The Gladiator

England's Goin' Down! Probably

"Y/N!" Tony called, beckoning you over as the Matildas began to warm up. "Come here, I wanna talk to you for a second."

You jogged over, eyebrows raised. "What up, boss man?"

He smiled. "I wanna put you on a sub around the 70th minute. Sound good?"

"England's goin' down!" You stated as you ran to steal the ball from Mini before adding under your breath, "probably."

"Bad Y/N!" Sam smacked you on the back of the head. "You don't have faith in us?"

You snorted, rubbing the spot gingerly. "I do, I'm just sayin' that England's a good team."

"We're better," Steph declared, pulling you into a tight side-hug. "Now get a move on."

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To say it had been a frustrating first half was an understatement. Nearly every chance that the Tillies had created were immediately shut down by the English defense, the team growing more and more frustrated with each failure.

"Y/L/N! Get ready to go on!" Tony barked, gesturing wildly with his hands. "You're on for Caitlin!"

You did as ordered, ignoring the polite cheers and claps from your teammates.

"Okay, Y/N," you muttered to yourself. "Just don't fuck up and you'll be fine."

Your Coach gained the attention of the fourth official, who raised her board as Caitlin ran towards you with her hand outstretched for a high-five.

"You got this," the Gunner whispered, placing a hand on your forearm reassuringly. "Make us proud."

Giving the crowd a confident two-fingered salute, you got into position.

As the whistle blew, you only had one thought.

Oh. Fuck.

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"BALL!" You yelled, raising your hand for Kyra to pass you the ball.

Swerving around Jordan Nobbs, she tapped it in your direction, the ball just barely evading Nobbs' outstretched foot.

You picked up speed, racing towards the 18 with Millie Bright standing in your way.

You maintained eye-contact, gaze never faltering as you broke the Defender's ankles with a confusing Panna that left the Chelsea player's teammates scrambling to cover you.

Your eyes whipped to the right, trying to find Sam but ultimately deciding that she couldn't help you.

Mary Earps dove to the right in an attempt to save your quick shot to the upper-right hand corner of the net, wincing as it hit the inside of the goalpost and bounced in behind her.

"GET IN!" Kyra jumped onto your back excitedly, waving her hands in the air. "WHAT A SHOT!"

Your face broke out into a grin as the rest of your teammates joined the fray, all as ecstatic as the Arsenal player who'd reached you first. "LET'S GO, TILLIES!"

"Aye aye, Captain!" Courtney mock-saluted as the Matildas began to disperse back to their starting positions.

You glared at her. "Shut the fuck up!"

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"GG," you nodded, shaking hands with each Lioness respectfully. "Good saves, Earps."

She smiled, clapping you in the shoulder. "Good shot. Millie's in shambles, you know."

You followed the Keeper's gaze to the 5'10 Defender who was staring off into the distance. "I feel like I should apologize, but I feel like I shouldn't."

Mary chuckled. "Good sportsmanship, we love to see it. It's alright, Millie'll get over it."

"At some point."

She laughed. "At some point."

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"Y/N!" Tony shouted, a massive grin displayed across his face. "That's what we like to see!"

He pulled you into a hug, not minding that you were slightly sweaty. "Sadly, we've got a post-match conference to go to. You ready?"

You snorted. "I hate media."

He threw his arm around your shoulder as the two of you began walking into the tunnel. "Who doesn't?"

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"Y/N Y/L/N," a reporter dipped his head in acknowledgement. "How have we never heard your name before?"

You shrugged. "The Red Stars are far from the most popular team in the NWSL, I'm not surprised I've never gotten any attention."

"What did this first cap feel like to you?" Another reported called out, flipping her notebook open.

A genuine smile overrode the fake one you'd had plastered to your face seconds ago. "It was truly special. You know, as I've just said, I've never gotten any attention with the media before, so to score on my International debut is... insane."

"What do you think, Tony?"

He squeezed your shoulder proudly. "This one's going to go far. No doubt about it."

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That's that. FiNaLlY done 😮‍💨

Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!

(And I know I'm a day late, but happy Halloween!)

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