No are but the do look 10 or 11.
    • Yacine might look like he's still in preschool as Samira did mention in Season 2.
      • This doesn't change the facts that the fans always list Tag as 13 years old.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Despite already having boyfriends, Eloise and Samira would go crazy over them.
    • The only reason Jeremy and Samira got together because he gave her a foot massage.
    • Tag thinks Eloise is going through a teenager phase regarding the subject.
  • Aloof Big Brother: Subverted. Tek and No have four younger siblings whilst Jeremy has one. In one episode Jeremy spend the entire episode ignoring his younger half brother whilst in another episode, Tek dyed his hair blond and ignored No until the end hinting that he could be the aloof brother.
  • Always Someone Better: Tag and Jeremy's competitive rivalry parodies this with hilarious results. Shark has even said that Jeremy scored the most goals than Tag prompting him to get jealous. if you'd seen the entire Second season, you'd think Jeremy was better than Tag until you realise that Samira scored the winning goal against the Black Devils.
  • Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Eloise's parents although, she gets used to it.
  • Ambiguously Jewish: The entire Israeli team. Eloise and her cousins are rumoured to be Jewish.
  • And Zoidberg: Samira got this treatment in Season 2. Even so, Jeremy and Samira were announced as... I don't need to explain it.
  • Animesque: Most of the series is styled on anime and graffiti. Even Akira and his crew look animesque than Tag's gang.
  • Author Avatar: Eloise's appearance is based on Steven Roux's co worker at French Bulldog Studios, Karen Boccanfuso.
  • Awesome McCoolname: Pablo Arias Echervane. Tag is commonly called by his nickname by everyone.
    • Tek and No is a pun on 'Techno'
  • Babies Ever After: It could happen you know.
  • Badass Crew:The Riffler-tachi in general.
  • Bare Your Midriff: Samira and Eloise. It's all part of their Unlimited Wardrobe. Considering this show has so many characters every season, some of the female members of each team does as well.
  • Badass Adorable: Yacine becomes one. This is the start of Samira's troubles.
  • Badass Family: The Rifflers. The head of the family is the man. His wife and daughter have reputations of their own. His wife owns a villa in Brazil whilst their daughter has appeared in a magazine and has a fanbase which her boyfriend strongly dissaproves of.
    • Then there's Sandra and her brothers. All of them are older and taller than her.
  • Badass Spaniard: Pablo is this when it comes to wits, something that Tag has inherited.
    • Also Mask, who's know for not showing his face in public.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: In early Season 1, Tag liked to guilt trip Eloise and she liked to annoy him by bringing her mobile phone to each game.(Considering the fact that her parents don't have time for her because they're on the phone most of the time.)
    • This continued until Tag saw Eloise hanging out with Always Someone Better Zangezinho]]. Not wanting to lose Eloise, Tag told her how he felt and she returned the favour.
  • Berserk Button: The Rifflers have a berserk button each:
    • Don't say anything sexist or racist in front of Samira. She will seriously kill you. This could be due to the fact that her father was once a victim of racism. She uses this later as blackmail.
    • Never confuse Tek for No. He just can't stand it. Be surprised to find something strange about his hair. Even if you order him around, he just ignores you.
    • Even though Tag is easygoing, you'll have to think twice before kissing Eloise in front of him. he just won't allow it. He would even give her the silent treatment comparing her to a slut.
    • And don't call him a liar, either.
    • If anyone asks Eloise for a paperazzi party let's just say, you'll regret it.
  • Betty and Veronica: Parodied when Eloise gets into a fight with Atsuko. They're both best friends to Samira despite that Eloise has known Samira more than Atsuko. Poor Samria is given an ultimatum, Atsuko or Eloise. Unfortunately, she chooses Atsuko so as an act of revenge Eloise rats Atsuko out.
    • Atsuko could be Betty whilst Eloise could be Veronica(Depends on what the viewer thinks).
  • Big Damn Heroes: Samira likes to pull this off.
  • Big Eater: Although it isn't mentioned, Eloise is a big eater. Even Samira complains about it when spying on the Malaysian team.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Eloise's cousins, Leah, Helena and Jenny are rumoured be be this trope although one of them had Blond hair whilst the other two have light and dark brown hair respectively.
  • Bokukko: Parodied in one episode where Samira, Eloise and a friend dress as boys in order to participate in a Jorkyball Tournament.
    • But then again Tag actually mistook Samira for a boy when she was chosen to be the new 5th member. When she revealed her face, Eloise was more than happy.
    • Considering the fact that Samira has two older brothers and two younger brothers, she could also be a Bokukko.
    • In Season 1, this is how Eloise acted before she and Tag settled down.
  • Book Dumb: Jeremy. Although it helps because he was kicked out of eight different schools.
    • Despite his looks, Tag is smart than Jeremy but on a competitive level.
    • There was also an episode the centered on Tag and Jeremy's rivalry.
