BEING A MORGAN (Mallory Pugh X OC)

CHAPTER 9: IT'S HARD TO SAY GOODBYE

That day will be the last day of training since on the next day, the men's team will takes a flight to Toronto to face Canada in a training match before go to Stratford to face Venezuela in another training match. Then, they will go to St. Paul, Minnesota as they will started the Gold Cup campaign there while the women's team will takes a flight to Europe for 2 training matches before went to France for FIFA Women's World Cup.

"Okay, everybody. That bring us to the end of our training here. So, ladies. On behalf of the men's team, I would like to wish you goodluck in the World Cup and we hope that you will retained the cup that you won 4 years ago" said Berhalter.

"Thanks, Gregg. And on behalf of the women's team, I would like to wish you best of luck in the Gold Cup and we hope that you'll retained the trophy here. Now, why don't we let the captains to talk. Let's start with Carli" said Ellis.

"Do I need to stand?" asked Carli.

"Don't have to" said Ellis.

"Okay, then. First of all, I would like to thank everybody that make this camp success. You see, before this, we never had a chance to know each other between these 2 teams. We wore the same crest and jersey but we never being connected unlike the athletes of other sports. This camp make us known each other well. During the start of this camp, we're just sit and talk with our teammates only. The wall that separated us is bigger than the Berlin's Wall. But, now. We can talk to each others and make friends. We can even mixed up in the buses. I hope we will have this type of training camp again in this future" said Carli.

"Thanks, Carli. So, did the other co-captains want to give a speech to?" asked Berhalter.

"Not me. Everything I want to say was already being said by Carli. I hope we meet again after this. You boys are cool" said Pinoe.

"Well, I don't want to say much more except to thank the organiser as I managed to meet with my brother again after 20 years. I'm proud to see him as who he is right now. And goodluck to all of us in the defending our championships" said Alex.

"Aww, your sister is so lovely, Ryan" said Morris.

"Of course she is. She's my sister after all" said Ryan.

"That bragging is just like Alex" said Mal.

"Agreed" said Rose.

"What did you girls said?" asked Alex.

"Nothing" replied Mal and Rose.

"Anyway, Michael. Let's hear some words from you" said Ellis.

"Well,  I don't have much to say. But, I remind myself and all of you that we are the best players in this country right now. We need to do our best because the whole nation being counting on us. We are entering the tournament as champions, let's end the tournament as champions too" said Bradley.

"Nice word, Michael. Is there anybody else that want to say anything?" asked Berhalter.

"Why don't we let our only rookie to say few words?" asked Pinoe.

"That's true. Ryan, please say something" said Ellis. Ryan then holds Alex's hand before took a deep breath.

"Okay, guys. First of all, I would like to thank our coach for giving me a chance to play with the national team this time. To be honest, I've been waiting for this moment since I was part of U23 squad 4 years ago. Sorry for not making to Olympic that time by the way. You see, some of you might see me as a big star just because I played in the top tier of one of the top league in the world but the fact is I'm not since I failed to prevent my team from being relegated. What I'm saying is that, no matter who we are, where are we from, what is our skin colour or which clubs that we play, right now, we are a team. We're going into the battlefield together. We win together, we lose together. Because we are team. So, let's all maintain this teamwork we have here and be the best" said Ryan followed by the applause from the others. Alex just smiled and nodded to Ryan.