You're The One

Chapter 21

April 2021 - Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Sherida making her way onto the pitch was my signal to follow. I was with the National Team playing at home against Australia, albeit in an empty stadium. We had digital mascots; carrying out iPads with children on video calls, which was the closest we were getting to a 'normal' pregame walkout.

A few days ago we had narrowly lost 1-0 to Spain. Disappointing, but being in the warmth of Marbella just about made up for it. Besides, they hadn't qualified for the Olympics, meaning we wouldn't have to focus on beating them for a while. At least until the Euros. Our opponents that day on the other hand, despite being on opposite ends of the Olympic draw, were one of our biggest competitors for the upcoming tournament. This match would hopefully provide an outlook on the level we would have to play at in order to succeed in the summer.

Australia was a strong team with a plethora of proven players, although they were missing a few due to injury. Their front line of Kerr, Raso and Foord would be tough for us to handle, but I had a sufficient amount of experience playing against them, with Caitlin being my Arsenal teammate, and having faced the other two multiple times in the WSL.

The game started off amazingly. I was able to play a ball to Viv, who squared it perfectly to assist Jill, putting us up in the first five minutes - the Arsenal connection demonstrated even when playing for the Netherlands. The following twenty minutes were great too, we scored two more and by half time we were safely up by three goals.

"Good job guys." Sarina congratulated during her half time talk, "you've played well so far. Just keep doing what you're doing and be ready to withstand some more pressure - Australia will be greedy for a goal in the next half."

With Sabrina's advice, we adopted a more defensive mindset on the game. Regardless, we were still able to finish the game with a solid 5-0 win with two additional goals from Lineth and Daan. This put us in a good place for the Olympics, and it felt really good to win against a team as good as Australia, especially after we lost against Spain.

Back in the changing room awaited some congratulatory texts from friends and family. The most notable one though was from Leah. She must've just been about to play her own match with England against Canada. She had sent me a picture of her laptop streaming the game, watching with Beth in their changing room.

Leah

Today 7:20pm

Watched you today, you played so well! Proud of you xx

Thanks Lee, you're the best. Gl tonight too x

I sent back a quick response, before pulling out my own laptop on the coach ride back to the hotel. Canada would be tough opposition for England, but I hoped they would be able to find a result. It would be a good game to watch, with both of them involved in the Olympics of course.

The first half of the game was going well for England. My Arsenal teammates had gathered to watch, with Daan sitting next to me and Jill and Viv just behind. England had conceded very early on, with the Canadian forward Viens scoring in the third minute. Fortunately, they were still getting their own chances on goal and dominating the game.

Watching other teams that we might play was making me anxious. I phased out momentarily, looking out of the window, until Daan's voice brought my attention back to the game.

"Oh shit, it's Jords. I hope she's alright." My ears snapped up for some reason I didn't quite understand, and my eyes refocused onto the very blurry screen. So much for personal hotspot.