You and me

Part 24

Y/N POV 

The game has started and I can feel the adrenaline kick in. I am on the edge of my seat trying to see what is going on. Our team hasn't touched the ball yet and it makes me nervous. We are just one minute into the game and they dominated every second of it. The other team is now currently in attack. Their right winger has the ball and goes through our defender. She has now an open spot to make a cross. She shoots the ball high into the air and I see our keeper coming out of her goal. This is an easy catch for her so the attack will be cleared and we can have the ball now. The ball is almost in her hands but at the last second the ball slips out of her hands into our defenders foot. I get out of my chair, this is such a big mistake. If the ball had landed in the opposites foot then this would be a bigger problem. Our defender is frozen in spot, it looks like she doesn't know what to do. What the fuck is going on? Why isn't she just kicking it away? The opponent comes and steels the ball from our defender. They kick the ball in goal and after two minutes of playing, it's already 0-1. I slump back in my chair, I really can't believe what happened. It looks like nobody is awake yet. Our whole team made mistakes what let to this goal, from the striker to the goalkeeper. 

I look and Aubrey and see that she is beyond mad. She is screaming at the team to pick it up and not let their heads hang low. She also screams that a children's football team can play better than them. Aubrey is a little harsh on them but she is right. What they just did looked like some old people on a field not knowing what to do. I put my hands in my hair and shake my head. How could this happen? Everybody was doing so good at our last game and at practice. I hear our fans yelling at us and that's when I look up. I look at the crowd and see that they are beyond pissed. I can't blame them, they came for a beautiful game and look what we are giving them. I look around until my eyes find Lizzies. I see her looking at me with those sad eyes. She mouths a something and I squeeze my eyes to get to see it. The stadium isn't that big so I can just make out what she is saying. She is saying that it will be okay. She is right, the team just needs to pick it up. We have almost 90 minutes left so why wouldn't it work. I smile at her and send a quick thank you back. 

I look back at the field and see that the game has resumed. We have the ball and everybody is trying their best to keep it in the team. I look at our goalkeeper and see that she is down. Yes, she made a big mistakes but everybody made a mistake. I get that she feels bad but she needs to pick it back up and try her best. I learned to put something like that behind me. In the beginning of my goalkeeper career, I wanted to cry every time that someone scored against me. After some time I learned that it isn't always my fault. You do your best and you can't do more than that. Yes, you are going to make mistakes but everyone makes mistakes. When a striker makes a mistake, it isn't that big of a deal. They shake it off and try again. When goalkeepers makes a mistake, it is almost always fatal for the team. We just have a bigger responsibility and if you can't handle the pressure, you aren't made for that position. 

There was a time when I was put in a team that was just new and they needed to evolve so much. I don't want to say that they were bad because they were all good. They just needed to have more experience and training. But, because the team was not good. I became a target, I had so much work to do in the games. They shot on me like it was for fun. So yeah, they made a lot of goals and in the beginning that was all I could think about. The amount of goals that I got against me. After some time I started to count how many balls I kept out of my goal and not how many I let in. After that it all became positive for me. We started to form a team, I was made captain and I was trying my best to get this team to the top. After all of this I learned that it isn't always about the bad things, you can always just look at the good and learn of your mistakes. Maybe I can give our goalie a little pep talk and hopefully she will feel better. 

The game continues and I see that our team is picking up. We have more possession of the ball and try to play it around. They really picked it up, we just can't manage to come at the goal. We haven't even shot at goal once. I look at Aubrey and still see that she is mad. I know better than to talk with Aubrey during a game. I can't just on the bench doing nothing, I am dying from nervousness. I get up from the bench and take my jacket off. The weather is beautiful so I don't need it. I take a vest so that the referee will now that I'm not playing. I put on the vest and make my way over to the side of the field. What better way to calm my nerves with warming up. There are still thirty minutes on the clock and I want to get my warming up done. If Aubrey wants to put me in, I can play immediately without needing to warm up because I already have. I take my place next to the field and when the audience see me they start to cheer. I can't help but smile. It feels amazing to have this kind of support from your fans. I Look up at Lizzie and see her smiling down at me. She is too cute. I shake my head to get all of this thoughts out my head and I start running. I take it easy, get some stretches done while watching the game. 

