No one could stop them ~ A.R

~ forty six ~

Olivia's pov

The match commences and it's even possession all throughout the first five minutes.

In the 3', I try to header the ball in but it goes straight to the goalkeeper.

We have a chance in the 8' but Beth doesn't cross it in quick enough and the German defence get it.

After only a short bit of time since kick off, we all figure out that Germany are playing aggressivel.

In the 14', G gets tackled but the ref says it's not a card.

I go over to see if Georgia's alright, which she is and point out to the referee that the player who tackled G had done a similar tackle earlier to another player. Still, it's no yellow.

Nothing major happens, apart from some corners, until Georgia fouls a German player and gets a yellow card.

Not even thirty seconds later, Ellen also gets a yellow card.

She misjudges a tackle and whilst trying to keep the ball, she catches the German players ankle.

A chaotic moment comes along, when Germany get a corner in the 25'.

The corners taken and it hits the wrong side of Lucy's head and instead goes towards the goal.

A German player gets her foot to it and luckily I was there to stop it going in but it goes straight back to her. She kicks it again but Mary grabs it.

I pat Mary in the back and help her up.

Within a minute, there's a VAR check for a penalty to Germany.

After a minute of suspense, the check was over and it was declared that it wasn't a penalty.

Mary goes down in the 34' due to a dodgy tackle from a German player.

After she stays down, I run straight to her and stayed with her until she got back up.

I manage to pass the ball to Beth who runs down the right wing before passing it over to me.

I make the shot straight away with my left foot but it goes like an inch high.

After shooting, I slipped and fell anyway, and after it didn't go in, I stayed laying on the ground for a second, knowing I should have gotten that in.

After several fouls, and corners, the half time whistle blows and we make our way to the changing rooms.

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The second half commences and we get straight into it.

Germany gets a chance but Mary saves it.

Two substitutions are made in the 56':

Ella Toone on for Beth mead
Alessia Russo on for Ellen white

Ellen comes over to me and hugs me.

"Make this retirement match a memorable one for me, kid." She whispers in my ear and I give her a shocked look and nod firmly.

"We've got this, baby." I tell less and I put my hand on her back, rubbing it gently.

Just after the substitutions are made, Mary rolls the ball to me and I'm completely wiped off my feet by a German player.

The referee immediately pulls out a yellow card.

I slowly start to sit up. After just being wiped out with power, my whole body was hurting but I wasn't letting anything stop me from playing this match.

In the same minute, another German player gets a yellow card after tackling Mary.

Alessia then fouls a German player. She had fouled two German players now. I'm surprised she hasn't gotten a yellow card yet.

I then have a one on one collision with a defender. She just manages to get my thigh with her boot.

Whilst I get assessed by the medics, less comes over and massages my calves for me.

"Thank you, baby." I say, out of breath from playing sixty minutes of football.

"They're proper targeting you, they are." Less points out, unimpressed.

"Kiddos good, that's why." Lucy comes over. "They target the ones they're afraid of."

After getting myself together, I make the decision that I can continue playing.

As soon as the game starts again, I get passed the ball straight away.

Everyone was in the defensive half except from Ella who was just in front of the half way line.

I make the long pass to her, which lands perfectly at her feet, and she runs with it and chips the keeper.

The whole crowd erupts as Ella starts running towards the bench.

We all tackler her in a hug.

After all the hugs, she purposefully comes over to me and brings me into a massive hug.

"You baller, you." I say and pat her back whilst we still hug.

"Come on." I shout as we get into positions

Chloe Kelly then comes on for Lauren Hemp.

Mary makes a vital save in the 65'.

Luckily, Germany have a shot in the 72' but it's blocked by Millie, which results in a corner.

Our lead doesn't last long.

After a cross in from Wassmuth, Magull shoots with her left foot and it goes into the goal.

Some confidence was knocked out of us all but with the cheers from the crowd, it slowly rebuilt.

Two more substitutions were made:

Alex Greenwood on for Rachel Daly
Jill Scott on for Georgia Stanway

I hug Georgia before making her way to the bench.

"Well done, G."

"Score, liv. I know you can." She tells me and I nod my head.

In the 92', less gets tackled and the German player ends up falling on top of her.

"Get off her." I say as I slightly push her

"Liv, stop it, you can't afford to get a yellow. I'm fine." Less warns

This is our last chance in the match before it goes to extra time.

Unfortunately, It comes to nothing.

The whistle blows and the plans for extra time was discussed with Sarina.

Sarina turns to me after her talk and asks if I have anything to say.

"We have thirty minutes to change our lives. Are you all up for it?" Everyone nods. "Then let's do this." I smile, the confidence and hope still in me.