The physio I was seeing had a football pitch out the back, and my first time back on that pitch felt incredible. I'm saying that like it was years, but after training every single day for years being off it even for two weeks felt like forever. I started easy, but soon found that I could push myself. Of course it hurt, anything would. But the pain was just a reminder by the end of my session. A few more of these sessions went by, and by the time the 28th of July came around I got the all clear from the physio. Them documents that she handed to me literally felt like pure gold. I decided not to text anyone on the team to tell them. But I did give Sarina a call. She made the wise decision to put me on the bench for the final.
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We all knew Germany were gonna be a tough side to beat, but the fact it was still nil, nil at half time frightened the squad. I sat on the bench next to Ella, biting my nails and triple checking my ankle strap.
"You're gonna be fine. We got this." Ella chuckled,
I nod, smiling, "easy for you to say."
The 55th minute came around. And Sarina pointed at me and Ella,
"go for it girls."
I stood by the side of the pitch sweating as the ref changed the sub sign. Ella stuck out a fist, and I hit mine against it quickly. The whistle was blew, and both teams glanced over to the side line. I caught Leah's eye across the pitch, she nodded gently. Me and Ella got into our respective positions, and not even five minutes after we entered Keira got her foot on the ball. Most of Germany were down our half. So Keira's picture perfect pass to Ella made for an easy chip in the 61st minute. The crowd erupted, England, our tiny little country had scored in the Euro's final. The enjoyment didn't last very long as Germany's equaliser came soon later. Extra time. The one thing we didn't particularly want in the euros final.
90 minutes passed, 105 minutes passed. A quick break meant standing in a circle on the side. Sarina said one thing,
"Score."
We were back on the pitch less than two minutes later, and taking complete control of the game. I held it in the corner, being pushed in every which way by a defender. Germany kicked it out, but kicked my ankle too. I winced heavily, using the pain in a way I would've never imagined. Lauren came to take the corner and noticed my face.
"You good?" She shouted,
I nodded as she approached, "you know what to do."
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