The game had just started and Brasil had already got a hold of the ball. Gustavo to Luiz, Luiz to Silva, Silva to Paulinho. They went back and forth, slowly making their way up the pitch. They were being tactical and following what Scolari had told them less than ten minutes ago.
My leg bounced up and down as I sat on the bench next to Dante. We all screamed encouraging words but it didn't seem to work as they lost the ball and Croatia worked quickly to get it up to our goal. I stood up in anticipation, hands on my head.
It seemed like I blinked and it happened. Somehow Marcelo got in the way when defending and kicked the ball past César. Our own goalie. Croatia celebrated as he dropped to his knees in disappointment. Neymar was soon at his side, patting his shoulder and talking to him but I was too far away to be able to hear.
They all ran back into position as the game continued. I caught eye contact with Marcelo and gave him a thumbs up, smiling despite the annoyance I felt. It's not like he did it on purpose.
Half time was approaching and although we had most of the possession, they weren't bringing the ball close enough to the goal, as if they were afraid to press forward and Croatia would steal it back again.
"Come on! Bring it forward!" I shouted along with everyone in the stands, like my voice would make all the difference. However, Neymar must've heard me as he grinned, looking at me before sprinting towards the goal. I had both my hands covering my mouth and touching either side of my nose as I watched in suspense as three defenders all charged towards him.
He was always getting hurt in matches and it scared me. Somehow, he got himself out the situation, nutmegging one, confusing the other with what direction he was going and flinging the ball over the last ones head. He then booted the ball in the direction of the goal and everyone was on their feet cheering as he ran to the sidelines, making a heart and pointing to me and then Davi, not far behind me. I grinned ear to ear, blowing him a kiss in response and hugging Dante as all the boys on the bench celebrated.
Scolari shouted at us to sit back down and then was screaming at the players on the pitch to get back into position. I laughed as they all waved him off, finishing their iconic dances before making their way back onto the grass. They played the rest of the half more confidently but weren't able to score another.
Soon the whistle was blown and they all walked over. Some of the subs approached them, congratulating them but Neymar just nodded, brushing them off and walked straight over to me. I hugged him despite the sweat and he laughed as I wiped it off me after.
"You did so good out there! Well done!" I congratulated, kissing his cheek.
"Thank you princesa. Do you know where my water is?" he asked me and I handed it to him.
"You chill here and I'll go find Rafa and Davi," I said, kissing him once more before leaving.
I walked up the stairs of the stands and to the VIP box. There was a bodyguard at the door and he wouldn't let me in without a card.
"I'm Neymar's girlfriend, his families in there," I tried to explain.
"I don't care. No card, no entry," he said bluntly.
"I'm not staying, I'm literally just trying to bring his kid down to him!" I said, growing annoyed.
"I. Do. Not. Care." he paused between each word, which I didn't think was necessary.
"What's with the attitude? On your period or something?" I asked him, laughing. He didn't look pleased and stayed stood in front of the gate.
I pulled out my phone, calling Rafaella. She picked up after a few rings.
"Hey, where are you?" she asked me.
"Outside the VIP box but this dick won't let me go through or even stick my head in to shout for you," I made sure to say it loudly.
"I'm coming, give us a second," the line went dead and true to her word, she appeared seconds later with Davi sat on her hip.
She pushed past the man and hugged me before passing the toddler to me who hugged me round my neck as I held him.
"I'm gonna take him to see Ney and I'll bring him back once half times over, is that okay?" I asked her.
She nodded, "Of course! Come inside after, Mãe and Pai wanna see you! They haven't spoke to you in person since you guys made it official," she said wiggling her eyebrows and I groaned.
"I'm gonna get a load of I told you so's, aren't I?"
"Yup!" she popped the p and turned around to walk back inside before stopping and poking the bodyguard in the chest.
"That's my sister, let her in afterwards or I'll make sure I talk to the big guy, yeah?"
The man looked fed up already but nodded his head. I laughed and retreated back down the stairs with Davi in my arms.
"Did you see Pai's goal?" I asked him excitedly and he grinned.
"Yes!" he squealed, causing people to look at us as we made our way toward the bench.
"Make sure you give him a kiss and tell him well done," I said as we reached where Scolari was stood.
I placed him on the pitch and he ran to his dad who was stood with his team mates. He crouched down and picked him up, spinning him around in the air as the three year old giggled like a mad man. I laughed, taking my phone out and capturing the moment.
I spoke to Marcelo, letting the two talk by themselves for a bit.
"You did good, well done!" I said, giving him a side hug before joining him, sat on the bench.
He had his head in his hands and laughed, "Don't bullshit me, I'm not stupid."
"It was a stupid mistake, not like it was on purpose or anything," I tried cheering him up, "Plus the scores even now so you still have forty five minutes to make up for it!"
He turned to look at me, smiling, "I guess you've got a point. For once."
I gasped, "For once? I always have a point!"
"Nah this is the first time you haven't been waffling," he laughed, knowing he was winding me up.
"Shut up and focus on winning this match rather than pissing me off," I laughed, getting up and smacking the back of his head lightly.
Neymar approached us, Davi running off to jump on Dani's back.
"You good?" he asked Marcelo, giving him a bro hug.
"Yeah man, don't worry about me," he got up to leave and I put my arms around Junior's neck.
"Thanks for being here," he said, kissing my cheek and holding my waist.
"Of course! I need to be here to beat you up if you lose, duh."
He laughed at me, "You wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against me."
"Erm yes I would. You'd be too soft to actually hurt me and I'd win," I laughed and he rolled his eyes.
"I wouldn't hit a girl anyway," he said as Fred walked past.
"Wouldn't put it past you," he mumbled and my eyes went wide as Neymar turned around to face him.
"What's that meant to mean?"
