Our Kiddo

Oh my god

Semi final day. Evie was shitting it. She felt terrified. Her nerves were taking over and she couldn't get any coherent thoughts into her brain. Every time she tried to distract herself, her brain came rushing back to what they were about to do.

She knew she could play well enough, but all her fear was taking over. What if she messed up? What if she scored an own goal? So many things could go wrong.

Evie was sat in the changing room. She could hear the roar of the crowd. Fucking hell. What if she let them all down?

The rest of them were heading out to warm up but Evie stayed where she was. All of them checked she was okay as they went past and she gave them the same answer each time.

"I'm alright. I'll be out in a minute."

Eventually she was the only one left. Maybe she could just stay here; away from it all.

"Where's Evie?" Sarina asked as she looked around them all.

"She's in the changing rooms. She said she'd only be a minute," Chloe replied.

"Is she okay?"

"No. She's scared. Big time," Keira replied.

"I'll go. Arjan you explain what they need to do," Sarina said before heading off inside. She needed Evie but more importantly she needed to know that Evie was okay.

"Are you alright?" Sarina asked as she came and sat in the space next to the youngster. She was sat with her head in her hands, rocking gently as she cried.

"It's okay. I get that you're scared."

Sarina rubbed her back soothingly to get her to calm down, giving her a minute before she said anything else.

"I can't do it. I can't play football if it makes me feel like this. I'm terrified. Why am I so terrified?" Evie said, her voice hoarse and her face puffy.

"I'm not letting you throw away your football career. You will be the best in the world. I have no doubts. You're only down fall will be yourself," Sarina said. Evie let her words sink in. Best in the world. That couldn't happen.

She began to cry even harder as she felt like she was letting everyone down. Sarina pulled her gently into her arms, allowing her to break down and let everything out.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Evie began snuffling over and over. The boss should be out with the team, not inside because she was too much of a wuss to do something she'd spent her whole life doing.

Sarina said nothing, just held her and let her be weak.

"I believe in you," were the four words she said after a solid silence.

That sentence spurred Evie into action and she began weakly getting to her feet. She could do it. For Sarina, if not for anyone else.

When she walked out the tunnel there was a cheer from the fans. It made Evie smile a little and it was a smile that widened even further when she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

"Look!" Jen shouted, spinning round and revealing the Warner 12 on her back. Evie made a heart shape with her hands before running off to join in the warmup.

For the first few minutes, the game was a bit dodgy. Sweden had come out with a bang and they were forcing Mary in to making some spectacular saves.

Then there seemed to be a shift and things began to work a little bit better. It was a smooth transition and they began to make things work.

Half an hour in, Lauren made a beautiful break and began pelting up the pitch. She ran and ran before whipping it in, Ellen just missed it but Lucy managed to get it out on the other wing.