La Reina | The Story of Melanie Kavitz

la finallissima: america vs argentina (II)

...
leo's point of view
...

June 22, 2010

Why did America and Argentina have to be drawn into the same group?

Of all the possible countries in Pot B, why did we have to get America?

The pain of my broken heart still raged on, even if it had been two whole months since the day... and seeing her on the field wasn't doing me any favors.

We were ten minutes into the second half of the game, and the score was still nil-nil. Diego was trying to remind us of the tactics we went over in the dressing room at half-time, but even he knew that we weren't going to be able to do anything given just how hungry Mel was to win this game. And her team was more than prepared to feed her the chances.

We had a corner in the 62nd minute, and we decided to take it short. But what we failed to realize is that Michael Bradley was lurking around the corner, and as soon as I tried to pass the ball to an open Maxi after the ball returned to play, he came in and intercepted it.

Our defense went into high gear as soon as they saw that Bradley passed it to Donovan - who would then try to find Mel. However, she was higher up on the pitch than she normally was, so when she got the ball from Donovan, she wasn't in a goal-scoring position.

But she didn't need to be in one.

She took the ball from Donovan and just started dribbling toward the net as if her life depended on it. Masche, Ota, Samuel, Fideo, Martin... she was dribbling past everyone who went up against her, and she didn't stop until she buried the ball deep into the net, completely humiliating Romero in goal in the process.

While the American team celebrated their hearts out, the rest of us were just completely flabbergasted by what we had just seen; I trained my gaze to see Diego, and his jaw was on the ground. She scored her version of the Goal Of The Century... and she did it against Argentina with Diego at the helm of the team. The Argentine supporters, who were scattered across the field, were also applauding the goal, given how significant this moment in the World Cup had just become.

We wouldn't recover after that goal, as a corner kick from Melanie was put away in the form of a tap-in by Clint Dempsey. We lost our last World Cup group game 2-0.

Although we still qualified for the knockouts, I couldn't help but feel like I'd been kicked twice. Not only did I lose the love of my life... but she completely and utterly humiliated me on the field.

Just as I disappeared into the tunnel, I caught a glimpse of Diego and Melanie shaking hands, and Diego's eyes reflected such strong pride towards her... while I was still striving for his approval.

This day couldn't have gone any worse for me. I just wanted to disappear.

...

June 10, 2022

Three minutes onto the field, and I know just how frantic the Argentine defense is getting as soon as I get on the field. I know they weren't expecting to see me on the field this soon, and they're having a hard time adapting to the new circumstances.

I find a small gap between Otamenti and Molina, and I charge forward with the ball and pass it to Christian, who passes it to Carli, who then returns it to me, and I'm now face-to-face with Dibu Martinez.

But I'm not afraid of him; he prepares himself to block a straight shot - I chip it over his head.

We got one goal back before half-time.