Little Sanchez // USWNT

Chapter 49

Ainsley's POV

"Dad would be so proud of you."

"He's be so proud of both of us." 

I wrote it in the caption of my Instagram post. Then I wrote:

Thank you @footyphotos for capturing this moment :)

It was the picture of Ash and I after the first game of the World Cup. 

I was completely exhausted for the rest of the night and the next day after. I had never played a more fast, physical 45 minutes of soccer ever. 

The days in Australia between that game and our next came and went. We traveled, trained, recovered. We were ready for our next game against the Netherlands. This was supposed to be the biggest game of the group stages, not only for us, but of the whole tournament. A rematch of 2019. 

I started on the bench again, happily taking my seat between Ash and Aubrey Kingsbury. We had some good opportunities in the first half, but they did too, even converting one in the 18th minute. When we went back to the locker room, my heart was beating so fast. 

Vlatko and the captains told us what we needed to do to get the job done and win. The main things we had to do were pull ourselves together, keep our composure, and convert our shots.If we do that, we can give them a better run for their money.

If we win, we're guaranteed to move on. If we tie, we can still make it with a win or tie over Portugal. 

But we want to get it done. We want to know we're going to the Round of 16. 

I got subbed in at the half again, Rose still recovering and now on a yellow card. 

My first few minutes were rough. I got stripped of the ball a twice, and made an awful pass in an attempt to get the ball to Sophia. I was struggling badly, and after what felt like my millionth mistake, I looked over at the bench. Ash made a face at me. Her 'fucking pull it together' face. 

Well I did fucking pull it together, and I got three big shots on goal, the keeper saving all three. I didn't let it frustrate me. 

Around the 58th minute, my emotions got the best of me. 

We were lined up for a corner, and one of the midfielders that had been handsy with me all game  pushed my limit. 

"Stop touching me." I grumbled as I tried to move away from her. 

She stuck out her arm and pushed me, and I wasn't about to take that. I was too far to push her, so I pushed her arm. 

"Don't fucking touch me." She said, taking a step towards me. 

"You really wanna fight?" I asked, putting both of my hands on her shoulders and pushing her backwards. 

Trinity came and grabbed me, pulling me away. I heard the other player and her teammate yelling at me, and Trinity telling everyone to calm down. Then she came over to me, putting her arm around me, but I turned around and started yelling myself. 

"She wasn't fucking letting go of me!" I said, turning back around. Julie walked over to me and started telling me to calm down while Lindsey and Trinity talked to the ref. 

I broke free of Julie's grip and started telling the ref what happened. Trinity put her arm around me as I talked, which calmed my nerves but didn't make me any less angry. 

The ref carded both of us and Julie and Trinity talked to me to calm me down before the play restarted. 

The ball was sat in the corner, waiting for the kick.