  • But Not Too Black: Subverted. Gabriel is the only one of the Bleus de Port Marie who is black. Samira, Yacine and the twins could count due to the fact that they're of North African descent. Since Eloise's ancestry is traced back to Portugal it could be possible that she is Black despite her parents being white. Whilst Jeremy isn't Black at all, Tag's ancestry line goes back in Spain so he could be Hispanic.
    • The fact that the French Football team have a high number of Black, African, Caribbean and Algerian players in the squad must have something to do with it.
  • Butt Monkey: Eloise. Always a butt monkey, always will be. She has been kidnapped, arrested for something she didn't do, get her name forged, get run over by a bike, gets sand kicked in her eyes during a match. No wonder she also has woobie points.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: After a brief reunion, Tag wanted nothing to do with Pablo even going so for by calling him out by reminding him that he wasn't there for him when he needed him the most.
    • Pablo did explain why he abandoned Tag as baby. Back in Argentina, he was arrested which explains why they have different surnames.
    • Eloise calls her dad out saying that he doesn't give a hoot about her like she doesn't exist after the years of over-protectiveness.
  • Cheaters Never Prosper: The Canadian team as a whole qualify.
    • One of Fede's old friend's Jackie used to cheat back in the day.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Samira's cousin was mentioned in episode 18 of Season 2. In Season 4, her cousin, Yacine appears and replaces Gabriel. It is unknown whether said cousin was Yacine.
    • Remember her friend, Manuela who tagged along with her and Eloise to a Jorkyball tournament in Season 2? She returns as a stand in for one of the Malaysian team's best players.
    • And Atsuko, who had 3 speaking lines just before the episode where the Rifflers play against the Otakus. And the episode was called "The Secret Of Atsuko."
      • To be fair, anything involving Samira has got to be a Chevov's Gun. Her dad might make an appearance in Season 4 at least.
  • The Chew Toy:Samira, again. Somewhat justified as it ends the running gag of Eloise being the official chew toy.
  • Chocolate Baby: Eloise. The French Wikipedia article said that Tag's dad was from Argentina, so basically problem solved.
    • However, Eloise is the only one of the Bleus De Port Marie who is mixed raced, as her father's American and her mother's Brazilian.
    • Which leads us to Atsuko, whose parents both have black hair AND eyebrows, their daughter hasn't. Given to the fact that Atsuko might be cosplaying but her eyebrows are pink.
    • And don't ask me about Akira, Seiji and Hiro, please.
  • Cool Big Sis: Samira has younger brothers and sisters so she qualifies.
    • Since Eloise was brought up an only child, so she acts like this towards the twins.
  • Cosmic Plaything: Everyone of the Rifflers enjoy to use Eloise as their personal plaything. (Even though she was Tag's.)
  • Cousin Oliver: Yacine literally becomes one.
  • Covert Pervert: Both Samira and Eloise turn this into a habit. Although Eloise pretends to act this way to annoy Tag and Samira does this because of Jeremy's childish behaviour.
  • Daddy Had a Good Reason For Abandoning You: Pablo sacrificed himself so he could get arrested instead of his then pregnant now deceased wife who left Argentina for France.
    • Back home in Argentina, the political system was a bit like North Korea's issue and Pablo wanted to do something about it. He didn't want his newborn son (Who later turned out to be Tag) to be born in Argentina where he could get killed. After Pablo's wife gave birth to Tag, she passed away lot long.
      • To make this short, this trope could be called "Mommy Had A Good reason For Leaving Daddy."
  • Dating What Daddy Hates:In early mid Season 1, Eloise's dad hated Tag because he was poor,bad tempered and had no parents in contrast to Eloise's blue blood, silver spoon upper-class lifestyle. Eloise didn't date Tag to spite her parents, she dated him because of his charisma.
    • It is implied that Jeremy's family (Minus his cousin, Johnny) would hate Samira because she's tomboyish. In reverse, Samira's dad would hate Jeremy because of his upbringing but it could be jossed seeing that they both like football.
    • Idriss is protective of Liraze and will look out for her but he doesn't mind that she and Tek are dating.
    • Eloise averts this because Pablo approves of Tag's relationship with her.
  • Dead Guy, Junior: Tag's mom was called Eva. If only Foot 2 rue got its own Fanfiction.net archive, his daughter would be called Eva. If he did have a son, chances are the kid's name would be Pierre, the hobo who Tag thought was his dad.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Jeremy tends to do this from time to time. Ever since Season 3, Samira also pulls it off. **Despite being honest, Tag also has a sarcastic nature.
  • Devil in Plain Sight: Tag was like this when he was a little kid. In his first appearance, Jeremy is viewed as one especially by Tag who gets picky at choosing replacements. In the eyes of the the Riffler-tachi, Victoria is the one who needs to be watch over.
  • Doting Parent: Keeping up with his team dad tendencies, Tag dotes on his team like they were the only family he has. Seriously, Lil Dragon looks up to him and if you asked him, Tag must have gotten these tendencies from Pablo.
  • Drives Like Crazy: Eduardo who once got sidelined for being late to an important game.The fact that it was a police car made it even more funny.
