The Rising Star - Alexia Putellas

Part 10

Gameday arrived much faster than I thought it would. Don't get me wrong, I looked forward to gameday ever since I was benched due to my injury, but now I'm more nervous than usual.

We were playing Chelsea in Kingsmeadow today. Up on arriving I think Katie noticed that I was more quiet than usual.

"Hey, you're okay?"

"Yeah, just nervous." I told the Irish girl truthfully.

She swung her arm around me when we started walking towards the locker rooms. "I get it. I'm not gonna say that you don't need to be nervous, cause that's not how it works. It's okay to be nervous. The key is to accept it."

"Huh, I've never thought about it like that." I said mostly to myself.

"Everyone gets nervous sometimes. Even the greatest players in the world. And that's okay. It means that you're invested in what you're about to do. Just don't give in to it. Don't fight it but accept it." She says while smiling at me. "But just so you know, you've got nothing to worry about." She said, giving me a wink.

And with that mindset I tried to go into the game. This derby always was a very physical one. That's why it surprised me that the first 20 or so minutes were relatively quiet. Not much happened besides a couple of small challenges. Viv came close to opening the score but the post saved Chelsea from an early set back.

Viv's chance apparently shook everyone on the field. The intensity of the game immediately increased. Around the 40th minute I stole the ball from Erin. I passed it up to Daan who took off along the sideline. When she reached the box she came face to face with Crystal. Daan tried passing her but failed to do so. The ball ended up at my feet. I knew I was pretty close to the goal, but there were a lot of people in front of me so taking a shot at goal would mostly result in the ball being blocked.

I had an idea. The moment I got the ball I dribbled closer towards the goal. As anticipated, all the Chelsea players followed me, like puppies following a tennis ball. I tried to hold on to the ball a little more before passing it with the back of my foot to Viv who I knew was behind me. She wasted no time shooting the ball in the upper left corner.

I didn't have to turn around to know that she'd scored, I mean, come on. It's Viv. She can score with her eyes closed. Without warning she jumped on my back, making me almost fall over, landing face first on the ground. Luckily Daan was there to catch me.

"Jij bent een genie! (You're a genius)" Daan said, grabbing my face in both of her hands and giving me a kiss on my forehead.

"Superster!" Viv yelled at me, still on my back. In no time the others had joined us in our group hug, congratulating both Viv and I.

"Dude, that assist was insane." Jordan playfully punched me. We took our places again, ready for the remaining minutes of the first half. You could feel the shift in the atmosphere. The Chelsea players were riled up now, on the hunt for that equalizer while we started playing with a bit more confidence.

Either way the game became a lot more chippy. After my assist the blues started targeting me more. We were well into the second half when I received the ball from HAO. I turned around my defender and started making my way up the field. Katie was unmarked so I decided to play her.

The moment I passed the ball I felt my feet being swept away from under me. When I hit the ground I instantly felt a sharp pain in my back and ankle. This was already the third time they fouled me in less than 10 minutes, but like Ali would say, don't react, show them, answer with your feet instead.

"What the fuck is your problem!" "Ref!" "That's a fucking cart, it's the third time they foulded her!" I heard the distinctive voices of my team, Daan's more in particular. With a groan I got up. God, I was going to be sore tomorrow.