Evie was sat with Sarina, both of them watching the screen in front. She was having to learn the exact ways that her teammates played. It was hard work but it was crucial for a strong team performance.
Sarina spoke everything out very clearly and it made a lot of sense. Analysis wasn't Evie's strong point but Sarina but it so clearly that it clicked. Having to sit and learn football tactics usually reminded Evie of school so she hated it. Anything that was even remotely like being a classroom made her shut off.
"So you see how she always looks for a wide option?" Sarina said. Evie nodded.
"You need to be that wide option. Find the gaps and we're less likely to lose the ball."
After a whole hour of analysing and understanding the play patterns of every member of the squad, Evie was free to go and join the others in the relaxation room. It was hard being a new member of the team as it meant she had to catch up with everything, all while settling in.
"Hey kiddo! You alright?" Keira asked as the young girl entered.
"Yep. Analysing how you all play is hard work though," Evie replied, flopping onto the bean bag.
"You'll learn it all soon enough," Lucy reassured her with a smile.
"Hope so. Means I won't have to graft to catch up then," Evie laughed.
They moved into playing a card game. Lucy, Leah, Keira, Evie and Georgia all sat in a circle, the playing surface in the middle. They were playing whist. It was one of the first card games that Lotte had taught Evie and she was happy to show off her newly learnt skills.
Lotte had had to pull out of the squad for this camp as she was injured and Evie was missing her. She was one of her closest friends at Arsenal and always made sure that Evie was settled in.
Their game went underway and it was clear that Lucy was the brains of the outfit. She used her cards well, unlike Georgia who played them any which way and ended up failing to get a trick.
"Got a hand like a foot here," Keira groaned as they moved onto the next set. Lucy had won the most tricks but as they weren't playing contract, it all came down to who won the last set.
Leah was calling for the last set and Evie was praying for it to be diamonds. She had the King and knew that it would be hard to beat. Leah sat looking at her card before sighing.
"Diamonds," she said, laying down the two. Evie tried to cover up her excitement but a slight smirk was met by a suspicious look from Keira.
The others set down their cards, none of them being diamonds, and then it was time for Evie to put hers.
"Get in," she cheered.
They played a few more rounds before heading over to play FIFA instead. That became much more heated and they shouted, disturbing everyone around them.
"Leah I swear to god if you don't put in a tackle, I'm going to have a fit," Evie shouted as she watched it all go horribly wrong.
"Kiddo. I'm trying," Leah told her, sliding and missing horribly. Lucy kept the ball and smashed it into the net.
"Come on. Don't get outplayed by this oldie," Georgia said. She was watching the match with great interest, waiting for her go.
"Who are you calling old?" Lucy asked in a tone of joke offence.
"She might be old but she's got the personality of a ten year old," Keira said with a cheeky giggle, making them all laugh. Lucy's eyes widened as she pretended to be upset.
"Unlike Evie who actually is ten years old," Leah commented. Evie stuck her tongue out.
"Child," the other four told her.
***
It was game day against Spain. Hannah was making her England debut and Evie was having her first start. It was pretty daunting. Spain were good and they had sat through many tactic meetings explaining how little of the ball they would see.
This worried Evie as she needed the ball to thrive. She did have the ability to win it back but she was much happier when it was already at her feet.
They were just finishing breakfast when suddenly Evie felt a painful rush of nerves. She began trying to take breaths but this didn't help. She held tightly onto the back of the chair and leant forward, trying to stop what was happening.
"Evie are you alright?" Lauren asked when she saw the state of the poor girl. The words wouldn't come out and all Evie could do was shake her head.
She gripped on tightly as she stood, desperate to control this. Her breathing was becoming more out of control. None of the girls knew what to do.
"I'll get Sarina," Alex said before rushing off to find the boss.
"Kiddo do you need anything? What can I do to help?" Keira asked, a comforting hand placed on her back. Evie was still struggling, unable to reply.
Leah was drawn to what was happening and came over.
