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Japan VS U.S

Weirdly enough, the game took place against Japan a day before the opening ceremony. So Karima wasn't that surprised when they were boarding on the team bus to see people carrying costumes, equipment and a...speaker?
Karima tried not to make eye contact with Emily. It was still awkward after last night even if they did come to a (temporary) solution. In what was now becoming a regular routine, Karima sat next to Carli. Unusually, she had her phone out and her headphones on. When Karima got her phone out, Carli turned her headphones off and faced the rookie. "You nervous?" She asked. Karima couldn't help but laugh. "Is this so I'm not on my phone?" Carli shrugged. "I mean it's a genuine question. I was terrified for my first game at a tournament." Raising her eyebrows, Karima replied "Well that's gonna settle my nerves." It was Carli's turn to laugh. "What I'm trying to get across is that it's OK to feel like you're gonna puke. Especially if you're that young in a tournament like this." Karima wasn't that fazed. "I may not even play." She pointed out. "You won't find out until you get the team sheet." Carli winked tapping her nose.
Karima was surprised by the amount of people standing outside the stadium waiting for them. One little girl even waved to her. "Good luck!" She told Karima in her adorable voice. Smiling Karima kneeled down and said "Thank you soo much. You excited to see the game?" The girl nodded. Karima had one question for her. "Who do you think is gonna win?" The kid stroked her chin. "No one." She replied wistfully. This took Karima by surprise. "Well we're going to find out soon." She shook the kids hand and stood up. "Nice to meet you." Karima briefly made eye contact with who she assumed to be the kids mum who told her "You're so good with kids you know." This made Karima blush. "Awh thanks. You've got a smart kid by the way."

Karima was not surprised to find out she was on the bench. The opening starting line up was Naeher in between the sticks, O'Hara, Dahlkemper, Sauerbrunn and Dunn making up the defence, Rapinoe, Rose and Sam in the midfield and the front three of Tobin, Christen and the returning Alex Morgan. The crowd cheered loudly as they saw the 31-year old make her competitive return.

The game got off very quickly. Unfortunately for Mendoza and the U.S, they were behind after a beautifully executed move by the Japanese skipper, Saki Kumangai. The bench groaned as they saw the reply. Most of the crowd though were ecstatic as the home team took the lead. Things didn't fare much better for the rest of the half. At halftime Andonovski spent his speech trying to galvanise a team that was very clearly low on self-esteem. "We've got 45 minutes." He stated. "If they can score 1 in a half, we can at least equalise."
A change was made right after the break. Mallory came on for Christen who appeared very annoyed with herself. She took a seat next to Karima and Carli and her first words to the defensive midfielder were "I think we need to bring you on." Confused Karima told her "Why? We need to equalise not defend a lead." Christen panted before looking back at the pitch. "True. Our problem though isn't our attack. We've had more shots than them." Just then Alex hit a shot from distance which impressively forced Ayaka Yamashita into a save. "Our midfield though is getting passed around far too easily. Sam isn't getting enough help covering the defence." Christen gestured to tall blonde midfielder. Carli agreed. Looking to Vlatko, she said "It's only a matter of time before you're on Mendoza."
In the 79th minute, Japan had an excellent chance to score. In a swift counterattack, they were incredibly unlucky with the move finishing in Yui Hasegawa missing an open goal. As the Japanese rued their latest chance, Vlatko turned to Karima and said "You're coming on." Karima looked to Dawn who told her just to take her bib off. After getting giving instructions on who to play next to and who to mark, the fourth official held up the board showing that Rose was coming off and Karima would go in her place. Sprinting on, Karima instantly told Sam she would go next to her.
From that moment on, the U.S threw everything at them. Karima never heard a more divided crowd. Rapinoe had the best chance so far, hitting a shot from blank point range right at Yamashita. Then in the 84th minute, the U.S suffered a blow. Dunn picked up what looked like a hamstring injury and was subsequently replaced by Emily Sonnett. Great , Karima thought rolling her eyes this was going to get awkward . The next six minutes was a frenzy, with three corners awarded to the USWNT, the Japanese hitting the woodwork twice and both Yamashita and Naeher having to make double saves from Pugh and Naomoto respectively.
Then the official put up the board, signalling for two minutes of extra time. Karima could spot the players from Japan standing by the touch line, clearly wanting this to be done with. Well , Karima thought grimly , Even if we can't win, there's no excuse to not draw .
Soon after she disposed Hasegawa . Karima then evaded several of Japan's players before playing a long ball to Tobin, who then nutmegged Sameshima and finding Morgan who was shockingly unmarked. Two touches later and the ball was in the back of the net. The USWNT went mental with several substitutes leaded by Ash rushing onto the pitch to mob them. Karima looked at the replay board. They had just 15 seconds left of the allocated time given.
As soon as Japan kicked off, the ref blew her whistle and the game was up.
Karima was just going to head into the changing rooms when she heard a voice. "I was right!"A smug voice yelled. Karima turned around to see the same girl who wished her luck. Shaking her head, Karima said "I don't know how to reward you kid!" The girl pointed to Karimas shirt. "Can I have that?" The mum appeared embarrassed. "Heidi, that's not-" Karima cut in. "It's ok." Taking her shirt off, she borrowed a pen from a security staff before beginning to sign it. "Your name's Heidi right?" The little girl nodded before squealing as she was given her shirt. "Hope to see you soon." Karima patted the curls on her head. She then glanced to the mum. "Hope you had a nice time."
"We did. Thank you so much."
Karima then walked down to the tunnel where she was greeted with a remark by Sonnett. "You look hot with just a bra." Karima smirked back. "Oh now I can see why they called you Saucy Sonnett."