You're The One

Chapter 20

March 2021 - north London, England

This was it. One of our most important games of the season, against Manchester United. Going into the match, we were sitting in fourth place - six points behind our opponents but with a game in hand. If we wanted to even think about Champion's League qualification next season, a win was a must have. We had played well in our last match against Birmingham City, winning and keeping a clean sheet as well. My parents being in London for a few days was amazing, and although I was extremely disappointed when I dropped them off at the airport, seeing them even for a short period of time ended up being one of the best moments of 2021 so far.

Sitting in the changing room before the match, I could feel the nerves in the air. Joe had just finished his team talk and was speaking with some of our other coaches, so everyone was quiet, focusing on themselves and their own pregame routines.

"You ready?" Leah asked, standing next to me in the tunnel as we waited to go onto the pitch. "It's an important one."

"I know." I responded calmly, unsure of what else to say.

"Are you okay, Al?" She asked, but I remained silent for a few moments.

"Yep, all good." I nodded at her, giving her a small smile too. She provoked a specific feeling in me that I wasn't ready to deal with yet.

"Ok." She said, giving me a strange look.

"I'm sorry, it's nothing really." I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed tightly, noticing her change in mood, wanting to show her that the problem was with me.

"I know, I said ok." She replied, slightly closed off. I could tell she was upset with me, but before I could say anything else we had to go out for the match.

We quickly went underway, and I pushed thoughts I had of Leah out of my mind. My main priority in that moment was winning.

I brought the ball up the wing, playing a pass to Jill in the first few moments of the match. She cannoned a shot and it deflected off one of the Manchester United defenders into the goal. Three minutes in and we were already one up, thank god.

We all celebrated, overjoyed with the early lead. It gave us a boost of confidence, as well as further reminding us of the importance of the match. The game was pretty evenly contested for the first half, with both teams having optimistic chances. Everyone on the pitch was giving their all, and the match was starting to get a little more physical.

Tensions were soaring, and in the stoppage time before the half it reached an all time high. After cutting in to the centre of the pitch, I was practically wiped out by the Spaniard Ona Batlle.

"Fucking hell!" I shouted, grimacing in pain. She had clipped my ankle, winding me and forcing me to fall hard onto my stomach.

"Ref!" I heard Jill scream, "That's a yellow!"

Leah ran over to me and asked me if I was alright. "Shit, you're nose is bleeding."

"What the fuck?" I said, before seeing spots of red on my jersey. The medical team ran over and helped me, but Leah stayed too.

I heard commotion happening around me, and both Leah and I turned to witness Katie shoving Ona over. Classic McCabe. We exchanged glances and both tried our best to contain our laughter. Katie's passion was so intense sometimes that it was funny. Suddenly, Leah's face hardened and she too stood up to get involved.

"Katie gets a yellow but she doesn't?" She angrily exclaimed to the referee, pointing at Ona who was surrounded by a mix of Arsenal and United players trying to break up the scrap.

I sighed, before looking to the medical staff for more instructions on how to deal with my nose bleed. Fights on the pitch were not my thing. Eventually, the blood calmed down and once I changed my shirt we were back to business. A few minutes passed and the half time whistle blew.

Despite my adamant insistence that I was fine, Joe decided to take me off as precaution for the second half. Although I wanted to keep playing and help the team, I knew he was probably right in his decision. The game recommenced and I sat beside Lisa on the bench, both of us stressing as the match played out. The game was still evenly matched, and the one goal advantage wasn't very reassuring. Thankfully, Lotte was able to score shortly after the second half started up again, leaving us with a safer score line.

Ten minutes later though, Beth got a second yellow card for a clumsy tackle and was sent off the pitch. To say I was tense was an understatement. Any time the Manchester United players got the ball on our side of the pitch, I had to close my eyes to stop myself from freaking out. After the agonising final half hour of the game, the full time whistle finally blew and we had won!

"Aleid, how are you feeling after that injury just before half time?" A journalist for BBC asked me, having requested an interview. I was buzzing from the celebrations. It wasn't like we had won a trophy or anything, but the whole team was absolutely ecstatic with the chance of Champion's League football the next season.

"Better now! Not bleeding anymore." I answered, laughing slightly with the interviewer joining me.

"Are you happy with the team's result today?"

"Of course, I'm delighted! We knew how important it was to win this match and we went out there today and did our job. Everyone was super focused on the goal and it paid off."

"You signed a new deal a couple of months ago extending your stay, can you let us know more of your reasoning into that decision?"

"There is a lot of ambition at the club and I could feel that even on my first day here. Every single day I need to train to the best of my ability because I'm surrounded by such high quality players who all try their hardest and have high expectations for their teammates and the results we get. This mindset is super important to me, so I'm really enjoying myself here and just want to help the team as best as I can."

"These three points leave you in fourth place but with a game in hand against Manchester United, as well as a higher goal difference. How important is achieving Champion's League football to you?"

"It is really important. When I was at Wolfsburg back in 2018, we lost in the final against Lyon which was obviously a hard pill to swallow, so I really just want to get back into that environnement with Arsenal and I know the whole squad does too." What I said was true. I tried not to think much about that loss against Lyon but it was a painful one. We made it all the way to extra time in a goalless draw, and even went ahead for a period of time in that extra half an hour - but all that hope was crushed when we conceded four and came in second place. My love for the sport was evident in that match though, the passion and desire I felt to win, I desperately wanted to replicate that with Arsenal.