"You okay?" she whispered into the youngsters ear. Evie shook her head slightly and tried to get the words out but they wouldn't come.
Her breathing was rapid now and they all caught onto the fact she was having a panic attack.
"Follow my breaths," Keira said, inhaling deeply. Evie tried to copy but she couldn't do it.
"Come on kiddo. You've got this," Leah reassured her, doing the same as Keira.
The rest of the team had headed off to the other room to give them space. Her eyes were wide with panic. Why couldn't she control this?
Alex re-entered the room with Sarina by her side.
"Evie. What's going on?" she asked, concerned for her players wellbeing.
"She's having a panic attack," Keira answered for her, unsure what to do.
Sarina motioned for Leah and Keira to take a step away and they both did so.
"Evie. I know it's hard. Follow my breathing. You're going to be alright."
She began to follow before an exasperated gasp set her back off track. The thought of the match to come had burst into her brain.
"No. Follow me. Exactly as I'm doing. Don't think about anything else. Just focus on the air coming in and out," Sarina instructed her.
This worked and Evie began to settle.
"I'm sorry," she stuttered weakly.
"Come and sit with me," Sarina said, taking a seat on the floor with her back against the wall. Evie copied her.
"Leah, Keira, please go and get Evie a drink of water."
The pair walked off, happy that the youngster was in safe hands.
"What happened? Why did you panic?"
"I'm scared. About the game," Evie said. She felt shaken by the experience.
"Why? We've worked through everything. This team is strong. We can do it. It'll be tough but that's football."
"I know but it's really scary. I'm just a stupid kid and I think that if I don't do well, I'll get backlash. I can't cope with backlash," she replied.
"I can't promise you won't get backlash but you're a great player. You'll play well. As a manager I have full faith in you. You've got the potential to be one of the best in the world but you can't get there with nerves like these. You can't be crippled by them."
Evie was taken aback that Sarina thought she could be one of the best in the world. That was never a thought that had even entered her mind.
They sat in a silence before Sarina put her arm around her and she leant into her side.
"Belief. That's all it takes."
Never once had someone treated her panic attacks that way. Especially not a manager. All of her Southampton coaches had left her to deal with it herself. Sarina was different. She cared for them all.
Leah and Keira entered the room, a glass of water with them.
"There you are," Leah said as she handed it to her, a kind smile on her face. Evie drank gratefully.
After she was fully back to normal, she walked with her two teammates to the chill out room. Evie felt embarrassed that they'd all watched what had happened. She didn't want to see them and feel the shame of it.
"Come on. Everything's going to be okay," Leah reassured her before pushing open the door. They were all sat around, engrossed in different activities.
"Do you guys want to play FIFA? It's boring beating Tooney and Less all the time," Zel called over as they entered.
Evie appreciated that no one brought up what had happened. They went and joined them and hopped straight into the game.
***
The build up to the match wasn't as stressful as Evie expected it to be. Sarina had reassured her and now she felt confident to get going.
During the warmups, Evie was practicing smashing her shots as hard as she could. They were making the net ripple and increasingly infuriating the goalkeepers.
"You're annoying you," Ellie said as she got up, the ball lying behind her.
After they were all finished, they headed inside for a final team talk before taking their place in the tunnel.
"Ready?" Evie asked Hannah. Hannah nodded. She was looking forward, fully in the zone.
Together, the 11 starters made their way out to sing the national anthems. They all put their arms round each other's shoulders and sang. Pride burst through Evie as she stood, making her first start for her country. It was a proud day and despite not having any family there to watch her, she felt complete.
Spain started with the ball and began passing it around- no surprise there. They did manage to win it back however and they began building attacks. Evie was enjoying doing different skills and winding up the defenders.
In the first few minutes England were on top but they just couldn't find the back of the net. All their chances were either shut down or kicked wide.
Evie had won the ball and was dribbling quickly up the wing. She sent the Spain player going one way and then sped off, racing into space. She crossed the ball in but over hit it slightly, making it an easy catch for the Spain keeper.