"Nothing, nothing. You're just always grabbing her up and shit," he shrugged his shoulders and I silently begged for him to shut up.
"Like when?" Ney started to raise his voice and I stood there awkwardly.
"Erm guys maybe we should-"
"Be quiet Amelia, I'm talking to Fred over here who thinks he knows best," he interrupted me and I gave him a look.
"See? Always bossing her around and shit. Remember the airport? I don't know, it's nothing to do with me. You guys carry on doing your thing. It's whatever," he held up his hands in defeat before walking over to coach.
Neymar turned to face me, "You know I'd never hit you, right?" He looked hurt and I pulled him for another hug.
"Of course, just focus on the game. This doesn't matter," I said, running my hand through the back of his hair.
"But this does matter! If other people are thinking this then it must be a vibe I'm giving off or something! What have I done?"
I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, "I don't know. You are always grabbing my arms, I had bruises there after the airport, remember?"
"And you showed him?" he shouted, looking at me angrily.
"No but even if I did you can't be mad at me for that when you were the reason they were there in the first place!" I shouted back at him.
He rubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath before speaking, "Look, i'm sorry okay? I thought we had moved past the airport situation. That was over half a year ago now."
"We have, I wasn't the one that bought it up. Let's just drop it, okay?" I said, pushing his head up to look at me.
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you too baixinho," I said laughing.
"I'm not even short!" he shouted in distress, causing me to laugh even more.
"Get back on the field you loser," I said as I heard the whistle being blown to indicate the end of half time.
"I'll be a winner in forty five minutes," he winked at me.
"You better be," I laughed, kissing his cheek as we both walked over to Davi, who sat between Dani and Luiz, chatting away even though nothing he said made sense. Ney said his goodbyes and insisted on another kiss for good luck, which I gladly gave, before walking with his son back to the VIP box.
We didn't have any issues getting in as the security guy stepped to the side straight away and I walked past saying thank you and letting Davi run to his grandparents. I followed and was soon engulfed in a tight embrace from Nadine.
"Filha! We missed you!" she said, rocking side to side as she hugged me.
I laughed, hugging her back, "I missed you guys too!"
Neymar Sr gave me a quick side hug before focusing his attention back onto the game, that had just resumed. His wife rolled her eyes at his behaviour before carrying on talking to me.
"So, you guys finally came to your senses?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as I groaned in response.
"Yes, yes. You were right," we laughed.
"How did he ask you?" she asked me excitedly as I laughed and told her the story of our argument and then the date on the beach. She clapped her hands together, "I didn't think my son was so much of a romantic!"
I laughed, "It's just the affect I have on people," I joked and she laughed, pushing me lightly.
"Well I'm glad he's dating you, you've taken up the last spot in our family so I don't know what we would've done if he was with someone else."
"We'd weird her out and scare her off, duh," Rafaella spoke up, making me burst out laughing. I loved the relationship that I had with his family, they were my own.
After a few minutes of catch up, I left Davi with them and made my way back down to the pitch. I hadn't really missed anything, the game was moving slowly and neither teams had even attempted to score yet.
I watched as Neymar ran with the ball and Modric tripped him, however he regained his balance and carried on. It didn't last long as he was pushed again and was soon on the ground. He got up shouting angrily but the ref didn't call anything and the game carried on, it being Brasil's ball. Neymar ran again with Modric close on his tail and lunging for the ball over and over. Getting fed up, he swung his hand back as he ran, hitting the Croatian square in the face with his forearm.
I stifled a laugh as Scolari screamed at him from the sidelines and he pretended it was an accident, throwing his hands in the air when the referee held up a well deserved yellow card. He caught me laughing and cracked a smile before focusing back on the game and getting on defence as Rakitić dribbled the ball up the pitch, towards our goal.
Dani managed to get the ball back and quickly passed it up the pitch as Croatia struggled to get back on defence quick enough. Fred ran with the ball, reaching the box and getting ready to boot it when Lovren ran up behind him, allegedly fouling him according to the ref even though the replays on the big screens showed little contact. However, I wasn't about to complain as a penalty got given to Brasil.
The boys huddled up, deciding who would take it and soon Neymar approached the goal, touching the grass of the pitch and blessing himself before waiting for the whistle to blow. I watched in anticipation as he made a slow run up to the ball. He kicked it toward the left of the goal and despite Pletikosa's attempt of saving it, the ball deflected off his hands and into the back of the net. The whole stadium erupted into cheers and chaos as everyone celebrated our lead in the game.
The players ran to the sidelines, Neymar punching the air before getting suffocated by the other nine boys who jumped on top of him. He had a brace now and I knew he was about to try his hardest to make it a hat trick.
The game resumed and both teams put pressure on the ball, constantly stealing it off each other before either could reach the box. The end of the match was quickly approaching and I prayed that Croatia wouldn't be able to score a last minute goal.
The 88th minute arrived and Oscar decided to deliver, scoring the third goal for Brasil and ending all Croatia's chances of beating us. I screamed words of joy as everyone got on their feet, chanting and clapping. The atmosphere was wild.
Oscar celebrated then fell to the floor as they all congratulated him on his late goal that secured our win. I hugged Scolari, then Gustavo who had been subbed out for Fernandinho. I grinned from ear to ear as I waited for them to finish the match, waiting to be able to hug my boyfriend and tell him how proud I was.
———
soz this chapter was mainly just football rather than cute moments between her and neymar but dw next chapter will be filled w them ofc
i also only proof read this once so if there's any mistakes plz lmk and i'll correct it tmrw
what's ur opinion on Fred getting loud? i think it's good he stuck up for her but that it was none of his business to get involved
remember this argument tho cos it will come back up later 🫡
thanks for reading and hope u enjoyed, don't forget to vote and comment