No one could stop them ~ A.R

~ ninety eight ~

Olivia's pov

As I walk through the tunnel and towards the bench, I stop to put Maisie and Lotties ear protectors on.

I reach the bench and the full time whistle blows.

All the players walk towards their benches. Between full time and extra time, each team got about five minutes to discuss tactics.

"Sarina? Why did you want me down here?" I ask her as I put Maisie and Lottie down. "Am I even allowed it be down here?"

"You can. I know you can." Sarina says. "We need a liv talk. You've been up there watching the match and I mean you're Olivia, you've got to have picked up on tactics."

I laugh at her thinking and I nod, admitting that she was right.

All of the players had gathered round in a circle and Sarina ushers me to the middle.

She gestures for me to do a speech and I take a big breath.

"First of all, I just want to say how proud I am. Of all of you. No matter what the score is at the end of extra time, or whatever way penalties go, I am so fucking proud of all of you. You all deserve to be here. In the final. Now, about the match. Spain, they've been tough. But that doesn't mean it can't go our way. They're weak on the left side. Less, the shot you took when you were left of the goal, if it weren't for the goalkeeper getting her fingertips to the ball, it would have gone in. The same for you Lauren. Why? They never seem to have defenders at the left post. That's their weakest spot. No matter where you are in the box, try aim for the left. Preferably the bottom corner. Ellen used to tell me this all the time, and I still say it in my head before every match. If it feels wrong to shoot, then shoot. Now, go out there and prove that we're continuing our legacy. And I don't mean that by going out there and winning it. I mean going out onto the pitch and giving your best. No matter if they score five goals during extra time, you try your best, you keep your head up. If you do that, we continue our legacy. Prove that this is England. Remember bottom left. It's their weak spot. Prove that the English are never done!" I finish and give an encouraging nod to all the girls.

They all go grab a bottle of water and as they do, I walk over to less.

She was crouched down watching Mais and Lottie sleeping.

I rest a hand on her back and she looks up and smiles at me.

"You're playing amazing, less." I tell her and rub her back.

"I'm going to win this. For you, baby. For our girls. For Maisie and lottie." Less tells me

"Baby, even if you don't, we'll be so proud." I rest my hands on the back of her neck and rub my thumbs over her cheeks. "I'm so proud of you."

"I love you so much, livvy. So much." Less wraps her arms around my waist and pulls me in for a kiss. She's then told she has to get onto the pitch again.

The teams get into positions and I stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to do now.

"I'm going to go back to the—" I begin to tell Sarina before she cuts me off.

"—There's a free seat. You could always come and watch it from down here." Sarina suggests and I can't say no to that offer.

"Are you sure I'm allowed to be down here? I'm not a squad member at this moment in time."

"Liv, there's something I didn't tell you. When I was asked to fill in the forms of who would be playing and who would be part of management. I put your name down in the management section. Just in case something like this happened. When I needed your help. I didn't tell you because you had your hands full with your girls. So the free seat is yours. It always has been. You've always been apart of this team throughout the tournament. Mentally in our heart, but unbeknownst to anyone apart from the staff members, physically too. I thought it was unfair how you were having to miss the World Cup. Especially when you had to come out here and watch all your friends play." Sarina reveals

"Sarina. I don't know what to say. Thank you." I pull her in for a hug just as the whistle blows.

I sit down in my seat, picking up both girls, making sure their ear protectors were on properly.

Before long, Spain have a chance.

One of their players were running in front of the right and they take a shot and Mary manages to catch the ball before it can cross the line.

In the 102', G does a long pass to less but less can't keep control of it so she passes it to Chloe.

Chloe gets her right foot to it but she doesn't have enough power of it and it heads straight to the keeper.

Half time came around and everyone came to get a drink.

"How come you're still allowed to be here, kid?" Lucy asks

"I'm like part of management now. Long story short, when Sarina filled in the forms before the World Cup, she put my name down as a position in management in case of emergencies where she didn't know what to do and needed some help. Someone who knows the pitch. So she chose me." I explain briefly

"Anything to say, liv?" Sarina questions

"Midfielders. You have to push more up the pitch. I know sometimes you want to drop back to help defend, but at this moment in time, you need more help on your attacking than defence. Bottom left. Remember that." I say

They all get back into positions. As the match kicks off again, it's clear that both teams want that win just as bad as each other.

Fouls were made here and there but none of them caused any injuries.

Kiera passes the ball to less in the 109'. Less dribbles past two defenders, not letting them even get near the ball, and looks up.

She was too far away from the goal to shoot and there was a defender right in front of her.

Lucy was running down the wing and had moved slightly inwards so now she was in the right of the box.

Less quickly passes to Lucy.

Without taking a touch, Lucy had taken a shot.

Again, time slowed down in that moment.

I grabbed lottie's back, who was laying asleep on me, getting ready to jump up.

The ball heads straight to the bottom left corner.

And like I said, there was no defender at the left post.

Lucy fell to her knees as she watched it go in.

Everyone from the bench goes running to her, jumping on her back.

I watch as Sarina jumps up and down. She quickly pulls me up and pulls into a hug.

"You are something else, Olivia. On and off the pitch. Your brain when it comes to football is incredible." She tells me

Lucy then comes running to me.

"Kiddo! You were right! You are amazing!" She pulls me into a hug, weary because Lottie was still asleep.

They all get back into their positions. Only 6 more minutes.

6 more minutes until they're world champions.

After what felt like an eternity, the final whistle blew.

Everyone ran onto the pitch. All the players on the pitch, dropped to their knees, happily because they had won.

England were world champions for the very first time.