Talia's POV
"Everything in there?" I ask as we pull up to Emirates Stadium for our last group game against Norway.
We beat Switzerland 4-0 so whomever wins today's game wins the group and will play the loser of the Sweden v Spain game.
"Yes Mama." Lanie says after checking her bag.
Once the bus doors open we grab our bags then head towards the locker room.
Once in the locker room I remove my three necklaces and my ring then I place them safely in my bag before I start to change. I then change into my warm up shirt, game shorts, my right sock, my left sock, my right red boot, and lastly my left red boot. After that I head to Julie's locker then sit down on the floor in-between her legs.
"Hey Beautiful." Julie says and starts running her fingers through my hair.
"Hi Jules." I say then let Julie do her thing.
Julie runs her fingers through my hair for a little bit before she puts part of my hair in a braid then she puts my hair into a pony tail.
"Thanks." I say and hug one of Julie's legs. "Love you."
"Love you Moonshine." Julie says then she kisses my head.
Once Julie's done I get off the floor then head over to the line up board to check it over
1-Alyssa Naeher
5-Kelley O'Hara
7-Abby Dahlkemper
4-Becky Sauerbrunn
14-Talia Martin (C)
8-Julie Johnston
9-Lindsey Horan
3-Sam Mewis
17-Tobin Heath
13-Alex Morgan
23-Christen Press
After I've checked over the line up I head out to the pitch with the rest of the team. When I get on the pitch I run through my warm ups with the starters then head back to the locker room.
Once in the locker room I change out of the training top and change into our green jersey. After I'm dressed I wait around in my locker as the coaching staff do their last minute talks then the starters and I head to the tunnel and I line up at the front of the line. A minute later we walk out onto the pitch, stand for a bit, shake hands with the Norwegian players, I do the captains stuff, then I head to my position and a moment later Ada Hegerberg kicks off the game.
The first 20 or so minutes of the game are mostly back forth play with nothing amounting for any team.
In the 22nd minute of the game we get a corner after Kelley tries to cross the ball into the box, but it get's blocked by someone. Christen heads over to take the corner so I ghost around the top of the box and wait for the whistle. When the whistle blows Christen does her run up then she sends the ball into the box. I run into the box a bit then I jump up to head the ball along with Ingrid Engen.
Luckily I get my head on the ball first and the ball goes past the Norwegian keeper putting us up 1-0.
The team and I hug then we head back upfield for the restart.
In the 44th minute we get a corner so Christen goes over to take it while I ghost around at the top of the box. After the whistle blows Christen sends the ball towards me and I watch as he ball drops right to me. When the ball gets to the perfect height to volley I put my left foot laces through the ball then I watch as the ball rockets into the top corner of the goal making the score 2-0.
Once the ball hits the net I take off toward Christen to hug her.
"Damn Freckles." Christen says as I hug her.
"YEAH T." Kelley shouts as she jumps on us.
The rest of the team join the hug then we all head back to our side of the field. The ref then blows for halftime so we all head into the locker room and rest for fifteen minutes. Once halftime is over we head back onto the field then we restart the game.
In the 64th minute of the game Norway clears the ball up field, but it only goes as far as Julie who then plays a through ball towards Kelley and Ada Hegerberg. Kelley and Ada chase after the ball, which is heading into the penalty box, so I run with Graham Hansen into the box and try to limit Ada's options. The Norwegian gets to the ball first so Alyssa comes out a little bit to cut down the angle of the goal. Ada notices this so she shakes Kelley then she chips Alyssa.
I see the ball float over Alyssa's head so I sprint towards the line as the ball drops and once the ball drops in front of me I boot it up field and clear the danger then my momentum takes me to the ground
"You okay Munchkin?" Tobin asks.
"I gotta stop doing that." I say.
"Well you saved our butts." Kelley says then she helps me up and we get ready for the throw in.
The rest of the game is mainly end to end stuff, but both defenses keep the ball out of the net so when the full time whistle blows it means we've won our group.
Once the final whistle blows I shake hands with everyone, the team do our team huddle on the field then I head to the locker room. When I get into the locker room I change out of my kit and into my street clothes. After I'm dressed I put my necklaces back on then I sling my bag over my shoulder and hold hands with my daughter. The two of us then leave the locker room and head to the bus. Once on the bus we sit next to Julie and sit in silence the whole ride back to the hotel.
When we get back to the hotel we all head to the meeting room to eat dinner and to see who we'll be playing in the Round of 16.
"Who won." Tobin asks as we look at the screen
"Sweden." Ali says.
"So who do we play?" I ask.
"Spain."
YOU ARE READING
The Family
FanfictionTalia has a lot of secrets, but her biggest secret she hopes nobody will ever find out. Her secret could put the people she loves most in danger. How will she protect her secret, her friends, her loved ones, and herself?
