USWNT 3.0

29

Mark Parsons called all the girls in the conference room. The British coach looked at every single one of them, trying to see through them.

He then smiled.

"This is a team of champions I have in front of me."

The girls remained silent. They knew what 'being champions' meant to the coach, and also to every single one of them.

"We leave to France in two days. Two more days before the most important adventure of your lives. Of course some of you already did a World Cup. But this one doesn't feel the same. We aren't number one anymore. We aren't the favorites. We have to create a new name, a new legacy. But this means sacrifices."

He then lost his smile.

"I need you all to be focused. One hundred focused on our goal." Mark kept on speaking. "Being a champion means having to do sacrifices. And we all know that : the first thing to sacrifice is your free time. No more parties. No more alcohol. No more going to a club until the adventure is over."

Tobin was the first one to nod, quickly followed by Allie. Mark went on :

"The second thing is relationships."

Some of the girls began to turn whiter.

"Of course I trust Julie and Christen, and since they are already public, there's no need to hide it" he immediately added, looking at the two girls. "But for the rest of you... Your private lives matter to me. But for this coming month, we can't risk anything. I don't want anything to come in the way. So what you do in your free time is yours to chose. But if I see that anything is being a distraction from soccer and the team work we have to provide, I will have to let you on the bench the whole tournament."

Everyone on the team knew how true all Mark was saying was. They knew they had to agree. Some of the girls immediately felt concerned by the whole speech. Some other were just nodding their heads. Mark was a great coach. Probably the best in the business, and the best head coach the USWNT had ever had. 

His words of wisdom were heard by all the girls. 

°

Camp ended in a very tensed atmosphere. Everyone was focusing on their performances, while the staff were also doing their job the best way they could. The team flew to France during the night, with a two-hour stopover in New York before flying to Paris. 

The girls were sleeping with both eyes opened.  

Lindsey and Emily had a talk about their confusing relationship, and decided to act as if that night never happened. They decided to remain friends, as Lindsey knew her feelings weren't strong enough to be committed. Neither of them wanted to be kicked out of the team, so they went back to being very good friends. 

Mal and Jenko got to know each other more and more, until the keeper just shut her out. She wanted to have a spot on the team, and wasn't ready to screw everything up for a girl she had known for three months. 

Moe and Cari weren't talking anymore. They didn't even exchange a single word, not necessary avoiding each other, but ignoring each other. 

Kelley and Allie decided to put their relationship on a pause, because they both wanted to be 100% available for the team and the game. They were in very good therms, as Tobin was very happy to see two of her best friends getting along so well. Tobin, on the other hand, was pretending as if her attraction for Kealia never existed. 

With the World Cup just around the corner, the team was feeling the pressure coming to its heating point.