I wish I was you **ON HOLD**

Chapter 7

We had our second to last international break before the World Cup against Belgium. Both games were in Belgium so after meeting the team in Holland and spending 4 days there we flew over for our two games. Our first game we won 3-0 and I was subbed in around the seventieth minute after Shanice went down in pain minutes before. We were all sadden to see her leave on the stretcher, her eyes leaking tears even though she tried not to show them. Later that night we got confirmation that she had torn her ACL and MCL and would be out for at least 9 months meaning that she would miss the World Cup. 

I ended up getting my first ever start the next game in place of Shanice and we had a little formation change where I would be playing a more central attacking position and Viv slid out to the side playing a 10 where she preferred being.  We ended up winning the second match 5-1, Belgium scoring off a pen.

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"We just need to stick with the basics," Joe said. "100% from the first whistle, pressing hard and winning every ball." We were set to play Everton who were the second to bottom of the table so they should be a quite easy match up. I had been moved up to the starting lineup because Katie had sustained a slight tweak in her ankle while she was away with Ireland. 

We lined up in the corridor next to the other team, I stood at the back of the line with Viv standing in front of me. She looked back and gave me a reassuring smile. "Go out there and smash it mijn kind." I smiled back at her and we started walking out. 

We started the game off well and I ended up scoring in the fourth minute off a header off a corner. The game slowed down a bit until Viv scored our second halfway through the half. Despite the two goals, the first half was quite uneventful. It wasn't until the second half when things started getting chippy.  Ten or so minutes into the second half one of the Everton players made a dirty foul on Beth making her go to ground in pain. All of us could see that it should have been a straight red. Despite this the Everton player only received a yellow enraging us even more. Daan got so worked up that I saw her march towards the ref. Even though I was also extremely angry with the call I knew that Daan's temper could get out of control and she could get sent off I ran towards her just as she pushed the ref. I set myself between her and the ref and tried to push her back. Maybe it was the adrenalin or because Daan was so protective of her girlfriend but somehow she was twice as strong as usual and it was a struggle to keep her back so I ended up basically just engulfing her in a hug. 

"Daan you can't be doing that. You could have gotten sent off for touching the ref." I said as she continued to struggle. 

"Let. Me. Go." Daan demanded.

"Not until you calm down and I know that you won't kill the ref." I said. "We don't need to go a player down right now."

After awhile she finally calmed down and stopped struggling and she too received a yellow card. I was thankful for this decision because her push could have easily been a red. 

Perhaps it was because of the previous struggle but Sari had been distracted and accidentally picked up a back pass and gave away a indirect free kick in a very crucial position and a few moments later Everton was able to get back a goal. 

Thankfully we were able to hold onto our lead and win the game 2-1. I made sure to stick next to Daan during the end of the match when we were shaking hands and such just incase she got mad again. Thankfully she didn't do anything but refused to shake hands with the player who had tackled Beth. 

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Today we were in Falmer Stadium, getting ready to walk out to a crowed of over 5.2k people. It would be a WSL record breaking crowed. If we won this game by a significant amount of goals we had the chance of becoming WSL league title winners for the first time in seven years. Thankfully this game was against Brighton who hadn't been to impressive all season and we were confident that we had the chance to win. 

We started our scoring early into the game when Viv tipped the ball over the Brighton's keepers fingers and found the back of the net. Katie slotted the ball home after about half an hour with Viv getting the assist. 

We played the second half strongly too with Beth scoring a banger from distance and Daan sealing the deal six minutes later.

At the end of the ninety minutes plus stoppage time we were crowned as the outright league title winners. 

The team celebrated late into the night and as I was unable to drink I mostly just watched then walked home from the pub when I had had enough. 

A/N: Hey friends! Short chapter today because I really wanted to get something out since I promised people it would be out by Sunday. Sorry for not updating for ages. Been quite busy and can't really come up with how to further the plot. Also just started basketball season last week and winter soccer/football is starting for me in a few weeks. I do have Tuesday off from school so hopefully I can do some more writing then. 

Ttyl!

Quaxel xx