    • Mrs Vera thought that it was Inspector Pradet driving.
  • Dub Name Change:The Italian dub and the French dub.
  • Dueling Shows: With Galactik Football due to the theme and surprisingly Baskup: Tony Parker due to the obvious genre theme.
  • Education Mama: Averted. Even though her mother was't pressuring her, this was probably the reason Atsuko ran away from home.
    • It could be hinted that Jeremy used to have a mother like that as he was torn between living with his father and his schoolwork.
    • Considering the fact that she wanted her parents to love her, Eloise pushed herself to do dance but it didn't last long.
  • Estrogen Brigade Bait: Tag has traits of this especially since Gabriel is skinny, Jeremy is scrawny, the twins are prepubescent and Yacine's only a kid.
  • Expy: So many expies, it's so hard to choose one unless you could compare Street Football to Galactik Football.
  • Extreme Doormat: Gabriel. This occurs whenever Eloise goes missing. Who does Tag uses as a stand in? That's right, he uses Gab because of his height. Unfortunately, Gabriel fears going in goal as he is quite clumsy.
  • Fan Service: Eloise and Tag have the most fanservice in the series.
  • Feud Episode: Most of them involve Tag. The worst thing is, he blames Eloise because of this.
  • First Kiss: Jeremy and Samira in episode 17 of Season 3. Tag and Eloise in the Season 3 finale.
    • Jeremy and Samira's kiss lasted 4 seconds whilst Tag and Eloise kissed for 6 seconds.
    • We didn't get the chance to see their lips touch in the latter but tounges could be involved.
  • Five-Man Band:

The Hero:Eloise(Tag's girlfriend who is the de facto captain.)
The Lancer:Samira(Eloise's best friend and also the 2nd in command)
The Big Guy:Jeremy(He assures Lil Dragon that everything will be okay).
The Smart Guy:Nordine
The Chick:Victoria(Who basically is the noob.)

    • Whilst Tag is the captain of the Rifflers, it turns out that Eloise IS The Hero.
  • Five-Token Band: Since the Bleus de Port Marie are based in France, it's bound to happen.
    • The French football team has several Black players in real life. Gabriel is of Senegalise descent.
    • Don't forget Arab. Samira, Yacine and the twins are North African (Whilst the twins are Algerian, Samira and her cousin are Moroccan).
    • Victoria might be of Caribbean descent. I don't know.
    • Lil Dragon's mom is Chinese. No mention of his father but judging Lil Dragon's skin tone, he could be Latino.
    • We already know that Eloise's mom is from either Brazil, Portugal or any country in Central America (for example: Puerto Rico). Her dad on the other hand might be either, from Holland, Denmark or Germany for 3 possible reasons. He's taller than his wife and daughter (Both Holland and Denmark) or it's the origin of his surname, Riffler (Germany). Two episodes in Saison 3 stated that he was from new York. Considering the fact that Eloise is rich, it might be stated that she's Jewish.
    • So there you have it: One Black computer Genius, two Algerian twins, two Moroccan cousins, one Dutch street entertainer, one Chinese tagalong kid, one Caribbean Alpha Bitch and the European Spanish husband/wife combination. In other words, it's almost like the French football team in real life.
  • Food Fight: This was probably one of the reasons why Tag didn't sign up for Football Stars in the first place.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: Despite the fact that there are 8 members in the Riffler's ensemble, the can also fit this trope.
  • Gene Hunting: Tag does this to himself but it turns into a disaster once he learns that Pierre is homeless and he even has a nightmare about having to live on the streets.
  • Girl Next Door: Eloise is the girl next door for Tag.
    • It is implied that Samira used to be one to her male friends back in Morocco.
  • Girl Posse: The American team and the South African team both are.
    • In an upcoming episode in Season 4, Eloise's cousins might be like this with her being the Sixth member much to her dismay.
  • Gratuitous English: Cousin Omar, whose dialogue consists of "You Talkin' To Me".
    • The Rifflers chant out what appears to be an anthem. They did say "Only The best!"
  • Gratuitous Spanish: Pablo when speaking to Tag. Tag also speaks Spanish, too. This happened in the Italian dub.
  • Happily Married: Subverted. Even though they are 14 years old, Tag and Eloise seem to act like it. They did kiss at the end of Season 3 (this could count as Tag's first kiss but not Eloise's because was kissed by Oscar against her will).
    • Judging how their relationship levels will increase in Season 4, looks like they're on their way (When Season 4 starts, they will already be 16 ). Eventually, they will marry at the epilogue
    • Jeremy and Samira also count as well.
  • Heir to the Dojo: If you seen every Season 3 episode, you'd think Tag would let Jeremy lead the Rifflers to victory and be okay with Lil Dragon taking the post.
    • Tag was fine with Lil Dragon leading the Rifflers to victory but the only person he thought hat the courage to lead them was Eloise.
  • High School Sweethearts: In the Italian version, Tag is in Argentina whilst Eloise goes to America (The French Version already has 5 Seasons so yeah) and we might never know whether they'll remain boyfriend/girlfriend. All I'm trying to say is, Jeremy and Samira are this trope for real.