The game proceeds the same. If our team steps up their game a little more, we have a chance to win. It's still 0-1 but I have fate in us. We have ball position and I see Scottie running to goal. This is the first real chance that we have. The defender of the other team makes it hard for Scottie so she is now running on the left side of the field. She shoots the ball in the box but nobody is there to shoot it in goal. There goes our chance to score. Scottie is on my side of the field so I give her a quick good job and then go back to running. Why was no one in the box? It isn't so hard to just be there? After some time the referee blows her whistle. It's half time and we only had one chance on goal. This game is becoming a disaster. Everybody is running inside but I stay a little longer until our goalie arrives. I see her walking to me with her head in her hands. I put my arm around her and say something in her ear. "Chin up, everybody makes mistakes. Don't let your head hang low. If Aubrey says something to you, just keep quit and say that you are sorry. Don't let this one mistake affect your game. We are going to need you." Olivia looks up at me and I can see that her eyes are getting glossy. "Thank you Y/N. I just don't want to do this anymore. These last few weeks are so shit, I haven't had a great save in forever." She just needs to have her confidence back. Without your confidence you will make silly mistakes like she did. "You are doing a good job Olivia. You just made a mistake, it will be okay believe me." Olivia nods and we both get in the locker room. When we arrive I can already hear Aubrey yelling. 

"How fucking hard can it be to be in the box on the right time!" I take my spot and sit down. Everybody is looking at Aubrey like a bunch of beaten dogs. "I all warned you at the beginning of the game. Everybody that isn't living up the standards is coming off. You all have luck that I can only make five substitutes because otherwise I would change this whole team! You all are shit today! From our striker to our goalkeeper! Speaking of Olivia, what the actual fuck was that! Did you have butter on you fingers or something! Why can't you catch a simple ball!" I look at Olivia and see that she is on the verge of crying. I know that Aubrey is right but now she is just being mean. "She gets it coach. The whole team has made mistakes what let to the goal, don't just punish Olivia." It's bold from me to attack Aubrey like that but if we want to win this game, we don't need all of this. "Okay, miss smarty pants. If you know it so well, then you do the speech because all I can say is how bad everyone was!" That's fair. I get up and go to the board so that I can make my point clear. It feels weird to tell the team what they have to do, I am just new. 

"So, Aubrey is right, this game is not good. Everybody knows that but nobody is doing something. When Scottie puts the ball in the box, there needs to be someone there to shoot it in. We are working with one striker so it's the job of a midfielder or a winger to be there. We know that you need to run harder but just make the freaking run. Now, defending wise. When you get the ball in your feet, you get it out of the box as quick as possible. Don't just stand there watching it. If you don't find a way out, just kick it to the outside. I know you are all disappointed but I know that we can win here. We just have to pick everything back up and let them see what we are made off. We will start the next half thinking it is 0-0, a new start. I want to see the team who I played with last week. You were all so good so I know that you can do it." I finish my speech and see everyone looking at me with their mouths hanging open. Aubrey walks up to me and writes something on the board. 

"Thank you for that speech Y/N. You were right, this was what they needed. I am still making some changes at the line-up. We will now play with to strikers, Scottie will stay on the left side. The wingers stay the same, the midfield will now be two people instead of three. I am going to take Michelle off. The defenders also stay the same, so four in the back and then Olivia in goal. During the game I will see how everyone is evolving and then I will see which substitutes I bring on." Aubrey is done talking and I sat back down in my spot. Aubrey is standing before the extra name that she wrote on the blackboard so we can't see who will play. "Who will replace Michelle?" Scottie speaks up and Aubrey moves away from the board so that we can all see the name. 

"Y/N will get to play." 

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Hey guys, I hope you all have a great day. 

First of all, I want to thank you all. This story has almost ten thousand reads, thank you so much for reading it. When I started I would have never believed that so much people would read it. 

I hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think of it. 

Y/N will finally get her chance to play. Do you think they can still win?