Getting Through Life

Chapter 32: A daily occurrence

First minute

I'm jumping up and down between the sticks. I'm ready, let's go Morgan and Heath.

I would say another Morgan, but Lisa is a defender so I won't see a lot of her. Except for maybe their corners.

I'm thrilled for numerous reasons. This is my first cap. The first time representing my country. But if we win this match, I'll have all the bragging rights. I can't wait to see Tobin's face after our win.

The whistle blew. Here we go. We had kick-off, and G passed it to Keira. Keira wasted not a single second, and gave the ball to Lucy who ran forward. She tried to assist Lauren, but Becky Sauerbrunn blocked it. First chance was ours.

Thirty-first minute

We had a corner kick. I was standing a little further out of my box, because almost everyone was standing in theirs.

Beth took it. And she took it beautifully. She practically handed Lucy that ball on a silver platter. And we all know what Luce can do when she flies in the air. She headed the ball directly in the net.

0-1 to us.

Forty-third minute

Alex was killing it on the field. She was always making runs without being offside. She made a great run again and she was through the left side of our defense. Shit.

She passed the ball between her legs to try and fool me, but she should know better. I was raised by football freaks, I never had any rest. I trained until I was drained, that was my dad's motto.

So, of course I could save this attempt, right? She was still running and doing all these tricks. And exactly those tricks caught me off guard, because I was so amazed by what she could do. Many keepers wouldn't have been able to save her shot anyways, but I expected different from myself. How did I let this happen? She scored.

1-1. My fault.

Soon after that, halftime came. I pretty much walked by every teammate, my team and the opposing team, without saying anything. I was so pissed at myself and I didn't dare to face the rest. They should just drop me already.

"It's okay girls! We're not losing, we still can make something out of this", Sarina encouraged us as soon as everyone was inside. The guilt was eating at me, so I avoided as much eye contact as I could.

She began changing tactics and explaining as much as she analyzed from the first half.

"And you, Louise, don't beat yourself up about it. There's no way you could've saved that", Sarina ended her speech.

I didn't want to answer, so I just lightly nodded my head.

The time came when we had to go back out again, so I went first. Great timing to avoid another conversation, because Leah was looking like she wanted to ask me something as well.

Let's do better now.

Sixty-eighth minute

There they were again. I love my new teammates, but they all screwed up again. It was mainly the midfields fault for giving the ball away. But the defense didn't do any better because here I was again, facing Macario now. Luckily, I know her already, because she plays at Chelsea. I've had to verse her multiple times too, so I was confident again. I had something to prove.

She ran towards me. I got this.

She switched legs, getting herself ready to shoot. I got this.

She shot. I got this.