I Knew I Loved You

Chapter Thirteen: Starting to Bond

Manuel took a deep breath as he walked off the pitch after the match against France, he couldn't believe that this was how the Euros had ended for Germany; they had been knocked out when they were the world champions. 

It had been hard and Manuel had been so sure that they would be able to do what Spain had, they were meant to be better than the Spain team that held the 2008 Euro title, 2010 World title and the 2012 Euro title without many issues. 

It certainly didn't help that several notable players had retired from the team in the lead up to the Euros; players like Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker and Miroslav Klose had all made the difference when they had been in Brazil for the world cup. 

Manuel felt even more responsible for the loss since it had been 2-0 and he should have been able to do something about that; it was France's first competitive win against Germany in fifty-eight years. 

Everyone headed back into the locker room while France celebrated making it to the finals, they would be playing against Portugal making them the favourites to win the tournament. 

It was uneasy how things had played out and Manuel just wanted to get changed and head back to the hotel; he wanted to curl up in bed with his wife and relax for one night before they left for Germany in the morning. 

Manuel pulled off his gloves and sat back at his locker, he stared up at the ceiling trying to process what had happened; the ball seeming to slip through his fingers right before his eyes when he closed them. 

Throwing his gloves on the ground in frustration, Manuel shook his head and ignored the angry comments from some of his team-mates at the result. 

Pulling his jersey off over his head, Manuel tossed it to the side as he started to change out of his kit so that he change and get out of here. 

The sounds of celebration from the French team was too much for him and Manuel didn't feel that cheerful considering it was his team going home from the tournament. 

Changing into his street clothes, Manuel was almost relieved when he was done and started sticking stuff into his bag so that he could get out of here. 

He kept his head down as he grabbed his bag to leave, tension rolling off him and he wanted to get out of here rather than face the celebrations that were happening from the French team and their fans. 

***

Abigail stared up at Charlene as the woman made sure that they had everything so that they could travel home to Germany in the morning; she was a little disappointed that the trip was over and she hoped that she would come back here one day. 

It was strange that their little holiday had come to an end and Abigail wasn't looking forward to going home; she wanted to stay here and do more sight-seeing. 

Charlene let out sigh of relief when she was sure that they had everything, it was a disappointing end to the trip and she couldn't imagine how Manuel was feeling right now. 

He had been so sure that Germany would do well this year and while the semi-finals was a good place to finish; it wasn't winning the tournament like everyone had expected them to. 

It didn't take long for the footballers to arrive and Abigail watched them as they climbed off the coach after the match; they all seemed so sad and looked like a couple of them had been crying. 

They might have lost the game but so had many teams, Abigail sure that it wasn't the end of the world and they would get to play again; it wasn't like this was the last match that they would ever get to play. 

Manuel climbed off the coach and walked towards Charlene and Abigail, he was tired and he was so glad that they didn't have to wait long before they would be flying home; he just wanted to forget this mess.