  • Ho Yay: Jeremy hangs around with Tag too much especially in Season 3. Or in that case, the twins.
    • Don't think Eloise and Samira are getting away easy. To be fair, their relationship is more Bro Yay-ish since one of them was brought up an only child.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: The magnificent 7 is led by Ash (Italian dub), whose brainy best friend is Ed (French dub). He's dating Sissi (English dub) and has Kazu (French dub) as vice captain who's dating Hima(Mexican dub).
    • Who knew that Skunk (French dub) would be the coach of the Middle School's soccer team.
    • Who knew that Rukia would turn out to be a MILF.
  • High School AU: Season 3 looks like a High School setting
  • Hot Shojo Dad: Pablo, Tag's dad.
    • Eloise's dad used to be one until he went bald (Back then his hair was dark brown).
    • Considering the fact what her dad used to look like, it is heavily stated that Samira's dad used to be like this.
    • Tag himself might turn out to be one of those at the epilogue.
  • Hot Shonen Mom: Eloise's mom, Mrs Wong, the music teacher (She's Lil Dragon's mom), Zanghezino's mom and Atsuko's mom.
    • Eloise looks like the perfect candidate to qualify. If only Tag returned in Season 4 and the two of them had kids in the epilogue.
    • Samira also qualifies in future. In Season 5, Jeremy goes on holiday with his cousin putting a straign on their relationship. He will eventually return for the finals.
  • Insult Backfire: Just before the Bleus play against the Jamaican team, Nelson the DJ switches his record to the funeral theme, mocking them. He gets his when Jeremy starts singing it to him when he scores.
  • Jackie Robinson Story: This happened to Samira's dad. She was still a child when this happened so that must be really painful for her to remember that.
  • Jail Bait: Tag's worse nightmare. Any high-school aged boy would just go crazy for Eloise.
    • Jeremy gets jealous if he sees the same type of boys hitting on Samira.
  • Jerk Jock: Tag sometimes does this. Jeremy did this once as he stopped team from talking to Diego since Tag would befriend them before the big game. Ben was a jerk throughout Season 1 even going so far to get Tag disqualified. Takeshi is also a jerk to Samira and Atsuko. You could see the look on his face in one episode when Samira called him out. Atsuko probably wears a letterman jacket (Commonly worn by jocks) and she and Eloise try to fight for Samira's attention. Poor Samira had no choice but to side with Atsuko putting a strain on her friendship with Eloise.
  • Karma Houdini: As far as Yacine is concerned, whenever he gets into trouble, Ms Pradet will always put the blame on Samira.
    • Since Samira mentioned that Yacine was 4 years old, it's bound to happen.
    • Tag and his gang were ignored one time when Wema mistook them for being late for an important match which was Victoria's doing and Lil Dragon didn't tell anyone about it. Sadly, Tag didn't call out Lil Dragon for being a coward and he didn't call Wema out for the accusation instead leaving that up to Gabriel who felt partially responsible (As Jeremy figured that one out.)
  • Mama Bear: Samira fits this trope. Eloise also has hints of this.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Victoria and her father.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Tag was pissed off when Mochi made his move on Eloise. Just as the photographers were about to picture Mochi getting the lip action, Oscar shoved him out the way but he was kissing Eloise instead.
  • Last-Name Basis: For some reason, Tag insists that nobody calls him Sebastien.
  • Latin Lover: Averted with Pablo.
    • His son seems to be one considering the fact that they're both Argentine.
  • Le Parkour: Tag is a skilled Traceur. He got that skill by hanging out with much older traceurs after his True Companions abandoned him.
  • Meaningful Name: Tag is usually seen with a spray can. His first name, Sebastien means "Heroic" whilst his surname, Echevarne is Spanish.
    • Eloise's surname, Riffler is a mechanical term whilst the team-name, the Rifflers mean that the whole ensemble are talented in a different form of mechanic, (Gabriel, who's a computer genius, the twins' nickname is a play on words for Techno).
  • The Millstone: Gabriel appears to be this whenever he is in goal.
  • Missing Mom: Tag's mom died when he was a baby. The only reason Tag didn't have Pablo's surname was because whilst Tag's mom was pregnant, Pablo told her to escape from Argentina when he was arrested.
    • Jeremy didn't care whether he ran away from home. Since his parents divorced, Jeremy has changed from a cheerful little boy from a psychologically challenged prankster and his mother wouldn't allow him so visit his father.
    • And we still don't know why Samira only lives with her brother (She has two older brothers but she's kind of close to the college aged one).
  • My Sister Is Off-Limits: This might happen to the younger sisters of the Tek No Brothers if Lil Dragon or Ben (Webert) were the same age as Tag and Jeremy.
    • Since Idriss is Liraze's brother, Tek mistook them as boyfrind and girlfriend.
    • Sandra is the youngest out of 7 kids (She has 6 older brothers taller than her) and No is the only one of the male Rifflers not to have a girlfriend.
