Before the players even knew it, Game Day 2 was approaching quickly in Japan. Jessica Fleming was stuffing her clothes in her black hardcase luggage. Surprisingly, comfortable silence smouldered in the room. She was becoming more used to her German roommate as time passed on.
"You're really good, you know." Jess's cheek flushed a light pink, growing shy from the compliment admitted by her roommate.
"Thanks, you too. I've seen your passes." Now it was Lena's turn to blush.
"How long have you been playing at Chelsea?" The German was sitting atop her bed also packing her luggage. They were departing that same night after the game to Spain as their next stop. She couldn't believe the level of skill that the players had at this camp and to think she had grown from this little girl watching her idols on TV to playing with them in real life. She had to pinch herself to truly believe it was happening in front of her. This was the dream that every little girl dreamed of.
"Close to 2 years."
"What's Sam Kerr like off-pitch? I'm always scared of her when we verse her because you just know she's gonna shoot and score."
"Sam? She's the sweetest person you'll ever meet, I promise. I love her, she's like a sister to me."
Jess stood above the inflated ball, her heart pounding in her chest. She clenched her clammy hands into fists feeling the blood coursing through her veins. It was their first real chance in a must-win game, oh and also her first free kick as a Chelsea player. Sam had been taken down by an Arsenal defender and drew a foul just outside the box. They had practised this free kick a number of times before. All of a sudden, Jess felt a hand grab her bicep before Sam stepped into her vision. Her eyes interlocked with Sam's brown orbs. The attacker reached forward and whispered "You got this Jess. I believe in you."
She felt the Australian pat her on the back before disappearing from her view. The words resonated through her ears. Her eyes pinpointed the spot on the ball she wanted to hit. She took a deep breath in and out calming her mind. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Jess slowly counted her steps away from the ball. The whistle rang through the whole stadium. Her eyes fully focused on the ball and her target, she whipped it straight into the top left corner leaving nothing but dust in its wake., rattling the whole goal. Zinsberger had no chance.
Chelsea fans erupted. The noise was on another level of the decibel scale. Her teammates sprinted to her, clapping pats on her back and hugging her.
Sam warmth embraced her before she shook Jess's shoulder slightly while screaming "I knew you could do it, baby GOAT" because the noise echoing in the stadium was so loud.
Leah Williamson watched as the brunette across from her stuffed her clothes into her luggage. "How many shoes did you bring?"
She asked, chuckling as Sam Kerr pushed them towards her.
"Five." The attacker continued to pack her items in her suitcase, unlike her roommate who had her bags ready since the day before.
"Five?" Leah questioned flabbergasted.
"What's wrong with five? I thought it was actually not a lot." Sam's eyes widened as she questioned the blonde defender in front of her.
"That's so much. I couldn't even fit three. I had to take some clothes out."
The moment the Australian finished packing her bags, they both joined the other players who had already started wheeling their bags towards the giant coaches lined up outside the skyscraper they were in. A cloud of pink and aqua gathered in the foyer of the building collecting drink orders from the barista.
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The players lined up in the tunnel ready for the game ahead. The pink jersey was decorated with pink cherry blossoms and purple accents. The players on the aqua team wore an aqua jersey with the setting of Mount Fuji and dashes of white sprinkled on the shirt. Cheers blared from above and the players could feel the rhythm of Tokyo beating through the noise. Viv knelt down to reach her mascot's height. The little girl glared at her innocently clearly not understanding her English but she continued anyway. "Hi, I'm Viv. What's your name?"
The girl looked like she was six years old with her black hair tied in two pigtails with pink hair ties "Hana." Viv smiled softly comforting the child before grasping her hand and walking out with the other players.
Pink: Naeher, Horan ©, Bright, Mapi, O'Hara, Sonnet, Wälti, K. Mewis, S. Mewis, Miedema, Daly, Cuthbert, Nobbs
Aqua: Endler, Bronze ©, Erikkeson, Williamson, Walsh, Kerr, Roord, Oberdorf, Fleming, Engen, Reiten, Foord, Harder
This time Horan kicked off directing the ball straight at Miedema who dribbled past Roord, her Netherlands teammate. Reading her teammate's mind, she did a 1 2 with Kristie passing it just outside the penalty box. The defenders on the other team were approaching her. This was her chance. Viv took the shot. Her eyes watched as the ball curled perfectly and dropped landing into the back of the net. They one goal up within the first minute. Her teammates screamed in joy all running towards her. Her roommate O'Hara clapped her back, "Good goal."
They jogged back to the halfway line hearing the yells of Emma Hayes, their co-coach. "Good goal Viv. Don't let go, team. There's still a game to go."
It was a game of battles. Bronze drilled the football up the right-hand side, skillfully avoiding attempts by the opposing team to tackle her. She whipped a curled ball to Reiten who tried to shoot but her shot was blocked by Naeher. Lia "Snakehips" Wälti dribbled past the opposing midfielders before giving a perfect pass to Rachel Daly up front on the left-hand side who was then tackled by Erikkeson. It wasn't until nearly halftime when Sam Kerr scored a header from a corner delivered by Lucy Bronze. The game was level.
The second half was an even harsher battle. Foord was edging closer and closer to the goal when Mapi slid a successful tackle stealing the ball away from her. Cuthbert's long-range shot was denied by Endler causing groans from fans supporting the Pink's. Walsh meticulously evaded all efforts by Pink to dispossess the ball from her. Her pass sent to Reiten was converted into a magical curved pass directly to Kerr who scored in the last minute of the game giving the Aqua team a hard-fought win. Elation erupted within the team and its supporters. Pink and aqua mingled creating a canvas on the green of the grass of colours that competed against the pink and purple specks in the sky.
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Training Hub
FanfictionA mix of the best women footballers are invited to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity training camp and an All-Star program run by some of the best coaches in the world of football. What will happen? What connections will be broken and what new relati...
