All or Nothing

England U21 World Cup Final:
HT: England 0-3 Germany

Half time. Fuck. I looked around the pitch and saw the team deflated. I pulled myself together and ran to Meg, our keeper.

'Come on mate, we've still got 45 minutes', I tried to plead with her.

'How the fuck did they get 3 past us?! 3!!' she screamed.

I knew, as captain, I had to rally the team.
The half time team talk was rough. Millie, our coach, managed to level our heads until it was time to go back out there. The nerves were cutting through like a knife.

10 minutes into the second half and we didn't look any better. I got no service and we couldn't string any passes together. That was until Lizzie (my best friend) floated a ball over the German midfield and it landed at my feet.

With my back to goal I spun a German defender and kept running. We just needed 1 goal to get back in our stride. I scan around me to see if there was any passing options. None. I put everything I had into the strike. GOAL! 3-1!

'COME ON GIRLS', I screamed, racing back to the half way line with the ball.

5 minutes later we had a corner. Darcie, my fellow Villa teammate, swung a ball to me outside the penalty area. Without thinking, I hit it on the volley. It felt like the world went silent as it rifled through the air towards the next. Top corner. GOAL! 3-2! We were back in this.

At the 75th minute, Chloe Gardener was brought down in the box. 'FUCKING HELL REF!' she cried out.
'PENALTY!' I shouted. The ref didn't say anything but pointed to the spot. This was our lifeline.

I stood over the ball. Nerves shot through me as I looked the keeper in the eyes. Now, at Villa, we were taught to strike it low and hard in the bottom corner. But fuck it.

I put my laces through it as it soared into the top left. GOAL! 3-3!

'FUCKING GET IN!' I screamed as I ran to the corner, my teammates closely behind as we celebrated the equaliser.

The whistle blew at the end of the 90 minutes.
Extra time.

The first half of extra time was on a knife edge. Neither team wanted to give too much away so it was an uneventful half.

The whistle blew for the second half of extra time and Germany were all over us. Shot after shot they peppered us. They must've hit the woodwork 5 times.

120th minute. You'd think it was going to penalties.

We'd just collected a shot from Germany and I sprinted down the pitch. Meg saw me and played it straight through. It was a 2v1. Me VS the German defender and keeper. This was it. I danced past the defender with all the adrenaline coursing through me. Similar to the first goal, I smash the ball as hard as I could. I couldn't watch.

'YESSSS BANKSY!' I hear from my teammates.
4-3.
We fucking did it.

Full Time:
England 4-3 Germany

I couldn't believe it. We'd just come back against one of the best U21 sides in the world to win the cup final.

As we were dancing around the pitch with Sweet Caroline blasting from one of the speakers, I spot Sarina Wiegman, the Lionesses Coach, and a few WSL coaches sat in the stands. They weren't hard to miss, the stadium we played in barely held 500 people.

Could she be here to look for new talent? Surely not. England have far too many talented attackers like Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo etc.

I'm brought out of my thoughts as champagne is poured down my back.

'I'll get you back for that one Lizzie,' I snarked at my best friend.

'Yeh yeh whatever mate just come celebrate!'

Little did I know that the next week would be the biggest week of my life.

"ASTON VILLA STAR ELLIE BANKS SIGNS WITH ARSENAL ON A RECORD BREAKING £1,500,000 DEAL"

"FROM VILLAIN TO GOONER, HOW WILL THE YOUNG STAR GET ON?"

"ELLIE BANKS MOVES TO ARSENAL IN SHOCK TRANSFER"

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First chapter!

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