  • Never My Fault: The entire Japanese team (Takeshi and Bunji in particular) blame Samira for Atsuko's disappearance even though they know it was Eloise that ratted her out. A few minutes before, Samira actually called Eloise out for this saying that she lost a friend.
  • No Periods, Period: it has become a running gag in Season 3 that Eloise has the same moods swings as Tag. One episode showed her snapping at Tag after he whinged that she was going to New York.
    • This has happened to Samira once or twice but Jeremy usually triggers it.
  • Occidental Otaku: Although not European, Samira is an Otaku after befriending Atsuko after a run in with Takeshi. The only one of Samira's friends who wasn't that impressed was Eloise, who had a run in with Atsuko. On the other hand, Takeshi and Bunji were complaing about Samira telling Tag about her being an otaku.
  • Official Couple: Four, actually. Tag/Eloise, Jeremy/Samira, Gabriel/Fatou and Tek/Liraze.
  • One Steve Limit: Two characters are called Ali (One plays for the Scorpions whilst the other plays for the Suns. Two other characters are called Samira (One of them is a member of the Rifflers whilst the other also plays for the Scorpions).
    • There are also to characters called Tarek but one of them is better known as Tek.
  • Only Sane Man: Tag, Samira and Eloise have traits of this since Jeremy is impulsive, Gabriel is neurotic and the twins are just twins.
    • To be fair, Tag and Samira take turns chewing everyone out whist Eloise acts like a mother to everyone
  • Papa Wolf: The taller males of the Bleus de Port Marie especially Tag.
  • Pair the Spares: Happens a lot in Season 3
  • Parental Abandonment: Subverted and averted. Tag didn't know he had a family until thanks to Victoria, he is reunited with Pablo, who Tag resembles. Tag's whole nakama were crying.
    • The Tek No brothers have four younger siblings, this is the reason why they stayed at the Riffler Institute.
    • After his dad's divorce from his mom when he was seven, Jeremy ran away from home when he was ten. This certainly doesn't help as he was kicked out of 8 different schools.
    • Gabriel's mom works in Africa whilst his dad works in Asia. In Season 4, he gets accepted to Charlemagne High School in Paris meaning he has moved house.
    • Eloise's folks are workaholics and seem to spend less time with her. In one episode, the asked her whether she wanted to visit her cousin in America, she said no because the Rifflers had an important match.
    • Averted with Samira, who lives with her college aged brother. Her parents are hardly seen but in an interview she stated that her father was a footballer famous in Morocco back in the 80's.
    • No mention of Yacine's parents, but he might be in the custody of his older cousin.
  • Parental Substitute: Tag and Eloise often have to play mom and dad to the Tek No brothers and Lil Dragon. It kinda helps due to the fact that Lil Dragon often looks up to Tag since his father hasn't been mentioned. The twins on the other hand were the first friends that Tag had. Since Eloise is like a mother to them, they seem close to her,too. Note that Eloise has the same voice actress as Lil Dragon.
    • Jeremy and Samira sometimes do this whenever Tag or Eloise is absent. Jeremy and the twins agree on the same things and they hang out together. He even gave Tek advice about love. Samira is close to them because of their Maghreb heritage (She's Moroccan whilst they're Algerian).
  • Perpetual Frowner: The entire Japanese team.
    • Akira, Genki and Seiji are the stoic ones.
  • The Pete Best: Before Tag and his gang became an ensemble, Tony was also an original member but because he often bailed out, they replaced him with Eloise.
  • Promotion to Parent: Samira's brother is the only adult she lives with. It is heavily implied that Yacine will live with them.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits:Despite Tag's abusive personality, Jeremy's troubled backstory, Eloise's introverted lifestyle, the Rifflers would do anything for each other.
  • Really Gets Around: Jeremy.
    • Also, Tag confuses Eloise of getting around.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot:The reason why "Cruise With Nico" and "Welcome To Tunis were put on hold was because Nicolas Anelka was in South Africa.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Nico is the red oni to Fede who is the blue oni.
    • With the sole exception of Tag, the Rifflers do have Red Oni, Blue Oni traits. Tek, Jeremy and Yacine are the Red Oni ensemble due to their compulsive personality and emotional mood swings.On the other hand, Samira, Gabriel and Eloise are the Blue Oni ensemble.
      • Tag is both the red oni and blue oni but it usually depends on him really.
  • Replacement Goldfish: The Rifflers have a habit of using this trope if one of their lot are absent.
    • When Gabriel was in Africa, Ben was there to help much to the ire of Tek, No and Eloise. In Season 2, Tek and No joined the Olympic team so Jeremy and Samira passed the audition for the game against the Mega-Killers. Tag sprained his leg due to another one of Victoria's pranks making him to be replaced by Ben, Tag got the flu so he appointed Jeremy as the next captain(A choice that shcoked the Riffler-tachi as the other candidates would be Samira, who's Tag's counterpart and Eloise who owns the team.), Tag got sidelined so Jeremy replaced him and since Tag, Gab and Tek didn't play in the finals, Lil Dragon and his own team took over.
