Numb

Great Britain VS U.S

The next day was the opening ceremony. Karima had to admit, it was good . She likes how to the Japanese culture had been fully embraced into the games with its at times peaceful music and kimonos on show.
Just a couple of days later and it was game time again. Against Great Britain. "Why didn't England qualify?" Karima bombarded Carli who still appeared to be half asleep. Rubbing her eyes she replied blearily "They did qualify Karima. What the fuck are you on about?"
Karima looked at Carli square in the eye. "Well why didn't why just go as England then? I mean no offence to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland...but it was England who got to the semis at the World Cup last year so it was just them that qualified." Carli seemed surprised by how much thought Karima had put into this. "Good point." She was quiet. Then the veteran spoke up. "However because they compete in general as Team GB and Northern Ireland, they don't make an exception of soccer unfortunately." Karima was grateful to Carli especially as she hadn't had her coffee yet.

To Karima's pleasant surprise, she found out she was starting XI. Andonovski had rotated a lot . Karima came in for Rapinoe, Sonnett came in for the injured Crystal and Lindsey came in Rose's place. Apart from these changes, the lineup was the same. After she got changed, Karima got a text.

Hey it's your fave Spritt. Just wanted to say good luck and we might see you in the stands 😉

Karima gasped. It was a pleasant surprise for once. She couldn't believe her friends had made the effort to go all the way to Japan to see her.
As well as being a Portland Thorns fan, Karima's life long supported Arsenal. Seeing the likes of Kim Little and Beth Mead excited her as over the past couple of years , she'd grown up seeing them both turn out for her favourite foreign club.

It was a bit weird seeing the English National anthem "God Save The Queen" blare out for "Team GB". After the U.S sung to "The Star Spangled Banner", the crowd erupted. As the other players were applauding the fans, Karima turned around and her eyes widened. She saw her three favourite people in the world. Cole was next to his half-sister and he was holding Rami in his arms. Her nephew seemed to have spotted her and he suddenly began wildly waving his arms in her direction.

Unlike the opening game, the tie started slowly. This time no one even had an effort on target until the 33rd minute when Alex found Tobin on the edge of the box who was only able to scuff her shot straight at Telford. Only one other shot occurred in the half in an arguably better chance when an Ellen White volley produced an excellent save from Naeher. As the players were praising their goalie, the whistle blew with no added minutes. Well, Karima thought ,that was shit.

Once again at halftime, Andonovski had to motivate the team. "It's been a stalemate yes." He admitted. "But you guys remember what happened last year right?" A chorus of "YES!" rang around the room. Vlatko smiled. "Let's show them why they can't handle the tea!" With that, the team headed back out.
Despite the coaches words, the start to the half was once again quite slow. Both team were being extremely defensive. Karima could understand why. Neither team won their first game. They drew against Japan while Team GB suffered a shock 2-1 loss to the Chileans. It wasn't surprising then when Vlatko made a double substitution. Rose on for Sam and Mal came on for Lindsey. Karima knew from those changes that Vlatko was throwing everything to get a win.
In the 63rd minute there was finally a breakthrough. From Team GB. Georgia Stanaway's first touch resulted in a tap in to give them the lead. The crowd and USWNT was stunned. Team GB had been performing worse as well since the half had resumed to add another wound to the World Champions.
It didn't take long though for the U.S to hit back. In a quick counterattack, Mal squared the ball to an unmarked Christen who found the back of the net with relative ease.
Suddenly Team GB upped the tempo. The crowd was loving it. In the next 10 minutes, both teams had 4 shots each with a combined six on target. The best chance was definitely Tobin's attempt which she was extremely unlucky after dribbling past 5 players. Then in the 81st minute, Carli who had just come on for Tobin, played the ball to Karima. The defensive midfielder was on the edge of the box. She then heard Alex yell "Dozy! Over here!" Karima then scooped the ball from her right foot over to Morgan who headed past Telford into the net. The striker then ran to Mendoza in celebration and just when she thought Alex was gonna embrace her, the 31-year old did the "tea sipping" celebration. It caught Karima back with surprise although Morgan did eventually embrace her and their teammates.
The team seemed to be playing with more confidence. In the 89th minute Karima found Emily with a quick free kick. The fullback then rampaged until she crossed the ball in. Lucy Bronze headed the ball out but only as far as to Rose Lavelle who unleashed a rocket. "ROSE!" Karima and Emily screamed as they watched the midfielder wheel away to the substitute bench to celebrate.
The referee ended up giving 5 minutes of additional team which in the end, Team GB could do no good with. Karima watched their dejected players slump to the ground. Ash told her that Chile and Japan drew meaning that Team GB were already eliminated. This came as a shock. Team GB was one of the favourites to win the Olympics so crashing out at the group stage was a bit embarrassing for them. Karima decided to head over to some of the Arsenal players. She spotted Beth Mead, Kim Little and Leah Williamson all huddled up together. Walking over to the trio, Karima extended an arm out "Hard luck" she told them "I'm gutted for you guys. Just want to let you know that I'm an Arsenal fan and I watch you guys in the  WSL and you're my favourite players on it." She didn't expect them to really acknowledge her but to her surprise, the players accepted her handshake.
"Thank you so much." Kim sniffed with tears in her eyes. She turned to her fellow teammates. "We've seen you in the NWSL and even though you've only been professional for a few months, we think the best is yet to come. Wish you all the best of luck." Karima hugged each of them before running to the people she wanted to see the most. "That's our girl!" Cole roared as she came over. Karima stuck her arms out and hugged each one of them. "How are you finding Tokyo?" She asked them. Emma shrugged. "I'm mean it's excellent apart from the fact this goof directed us to the wrong stadium." She gestured to her brother. Karima burst out laughing. "Seriously ? How?" Cole appeared embarrassed. "I used Google Translate to find out what someone was saying." Karima spoke with them for a while before promising to see them at the next game. As she headed back, Karima spotted Emily waiting for her. Initially nervous, she said "You wanna say something?" Emily seemed to be smiling to herself. "I just think sportswomanship is attractive." She mumbled.