Stronger |Marco R.|

Qualifiers 2

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Third Person POV

The boys followed Lucien to a private box next to the bench. Marco felt his heart start to race. He didn't want Alex to see him. He didn't want to be here. The game began as the referee blew her whistle. Marco's eyes wandered looking for something. Then he spotted it. His number 13. She had a blank look on her face as she ran with the ball towards the goal box.

12 minutes into the game Canada scored a goal. Alex stood with her hands on her hips watching the field trying to think of what to do next. She couldn't let her team down.

At the 23rd minute Alex was at the sideline covered by a defender. Everyone watched mesmerized as she turned her back on the Canadian. As the defender widened her feet, Alex slipped the ball backwards megging her.

"That's quick thinking," Neymar mumbled in amazement.

She dribbled the ball through the Canadian teams defense. Suddenly the crowd got wilder as she chipped the ball over the Canadian and into the net. Immediately her team mates ran to her and piled on top of her.

"That was good," Chris remarks.

"I told you she was good," Mario says proudly.

As the game continued, the Canadian team began to play rough. They were fouling left and right but none of them were serious enough to get penalized. Tobin now had the ball for a throw in. She threw it to Alex. As Alex caught the ball with her feet, a player rushed forward slamming her knee into Alex's left knee. She yelled out in pain and fell to the floor.
"That's a foul!" Kylian shouted angrily, standing up.
The referee blew the whistle signaling for a corner kick. Tobin helped Alex up from the ground. Marco unconsciously let out a sigh of relief as he watched Alex walk to the goal box.

The game went on and Canada nearly scored another goal but the goalie got a touch on the ball diverting its path. Then it was halftime. Alex came over to the bench and took a sip of water. She was oblivious to the boys sitting in the box nearby.  No one told her, not wanting to disrupt her concentration. The medic came over to her asking how her knee felt. She made a face and pointed to the side of her knee. The medic massaged it before she got onto the field again. Alex was running with the ball when Desiree slid into her feet making her lose the ball. As she fell, she landed on her left knee. Marco sucked in a breath and stood up. Alex stayed on the ground holding her knee.  Her face morphed into a look of pain. The medics ran onto the pitch to Alex. He grabbed a spray can with medicine and sprayed it on her knee.  After a few moments. They helped her up and she bent her knee up and down slowly. Nodding to the medics assuring them that's she was fine, the game continued
The time showed 82 minutes as Canada scored their third goal. Alex felt helpless at this point. She had scored two goals as well leaving them with a tie until now. With 8 minutes left, there was nothing they could do.
"It's okay. We can do this," Meghan yelled. Alex felt frustration building up in her but she knew she couldn't show it. Time inched closer to 90 minutes when the referee signaled for 3 added minutes.
"As if that's gonna help you,"Desiree snickered.  Alex said nothing and walked farther away from her. Marco and the boys watched anxiously wanting the US to win. Then there was. With 1 minute left, the referee gave them another corner kick after a small foul. The boys watched as Tobin kicked the ball. It flew in a beautiful arch towards Alex. The ball looked almost as if it hung in mid air before Alex jumped up swinging her left leg into the air slamming it into the net.
"Oh my word! What a goal that was by Alex Morgan," the commentator shouted. "A bicycle kick and a hat trick for US's number 13! A miracle in the 92nd minute!"
The boys jumped up and cheered.
"Alex Morgan has just saved the United States from complete humiliation," the commentator continued. "Marco did you see that!"Mario asked shaking him by his shoulders.
"I knew she could do it!"Marco shouted with a huge smile on his face. But it soon turned to a frown when he saw Alex sitting on the pitch.
"What happened?" Neymar asked.
They had been to busy celebrating to realize what had happened.  Her teammate Tobin helped her to the bench where the medic sat her down on a chair. She felt a sharp pain shoot up her knee as she bent it. She knee it was over for her.  This was as far as she could go. She reached up to slip the armband off when someone stopped her.
"You can play another 30," Coach Jill demanded.
"I can't. Please let me off," Alex pleaded. As he heard the conversation, Marco felt the urge to run over to her and kiss her and tell her everything would be alright.
"They'll put a band on it and you'll be alright," Coach Jill said walking away before Alex could argue.

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Hey guys! I hope you liked the new chapter. This first week of the world cup was so crazy. I mean, USA vs. Thailand was... damn. That's all I have to say. I was watching it and the goals kept piling up from 3-9, 10, 11, 12, 13. I support the team for this world cup but, I do agree that they should've stopped after a certain point. The look on Thailand's faces was so heartbreaking.