      • Samira and Eloise are injured throughout Season 4 and they get replaced by Shark and Cartoon. A few episodes later, Eloise recovers but Samira doesn't until Season 5
  • Rule of Cool:Jeremy agreed on going to China because of the Jackie Chan references which he thought were cool.
  • Running Gag: Since this show also has comedy elements, allow me to explain
    • A team that beats the Rifflers in the play offs (For example: the Meninos) will always get beaten in the finals.
    • Everyone fussing over Tek's problems.
    • Tag mistaking Eloise's fanboys as a new potential boyfriend (Which has happened each season).
    • Victoria's attempts to give the Rifflers a bad name.
    • Eloise and Tag arguments putting a strain on their relationship.
    • Gabriel's attempts to find a girlfriend in Season 2.
    • Everyone getting tired of Jeremy's approach.
    • Revelations about family sending Eloise or Tag off the rails.
    • Jeremy trying to hit on a girl.
    • The Malotra's competitive rival with Eloise's family.
  • Sailor Earth: Many fans would make their own Season 6,7,8 etc.
  • Scary Black Man: Averted with Tag who has dark skin. He tends to lose his temper but he's never that intimidating.
  • Schmuck Bait: Sadly for Jeremy and Eloise, it looks like Samira's the victim of this.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful:Eloise is an offender of this due to her fanservice which is often lampshaded.
    • She must've inherited that off her mother.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: Tag uses this as a V.I.P pass.
    • The whole Riffler team use Eloise as their own V.I.P pass since she's the only one who's upperclass.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money:Eloise uses this excuse on rare occasions though her parents often use this. Victoria and her father do as they please to get what they want.
    • To a lesser extent, Tag could be falling into this in Season 4.
  • Serious Business: it seems like the whole Riffler team have serious business to tend with.
    • Tag takes his football seriously even going so far to reject dates, days off and very weird training regimes. His relationship with Eloise, searching for the family he never knew had and if you do anything that the team are against, Tag never gets over it.
    • Jeremy did martial arts in China, brought a daishiki in Senegal and knows his way around a favela in Brazil. Since this is Jeremy we're talking about, he's just a culture freak.
    • Samira loves anime and manga as well as football. Only Takeshi and Bunji were against this becasue they thought Samira was a mole for Tag.
    • Tek and No are sports faniatics and furthemore, they would do anything to get to the top teams. Tek in particular means business as he joins Arsenal.
      • When they were young the twins were interested in other sports as well. Tek was a basketball fanatic but he was short and No was a rugby fan.
    • It has become a Running Gag that everyone thinks Eloise takes media and entertainment serious but her parents really think so. Her relationship with Tag has also become serious business.
    • Gabriel is a bookworm and will do almost anything to go by the book.
  • Shirtless Scene: Tag and Jeremy have more shirtless scenes than Gabriel.
  • Shout-Out: So many shout-outs within the series.
  • Single-Target Sexuality: Tag and Eloise would like to remind you that they have eyes for each other. If you ask Jeremy and Samira the same question, they'll tell you that they have eyes for each other as well.
  • Six-Student Clique (gender flip):
    • The Head — Tag (Although he isn't Book Dumb)
    • The Muscle — Jeremy (He'd rather watch T.V. and play video games but he's the Riffler's answer to the Karate Kid.)
    • The Quirk — Tek and No (Since they're twins it makes sense.)
    • The Pretty One — Eloise (Her Unwanted Harem says so.)
    • The Smart One — Gab (He's the one in the glasses and even his name in the video games is called Brains.)
    • The Wild One — Samira and Yacine (Since Samira is an Otaku and Yacine is still a child, it makes sense.)
  • So Proud of You: If you ask the parents of Gab, Tag and the twins, they'll say that they're proud of them.
    • Pablo is proud of Tag for being a national hero in his own country and vice versa.
    • Jeremy's mom already has her own opinion of her son but what would his dad say?
    • Since Samira wants to be a footballer like her dad, no point guessing, huh.
      • For some reason, Eloise subverts this trope. Anything she does is either showbiz or it runs in the family. Poor kid.
  • Somebody Doesn't Love Raymond: Everyone of the Rifflers have at least somebody that hates their guts so much, cue the saboatage attempts.
    • Tony Lopez hated the Rifflers ever since the replaced him with Eloise. He did get his ownback when he videotaped Ben(Who was disguised as Tag) beating Ali to a pulp. Unfortunatley, the paln backfired.
    • Victoria has held a grudge against Eloise back in elementary school. From what Eloise had told Tag, Victoria's father owned the elementary school and she was trying to live up to his standards. On the other hand, Eloise was popular with students and teachers alike and she was praised with good grades whilst Victoria wasn't. Since the reunion, Victoria hired one of her friends to run over Eloise with a bike, at a charity game, she got Eloise arrested by stealing the chaity money in her wallet. Victoria thought she got away with it until the final qualifications of the 2nd Street Football World Cup, she kicked the ball at Eloise's chest against a tree. Cue the reaction from Tag, he was pissed and thank god Fede sent her off. Her right hand man, Alex explained to Fede that he'll take over and if the Riffler win, the Black Devils will disband.