Spain were now slightly ahead. Their good attacks were providing challenges for the defence. They managed to get through and went into half time all square.
Despite the score line, Sarina was pleased with how it was going. They'd all been involved in some good attacks and managed to keep Spain at bay.
They restarted, Ellen tapping the ball to Evie. She set off, a Spain player quickly advancing. Before she was shut down, she tapped it back to Ellen, sprinting up the wing into a good space. Ellen spotted this and pinged it for her to run onto.
Once she had got it under control, she began deciding what to do. She was one on one with a Spanish defender and need to get past her. Instead of crossing it like everyone expected, Evie chopped it back to Lauren.
Lauren took a touch before powering it towards the goal. It smashed off the woodwork and they all let out a groan of frustration. Taking the lead would've really benefited them.
Spain were playing in a way that meant Evie found herself defending deeply. She managed to get the ball and spotted Jordan making a run. She knew what to do and lifted it over the Spaniards heads. Jordan sprinted onto it and now she was through. She was being pressurised but they all had faith in her. She kicked it towards the goal and they all watched as it went just around the post. It was frustrating to not score but they were playing good attacking football and not letting Spain get the better of them.
With twenty minutes to go, Evie pressed down a Spain player. She slipped and Evie took advantage of it. She got the ball and dribbled off, determined that this was the moment. Ellen was making a run and Evie tapped it to her. It was the perfect weight but the Spain player managed to barge Ellen away.
Evie was not having it. She'd done the hard work. It would pay off. She hassled for the ball but couldn't quite get it.
"Argh," she groaned in frustration, hitting the ground.
Spain were having attacks as well and Hannah was being forced to save them. They had one youngster at each end, both helping the team.
Lucy had the ball and she crossed it in. The keeper managed to push it away and Evie hit it first time. She forced the keeper to make an incredible save and it was beginning to become infuriating that they were unable to score.
In the first minute of injury time, a counterattack from Spain left England stretched at the back. Evie tried to recover but she wasn't able to. The ball was crossed in and the Spain player smashed it towards the goal. Hannah leapt into the air, only just managing to grab it. It was a perfect save to prevent them from losing.
The full-time whistle went and despite not getting the win, they were pleased with how they'd played.
"First full game well done," Nikita said with beam, pulling Evie in for a hug. She was beginning to shake from how cold she was but despite that she had a beam on her face.
"Bit chilly?" Leah asked as her little best mate came up and snuggled into her arms. Evie nodded.
"Here have my coat," Leah said, taking it off and handing it to her. Evie shook her head.
"No don't be ridiculous. You wear it."
Leah wouldn't take no for an answer and soon enough she was wrapped up in her coat.
They all went round applauding the fans and getting photos. It felt surreal that just being in photo made people so happy but it was something Evie was more than willing to do.
Hannah was also beaming after her debut. She was known as incredibly smiley anyway but this was next level.
"Well done," Evie said, pulling her in for a hug.
"This is absolute madness," Hannah said as they spoke about the game and how they'd just made their full England debuts.
"I know," Evie agreed, still taking it all in. The two of them were sat in the centre circle despite the pouring rain just chatting and taking everything in.
After a little while the rain began pouring even harder and they went inside, the Spain team all leaving the stadium. Evie spotted Alexia Putellas and was instantly star struck. Even though she'd just played against her, it felt weird to see one of the best players in the world.
"I really want a photo," Evie whispered to Hannah.
"Just go ask."
She built up the courage and went over.
"Um hello. I wanted to say that I thought you played really well and I was just wondering if I could have a photo?" she asked. Alexia smiled at her.
"Thank you very much. You played very good as well. How old are you?"
"I'm 16."
"16! Wow! You certainly don't play like you're that young. Of course you can have a photo."
Evie stood next to her and they both smiled as Hannah took the picture.
"Thank you," Evie said before walking off and finally heading into the changing rooms.
***