CHASING GOLD: World Cup

Chapter 27

Pinoe had broken her ankle. The team was shaken by this. They had played the rest of the first half down a player just in case but obviously that had to change in the second half. Press was in for Pinoe as the second half started up.

In the 56th minute, Tobin was tackled hard. She held her ankle feeling the tweak. She knew herself well enough though that it wasn't anything to be worried about. Alex on the other hand, come storming over to the player that had tackled her girlfriend. "The fuck is your problem?!" Alex yelled. The England player, Jill Scott, just shrugged and walked away but not before the ref had something to say. The ref made her way to Jill Scott and talked to her. It was the same player that had taken Pinoe down. The player got a yellow card and then the red. Alex checked on her girlfriend who was now sitting up. "You ok Toby?" Alex asked sweetly. Tobin smiled at Alex's sweet voice.

"Yeah baby. Just frustrated." Tobin said. Tobin reached her hand up and Alex took it, pulling her girlfriend to her feet. Tobin shook her foot around and looked towards the bench. She gave a thumbs up and noticed a visible relax from the coaching staff. Nothing happened off the free kick which was disappointing but soon that disappointment would wear off.

In the 88th minute, Press crossed the ball into the 18. Alex jumped early and Tobin was too far back but Lindsey Horan timed it perfectly and headed the ball into the goal. Her first World Cup goal. Press ran and jumped into Lindsey's arms. The team ran to her and celebrated. The only one left to congratulate Lindsey, was Tobin. She hugged her friend tightly and congratulated her. "Congrats Linds." Tobin said, smiling.

After placing the ball back in the center and the teams were lined up in their positions, the ball was back in play. 6 minutes later, the USA was celebrating their win.

*****

Thursday
With the 2-0 win against England and Canada coming up later today, the USA felt ready. The line up was different as the regular starters were getting their rest. Assuming they were to win today, they would go on to play Japan in the first knock-out round. Andy walked alongside her moms as they entered the stadium. She thought about how the internet had gone crazy about the interactions between Tobin and Alex the past two games and neither decided to comment but always smiled as several fans defended them against haters.

Andy stood with Theo on the sidelines and watched the teams get warmed up. The two pointed and commented on how the players on both teams were warming up and how good touches and good saves were made. Little did the two know that the assistant head coach was watching and listening to them the whole time.

The game started off fast. Carli ran up the middle as Press ran up the side with the ball. She crossed it over and Carli headed the ball into the back of the net. It was now 1-0 USA in the 13th minute.

The Canadians raced down the field with the ball. Desiree Scott passed the ball over to Sophie Schmidt. She passed it up to Christine Sinclair who passed it back to Jessie Fleming. Jessie ran the ball up the field. Looking up, she saw Christine Sinclair and Janine Beckie streaking into the box. She crossed the ball and with Hope off her line, Christine Sinclair put the ball into the back of the net. The score read 1-1 in the 44th minute.

After halftime, the teams were both reenergized. USA came out fast. Crystal Dunn collected the ball and passed it over to Abby Dahlkemper. Abby passed it up to JJ who passed it back to Becky. Becky passed it to Kelley who pushed it up to Mallory Pugh. Mal ran up the field with the ball and looked up. Press, JJ and Carli were running into the box and Mal lofted a perfect ball in. Press jumped up and headed the ball in the goal. Press had scored and put the USA back to a 2-1 lead in the 56th minute.

That lead didn't last though as Canada, in the 68th minute, raced down the field. Jessie Fleming passed the ball up to Desiree Scott who passed it over to Janine Beckie. Beckie lofted the ball up into the air towards the box and Christine Sinclair jumped and headed the ball into the net, just out of reach of Hope's outstretched arms. Christine Sinclair had just scored her second goal, leveling the score at 2.

It was the 90th minute and 2 minutes of extra time had just been added. JJ passed the ball back to Becky who passed it up to Moe. She passed it back to Kelley. Kelley lofted it up to center field and found Lindsey Horan. Lindsey passed back to Dunn on the left wing. Dunn pushed it up to Press. Press passed the ball up to a running Mal Pugh. Mal collected the ball and ran up the side. She stopped on a dime and passed the ball back to Kelley who was trailing behind her. Kelley stopped the ball and looked up. She lofted the ball into the air. Time was dwindling down on the clock and the USA needed something big to happen. The ball soared over the heads of the Canadian and USA players. Carli timed her run and jumped up. The ball connected with her head and she flicked her head but the ball went wide. The USA players protested as Carli was shoved hard to the ground. The ref blew her whistle and ran towards the Canadian player. She held up her yellow card and pointed to the spot in the box. The crowd erupted as the USA was given a chance to move on with all three wins in the group stage.

Carli took the ball from the ref and placed it on the spot. She walked back and picked her spot. The ref blew her whistle and Carli jogged forward. The ball connected with her foot but the keeper guessed right. It ricocheted off her hands right back to Carli's feet and Carli took the chance and shot the ball into the net. The stadium erupted as USA fans celebrated the goal. It was 3-2 USA.

The whistle blew moments later and the USA was heading to the quarter final to face off against Japan.