‘I don’t even care if we win,’ Sara says. Considering she’s one of the most competitive girls on the team, it’s a prettyshocking confession. ‘I just don’t want to suck out there.’
The other girls mumble dejected agreements.
‘I’m sorry I got hurt and can’t play,’ Sophie says, looking every bit as downcast as the rest of the team. Almost like she blames herself for how the match is going.
‘Look, guys,’ I say. ‘I know you have it in you to play well. Remember the match you played against the Greens? You guys were tied until almost the end of the game, and you played a great match. Don’t let Sophie’s injury get you down. Take this half-time and then go out there and play your hearts out. That’s all you can do at the end of the day, win or lose.’
‘But if we lose, it will be in front of so many people,’ Jade complains.
‘And you’ll pick yourselves up and live to play another match, and hopefully you’ll win that one,’ I say. It’s the advice I wish someone had given me when I was younger – when the loss of one opportunity felt like the end of the world.Wasthe end of the world for me. But now I’m realising that I let a single loss keep me down, instead of trying again. I let myself get defeated.
The team don’t look enthused by my speech, though they don’t look as depressed as they did when they came off the pitch.
By the time the second half gets underway, the girls seem to have at least regained some of their excitement. As the Divas kick off, Sara receives the ball. She dribbles it around a few players, before passing it to Jade, who is clear in the box. I watch her eyes flicker between the ball, the goalpost, the goalie. My heart clenches tightly as I look on.
‘Please, please, please, come on …’ I mumble under my breath.
Jade goes to kick the ball, and the goalie dives. But just atthe last minute, Jade changes direction. Realising this, the goalie tries to reach out her hand. But she’s too late – the ball goes sailing past her and bounces into the net.
The crowd erupts into cheers, and I realise that I’ve joined them, that my arms are up, pumping the air with all my excitement.
Beside me, Jen is grinning from ear to ear. Jade beams at us from the pitch – all her worries from before, seemingly gone now.
We’re still one goal down, but maybe we have a shot at this match after all.
The rest of the match seems to pass by in the blink of an eye. There are a few more times when the Divas almost score, but the Westbrook goalie intercepts the ball each time. It doesn’t get the team down, though. In fact, it feels like every single time they’re thwarted in their efforts, they come back even stronger.
The girls in defence put up an even bigger fight. For most of the second half, Westbrook don’t even get close to the goal. When they finally do with five minutes to spare, one of the girls manages to block the shot. The frustration from Westbrook feels palpable, though on the other side of the pitch, Maya seems pretty unbothered. I guess she shouldn’t be, considering they’re still one goal up.
With only a few minutes left of the game, Westbrook make a sub. The girls take the opportunity to jog back towards us, taking swigs of their water bottles. Unlike half-time, their faces are bright with excitement.
‘You guys are killing it,’ I say, beaming at them.
‘We still have a few minutes. Maybe we can score one final goal!’ Jade says enthusiastically.
‘You guys can do it,’ Sophie agrees.
‘Just go out there and do your best,’ I say.
There’s only eight minutes left, but as soon as the referee blows the whistle this time, the Divas are on the go. Sara gets the ball and immediately guns for the goal, but one of the Westbrook defenders tackles the ball away from her. It’s like that for the next five minutes; back and forth, with neither team taking any clear-cut chances.
Finally, with just a minute to go, Jade gets the ball and the pitch is fairly open in front of her. I chew on my lip as I watch her dribble the ball for a little bit, before playing it through to Sara in front of her. One of the Westbrook midfielders almost manages to intercept, but Sara keeps hold of the ball, quickly running towards the goal in front of her. My chest squeezes as I watch. The seconds are ticking down, I can feel it. Any minute now, the referee will blow her whistle, and the match will be over.
This is our last chance to score – our last chance to snatch a draw, which would lead to a penalty shoot-out, where maybe we could actually win.
As if in slow motion, Sara pulls her foot back and strikes the ball. It goes flying through the air, and the Westbrook goalie dives for it. Her fingertips reach out, grabbing for the ball. For a moment, it looks like she’ll miss it, but somehow she manages to get hold of the ball.
I let out a breath as the referee blows her final whistle. We were so close. So damn close.
The girls seem anything but deflated, though. Even Sophie, sitting beside me and Jen, is smiling as she cheers the girls on as they go across the pitch, to shake hands with the girls from the other team – the winning team. Even after everything they said to the Divas. I feel my heart fill withpride at the sight – at the fact that we played this game at all, that the girls went out there and did their best, even if they didn’t end up winning.
This is the best match that the Divas have ever played after all, and I know that it won’t be long until they finally start winning. But if they had given up because of how bad the first half went – if they had let themselves get dejected – then they would never have played that amazing second half.
‘Not a win, but still pretty good, I think,’ Jen says.
‘Yeah, really good.’ I nod in agreement.
I spot Maya smiling encouragingly at her team as they meet the Divas on the pitch, talking and laughing, instead of at each other’s throats for once, and I know that there’s still one thing left for me to do. Taking a deep breath and trying to swallow my pride, I make my way over there.