    • Fast forward to Season 3, Victoria has blackmailed the New Zealand team to persuade her to become their captain much to Oscar's dismay. During breakfast, she taunts Eloise after she spilt orange juice on her pants. Once the new rules were introduced, Victoria had no problem locking the Riffler's in their bedroom in the middle of the night and threatning Lil Dragon if he snitched on her. The Rifflers, fully soaked recieved a warning from Fede but unfortunatly, Wema conviced everyone that the Rifflers were not to be trusted, even Lil Dragon sat next to Victoria at lunchtime. In another way to saboatage Eloise, yet again, Victoria forces Fara and Oscar to kidnap and tie her up but Samira and Jeremy found out. Since many of Victoria's saboatage attempts involve Eloise one way or another, I'm going to stop there.
    • Don't forget about Ms Pradet. For some reason, she hates Samira. The poor kid unfortunatley has to fight Yacine's battles and Ms Pradet will have no problem playing the blame game. Sadly, this means life for Samira will not go according to plan. Since they added Yacine to the cast to replace Gab, the writers have made an episode where Samira finally loses it.
  • Stacy's Mom: Eloise's mom. Her own unwanted harem consists of her own husband, Shark's hippy cousin, Robert and Marco the theif, who stole her bag in Brazil.
  • Stage Mom: Subverted. Eloise's mom actually encouraged her to coninue modelling for Urban Star as part of a Miss World competition and to date Mochi. The Riffler's already know that Tag's dating their daughter, so why are they now encouraging Mochi?
    • The Tek No brothers are another subversion. Their father used to be a famous athelete in Algeria. To be fair, they come from a family of athletes.
  • Surrounded by Idiots: When things get out of hand, Tag likes to refer to his own gang as idiots. For example, Tag saw the Canadian team trying to rig the game against the Japanese but was shocked to find out that Akira didn't know about it. Incensed by this, Tag convinces his team that the Canadians were not to be trusted. They didn't believe him. Sadly for him, his slueth like activities get him sidelinned and once the Rifflers find out that Tag was telling the truth,they feel guilty. Unfortunatley, Tag doesn't call his own team out because he knows that they'll feel his wrath even more.
  • Takahashi Couple: Neither Tag and Eloise have Jerkass tendencies but he's a type A tsundere whilst she's a type B. Anytime Tag gets upset over something minor, Eloise always apologies even though it's not her fault (Tag did admit in one episode it was her fault because she didn't tell him that T-Bone was staying at her house).
    • Type A tsundere, Samira seems to put up with Jeremy's sarcasm but if the sarcasm was towards her, she would punch his lights out, no comment.
      • Takeshi and Atsuko, who are Jeremy and Samira's Japanese counterparts (The former wears an earing and has sarcastic tendencies, the latter is a sarcastic tsundere who is quite friendly) quite fit this trope. Although it isn't implied, they might be dating as Samira heard them arguing like a married couple.
    • It makes sense since Samira is an Otaku and Jeremy cares about her in his own way.
  • Tall, Dark and Handsome: Tag fits this trope. He has dark hair, dark skin and Eloise loves him for a reason. The fact that he's Spanish is a bonus.
    • Gabriel is this to Fatou.
    • Averted with Tek, who isn't even tall but he starts dating Liraze.
  • Team Dad: Tag acts like a substitute dad to Lil Dragon. When he's not around Jeremy acts like this to the Tek No brothers.
  • Team Mom: Eloise and Samira are like this to the Tek No brothers. The fact that they're dating two of the Team Dads is a bonus.
  • Time Skip: Two years after the Rifflers beat the Panthers,[[spoiler:Tag is now 16 and is living with Pablo.Looking back on his experiences, he becomes a manager to a group of kids aiming for the gold.Judging from the promotional image, Gabriel must've got a haircut at Eloise has more fanboy drooling after her.
  • The Load: Eloise. And how. Tag uses wiry Gabriel as a stand in because he's the tallest.
    • Despite the distractions, Eloise is a determinator which explains why the Rifflers usually win most of the time.
  • The Cat Came Back: Jeremy and Samira did this to Tag when they both threatened to quit the team.
    • Samira gets irate over this and Tag is either paniking or accompanying her (Eloise).
      • Both Jeremy and Samira think Tag saw them like this when the Tek No brothers come to visit. It turns out that Tag wanted the ensemble number to increse to seven by the time the world cup starts.
    • Yacine is implied to be a burden especially to Samira.
  • The Napoleon: So many. There's Jeremy, Sandra, Hiro, Eduardo, Crystal and Diego
  • The Smurfette Principle: Lampshaded. Every team must have at least one girl. The teams that have a smurfette principle each are from Senegal, Scotland, Japan, Jamaica, Tunisia, China, Egypt, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Kenya, Brazil, Greenland and Argentina.
