Our Kiddo

How banging was that?

Today they were playing Spain. Nervous didn't even cut it. Evie was sat on the coach, her hands behind her head, breathing deeply and trying to get some air back into her lungs.

She felt terrible. Any sudden movement and she knew she'd throw up everywhere. The blood was rushing in her ears and her head felt like it was about to explode.

Desperately she tried to remember everything her psychiatrist had said but her mind was blank and nothing would come.

Mary was sat next to her and even though she didn't know what to say, she was determined to help. She put her hand on her thigh and just squeezed it gently in an attempt to reassure her.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay," Evie muttered to herself. She was not okay but that wasn't the point. At this moment in time she was just trying to gaslight herself into believing she was.

It wasn't working and her panic was escalating drastically. Mary realised that she needed to do something more.

"Kiddo look at me. Everything will be okay. You are an exceptional player. You are more than up for this challenge. It's going to be hard but that's football," she said, trying to comfort her.

"I can't. I can't do it," Evie gasped.

"Yes you can. You need to take some breaths. Follow me and help calm yourself down. Forget everything else and just follow what I'm doing. In and out. That's it. Good girl."

It took some time but with a lot of help from Mary, Evie managed to get somewhat calm.

"It's just scary. After the last game I don't know if I can play like that again. It's a lot of pressure that's all."

"Forget it all. Play for fun. Play to win but enjoy it. I know you do anyway. Everyone does. Your dopey little grin makes that very clear."

"I think she's just a joy to watch. Her pure excitement and energy is brilliant. I feel like I need to smile every time I see her play," Ian Wright said. They were doing the debrief of the Northern Ireland game and discussing England's up and coming prospect.

"Yeah watching her pelt down that wing with a beam on her face is enough to make anyone smile. I've met her a couple of times and honestly she's one of the loveliest girls you'll ever meet," Alex Scott agreed.

The game kicked off and tense didn't even cut it. Spain were good, they had much more of the ball, but they weren't really doing anything with it.

Evie spent most of the game doubled over, her head between her legs, trying to block everything out. That was a technique they'd worked on. Focusing on one spot and drowning everything else out.

So far it wasn't really working but she carried on anyway. She only went down to stretch when Sarina told her to and even then she was looking round the crowd, trying to pick out people she recognised and just doing anything to take focus off the match.

Half time came and went, they'd had an exciting moment when Ellen got the ball in the back of the net but it hadn't been counted as Lucy had been off side during the build-up.

Ten minutes into the second half and disaster struck, Spain got a goal. It was a goal that could've been prevented but a slight lapse had led the defence to be a bit out of shape.

Evie's lunch was threatening to resurface. She hated being so helpless and wanted to get on the pitch. That may have been just as pressure filled but at least it was within her control.

She didn't have to wait long as soon enough her, Less and Tooney were out on the pitch. It was a much-needed substitution and the three of them brought the energy they needed.