this is me trying

Chapter 32 - Ruining Everything

"Please, Ingrid. Don't."

"You're going to need to talk about this soon," she added.

"One day. But not now."

We turned off the light and headed to sleep.

Over the next few days, we trained hard but I actively avoided Hege. I didn't want to discuss much with her, after everything that had happened. I stuck closely by Caroline, who was the same.

Come the morning of the Switzerland game, Caroline finds out she will not be starting. I would be, apparently, but I would be out on the wing while Guro was in the middle.

"Hi," I said to Guro. "Do you know why-"

"No idea," she replied. "It's so weird."

"Surely you go on the left, and I go in the middle," I exclaimed.

"I don't know what the thought process is here," Guro replied.

"Should we...?"

"I don't know. We'll start how she wants and go from there?" I nodded my head, but I knew this could all go wrong, and quickly.

The Switzerland game started off chaotically, but calmly at the same time. Neither team had any solid chances, and I felt isolated on the wing. One of the Swiss players went down, for a moment, and when she did, I ran over to Guro.

"Please," I said to her, and she nodded straight away, going back out to the wing and leaving me in the middle, where I belonged.

"EVA! GURO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I heard Hege say from the bench, but neither of us listened. We had to do what we had to do.

And it was working. We both were having more opportunities and play flowed better. I could do what I needed; play how I liked; be the player I wanted to be.

Even though the game ended 0-0, it was definitely one of our best showings. And now, we only needed to win against the Philippines to progress. It was all possible.

It would be possible.

Anything was possible.

After the match, I was interviewed for player of the match.

"Hello Eva," the interviewer said. "Great match from yourself. Obviously had to break down the Swiss defense, how did it feel out there?"

"Yeah, it was tough," I replied, my Norweigan accent contrasting heavily against his Kiwi one. "I'm just really proud of the girls for getting through it and getting our first point of the World Cup."

"So, you started on the wing, and then you and Reiten swapped mid-first half, what was the thinking behind that?"

"Well, normally I'm in the middle and Guro plays on the left. We weren't too sure what the idea was to begin with, and so we decided to play where we were more comfortable."

"It definitely settled after that change. Was it mediated by the coaching staff or was that a decision you and Reiten made together?"

"It was more of an on-pitch decision," I said, honestly.

"Well, thank you Eva and good luck for your final group game."

"Thank you," I replied.

After a tense meeting in our locker room, in which Guro and I both hid in the back, not wanting to speak or draw attention to ourselves, we were able to head back to our hotel.

"You had lots of guts to do that," Ingrid said to me.

"Yeah, well. It was worth it."

"Definitely was," she answered.

"Do you think you're going to be given an opportunity next game?"

"Probably not, but at least I gave it my all in this one."

"I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Ingi."

It was soon the Philippines match, and this was the headline.