  • Those Two Guys: Genki and Sanji, who are hardly seen with Akira and his True Companions. Also Prenda and Crystal who help Jeremy find a birthday present for Samira, Tek and No who are twins, Vlad and Borris who are part of Moscow's state circus.
  • The Unfavourite: Jeremy and Samira thought that Tag treated Tek and No better because they were founding members of the Bleus de Port Marie.
    • Subverted. Even though Tag is friends with everyone in his group, the only one he hangs out with is Eloise, who is his girlfriend.
    • But than again, Tag has always came to Gab for advice,and has thanked Samira for befriending the Japanese team making Eloise jealous.
    • It is implied that Tek is the unfavourite twin, Jeremy is the unfavourite brother and Samira suffers from Middle Child Syndrome.
    • However, Eloise is the favourite grandaughter and Tag is definitley the favourite son.
  • Three Amigos: Since the twins are moving to London, Gabriel going to Paris and Tag living in the Caribbean, Jeremy, Samira and Eloise look the ensemble in Season 4 with Victoria and Lil Dragon in tow.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Despite being popular and beautiful, Eloise is a dumbass but this usually happens when she's on her own.
    • There was one example when her parents were going to New York and Tag asked her if she wanted him to take her home, she shrugged it off. Minutes later, Oscar and Fara have her gagged and tied up, something that Victoria forced them to do.
    • Jeremy also qualifies as he's easily misguided especially in Season 2.
    • And Eduardo, who drove a police car once to an important game. He got sidelinned because of this and he was late, something that Zangezinho doesn't tolerate.
  • Trademark Favourite Food: For some reason, the Bleus have a thing for fast food, even going so far to go to the nearest fast food resturant when the Melville's kitchen was full.
  • True Companions: This was the reason why Tag formed the Bleus de Port Marie. He imagines himself being married to Eloise whilst Gabriel is his best man at the wedding, Jeremy and Samira as the married couple who are also their best friends and Tek,No,Yacine and Lil Dragon as their offspring.
  • Tsundere: Tag is a Type A male version of this. He's a grouch and his favourite passtime in Season 1 was belittling Eloise every chance he got and in Season 3 after finding out that Pablo was his dad, Tag had no problem calling him out much to the shock of Cartoon and Shark who were present.
    • Samira is a Type B as she's friendly most of the time even to Jeremy. But there was this one time when she was helping No replace Tek, she fell over and Jeremy was laughing his head off. What does Samira do? She puches his lights out. Not to mention she has a tendency to pull his ear.
    • However, Tek must be going through puberty so he's actually a Type A but get's over emotional.
    • Eloise for some reason has a tendency to switch from Type A to Type B. She's like an older sister to her own gang but gets irrate over jeremy's childness or Tag's irratable turn offs.
    • The enitire Japanese team despite their friendly nature.
      • In one episode, all of them complained to Shark about an allowed goal, when the ball was already broken. In another episode, Atsuko got into a fight with Eloise, who also is a tsundere despite the fact their best friend is Samira, who is a combonation of a type A and B tsundere.
  • Tsurime Eyes:Tag,Eloise and Jeremy
  • Turn Out Like His Father: Tag turned out like Pablo in terms of looks and charisma. Even Victoria noticed this before the Rifflers.
  • Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Jeremy does this to Nelson.
    • This is Victoria's preffered style of celebrating.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Eloise used to do this a lot when she was younger. She even did ballet to impress her mom. Unfortunatley, it didn't last long.
    • Atsuko probably ran away from home after failing to live up to her father's expectations. She calls him out of it and he apologizes for this.
  • Walking Techbane: Subverted with Jeremy who even though uses a computer as his source of information has a habit of breaking Shark's.
    • Shark always has trouble with the computer. He even goes far by asking Gabriel for help.
  • What Could Have Been: Steven Roux and Karen Boccanfuso had original character designs to keep in line with La Compagnia Dei Celestini. Tag in particular was supossed to be 10 years old, the same age Lucifero was in LCDC,wore a beanie hat and had blue eyes. The artwork for the poster was to promote the book as a film adaptation.
    • There was also a promotion poster called "The Blues". Instead of seven members, the Rifflers had eleven members and kept in line with the book. Tag was white and had dark brown hair, Gabriel was also white and had blonde hair. Tek and No were black and baldy and Eloise had dark red hair and was Latina. Tony was also one of the good guys and Lil Dragon was the same age as Tag and the others. Strangely enough, Jeremy and Samira didn't even appear.
  • You Go, Girl!: Every single girl from each team although not all of them are tomboyish.
    • The only one of the girls who has a jock-ish personality is Samira.
      • An to a lesser extent, Eloise as has this personality trait depending on how Tag sees that team.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Played straight with Hiro and Akira, who both have blue hair. On the other hand, Atsuko has pink hair. And eyebrows. Don't forget about Seiji.
    • Well, they are otakus and members of the Japanese team so they're probably just cosplaying.
  • Younger Than They Look: Shark is said to be 15 years old as it was his birthday in Season 2.
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