Astrid Taylor's dream was to one day play for Arsenal, but that was a long way away. First she had to start her footballing journey which would hopefully lead to that moment. A forward and striker with a strong kick, she might get there fast, but cr...
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The team headed straight to the media room after breakfast for their pre match chat. The team filed into the room, chatting or laughing amongst themselves before sitting down. Once everyone was settled Tony walked up to the projector.
"Hi. It's so great to see the team together again." He smiled brightly at the group. "It's been more than four months. It's now putting the national team hat on, right? Remember what we are doing here." Everyone focused on what he was saying. "I want to thank you for the patience that you've had 'cause we've played the toughest schedule in the history of this program in terms of top-ranked teams this year. And at the same time we introduced 17 debutants." Kyra nudged Astrid's shoulder at this, Astrid smiling at the girl beside her.
"So, sometimes the result on the scoreboard might not have been what we wanted it to be. But package everything that we learnt up until now and start getting more consistency, cohesion, chemistry, we got the foundation now." Everyone dodded along to Tony's words.
"323 days. That's the number of days left until the first game in the world cup." Tony pointed at the screen which then revealed a '46'. "What's that?" He smirked as the room stayed quiet.
"Days we're in camp together?" Astrid spoke softly in the room. Tony nodded while making eye contact with the young player.
"Days we're in camp together. About three days per camp goes to travel and recovery. That means 32 days of football together before we announce a roster and come here and prepare for the World Cup." Tony looked around the room again. Astrid's heart dropped at the mention of the World Cup, it seemed so far away but it was officially less than a year. "That's 11 games. That's what we got. Before announcing the World Cup roster, 11 games. That means we can't waste one single minute." The room was silent with the heaviness of the conversation.
The team made their way out to the bus to take them to the stadium. Everyone always sat by themselves for the ride to the stadium, playing their own music and getting in game mode.
Astrid wanted to focus on the game ahead but her mind kept drifting to the earlier mention of next year's FIFA Women's World Cup on home soil. She knew that if she wanted to be even considered for that 23 roster then she would have to work damn hard at both club level and national level before then, especially because so many senior and regular players were already a shoe in.
They finally arrived and made their way to the changeroom, putting on their boots and making their way to the pitch for pre-match training. After everyone made their way out, Kyra, Astrid and Charli being the last like always, Jack Sharkley the head sports scientist clapped for everyone to join him.
"Alrighty, let's go for a jog shall we?" He looked particularly to Astrid who always had something to say about that first warm up, usually groaning and complaining every time.
"Let's go." Astrid simply said and left everyone shocked.
"You feeling alright there, kiddo? You didn't groan or complain." Sam remarked as she ran alongside Astrid who rolled her eyes at the captain.
