Today was the day. The stair of their campaign. It was Friday the 8th of July, a week after silverstone. Sofia was in Milton Keynes ready to play her first match of the euros. She had been announced to be in the starting lineup against Finland, their opening game of the group stage.
She was extra nervous, due to the large crowd of people that had come to support her. Her parents had flown out from Spain and would be there to watch, alongside Carlos, Ben and Mason. Daniel and Charles decided they wanted to attend, which meant that Arthur wanted to join his brother. Ollie heard this and couldn't be left out, meaning he was coming aswell. Her thoughts were all over. Wow, 9 people there to watch her. Oh wait, Lando had been saying he would come to this for ages, and ofcourse the papaya boy sat there in the crowd in anticipation. Lando, Carlos and her parents all had matching spain shirts, with 'Sainz 9' on the back in support. Ben said he would have joined in, but as an england international he should probably avoid that.
The familiar feeling of walking out the tunnel came to her as she walked out at the back of the line of spanish players ahead of her. They lined up and awaited the spanish national anthem to play. All the girls sang with passion, knowing that representing their country was a huge opportunity. Both anthems ended and the teams shook hands before running to their starting positions. Sofia stood just outside the centre circle as the two captains spoke to the ref in the middle. She could see her parents, he brother and her friends in the crowd, but her eyes were on one person. She could see Lando there for her.
"FUCK" she screamed. One minute in and they were 1-0 down. How on earth can anyone let this happen. She was frustrated and lost her head. Not the way to start. She kicked the ground as she made her way to the middle of the pitch ready for kick off. Looking up into the crowd she saw Lando make a motion with his hands signalling it will be ok. This made Sofia feel calm and collected and ready to win. *kick* kick off again. 26 minutes in 1-1. Brilliant equalisers by her teammate Paredes. the 41st minute was when it came. she picked up the ball next to a defender and tilted her shoulder, sending the finnish woman the wrong way. this opened up a gap for her to get her shot off. GOAL. It went in!!!! HT 2-1 The game was full of close fights and battles, but in the end Spain came out victorious 4-1, a hattrick of which, was scored by Sofia Sainz. ——————————————————————— Sofiasainz9
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liked by landonorris, schecoperez and 101,295 others sofiasainz9: name a better way to start the euros than a 4-1 win and a hattrick under your belt.....🇪🇸
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charles_leclerc: you never fail to impress me x
olliebearman: best night ever!
carlossainz55: VAMOSSS bring it home to spain🇪🇸
landonorris: my superstar🤍 ——————————————————————— the 12th of july was their next match and sadly this didn't go as planned. Once again an early goal got to the team as Germany scored in the 3rd minute. Another goal came for Germany around half an hour later. Sofia was subbed off in the 68th minute and the team managed to hold their own. Thankfully, this was only the group stages of the tournament, so there was still room to fight. Germany 2-0 Spain
Saturday 16th July: Denmark 0-1 Spain An assist under Sofias belt!
Spain finished second in their group behind germany. They had the same amount of points, but goal difference meant Germany won the group.
On to the knockout stages.
Wednesday the 20th of july: England v Spain Lando and Carlos had decided to coke and watch this match before they fly out to France for the gp. They had media day the day after, but due to the small flight, they had agreed to come to the game. It pained lando to support Spain, but he would do anything for this girl. Ben and Mason were also there, but the little traitors had been invited by the england national team to support england. How dare they support their own country.
Sofia took the kick off and they were off. England were a tough side to play against, but luckily Sofia played with a. few of them at Chelsea and was able to quickly sus their moved out, causing them to change formation and tactics. She always felt proud when a team had to change their playing style due to her. The battles were 50/50 and nobody could tell who was the better side. Both teams were exhausted when the half time whistle blew, feeling they deserved more than a nil nil draw at the half way mark.
Back out for the second half is where it got interesting. Once again both teams were clinging on for dear life, until a break was made. A ball was played over the top was was misjudged by an English defender, allowing Sofia to swoop in and beat the keeper, swiftly slotting the ball into the bottom left hand corner. She jogged over to the corner, being bombarded by her teammates. Looking up, she saw Lando and Carlos going crazy. It was almost as if Lando forgot he was English the way he celebrated for the girl. 80th minute. she looked at the time. All they had to do was hold on. 83rd minute. England we're looking confident. 84th minute, Ella Toone scored for England making it 1-1. The pressure built up as the 90th minute drew closer. Minutes and minutes of added time later, the 96tg minute is where the final action came, causing a team to be knocked out. Georgia Stanway had scored. The game ended 2-1........
To England.
Sofia felt herslef fall to her knees, all emotions running through her. She had fought so hard to be included in this squad and the team had trained harder than they ever had before and this was how it ended. A late 2-1 defeat in the quarter finals. Family were allowed onto the pitch to console their loved ones. Two figures approached her. She looked up to see Lando and Carlos stood there. Silence fell upon the three until both boys decided to take a seat either side of her. "Listen here Sof, you made our country proud out there si? This doesn't define you, just remeber that" She looked at her brother with glossy eyes. "but" "no buts. this meant a lot to you but trust me you can't let this get you down. you have every right to be emotional but don't fit one minute doubt yourself because you have been nothing but amazing" she let out a weak smile. "gracias carlos"
She turned to Lando and he immediately wrapped her up in a huge hug. This was all she needed from him. No words. Her and Lando both felt comforted in each others embrace and it's like she knew what he was going to say just from the hug they shared. They didn't need to speak. They just got each other. He pulled away and placed both hands in her cheeks and looked directly into her eyes. "you were incredible sof, today just wasn't your day, but that doesn't change how amazing you are ok?" "thankyou Lan" "now go in with your team and reflect, take a few weeks to relax before the summer break, then we can all whisk ourselves away to sunny croatia after me and Carlos race in hungary" "okay" she said with a shaky voice.
Football meant the world to her and to see herself and her team out this early played with her emotions a lot, but the thought of a holiday with all her friends helped lighten her mood.
