Our previous matches have been insane, i scored one against Everton, we ended up winning 7-0 and then we won against Leicester 6-0 which i also scored in and assisted Guro too. We had won the FA cup for the third time. I scored 1 out of 4 against West Ham and we only had 2 matches left of this season, and the bonus was we were sitting comfortably on top. Our last two matches were against Arsenal and Reading. The only downer was that Magda and Pernille are leaving at the end of the season but regardless i'm so happy for them to be moving on to Germany.
The game today, was against Arsenal. We were playing at Kingsmeadow which was nice and meant we didn't have to travel in the coach, we could just drive over.
Guro drove us into a parking space and we got out the car together. I grabbed the bags from the back seats as she grabbed our boot bags. We walked into reception and signed ourselves in, the receptionist smiled at me and said,
"Congratulations on your 200th appearance Renata"
"Huh? Already?"
"Yeah, i thought you'd know" she laughed.
"Nope the first time i've heard about this but thank you" i replied and Guro started laughing at me. We turned to find our way into the changing rooms. Greeting the others as we did so.
I saw Niamh on her own, scrolling carelessly on her phone in the corner so i decided to try and make her jump. As i crept forwards, she looked up, ruining my plan. I sighed throwing my hands in the air.
"You ruined that" i said.
"What were you trying to do?" she laughed.
"Scare you" i shrugged making her laugh again.
"You're just like Georgia"
"Um no, Georgia is just like me. I'm older" i pointed out.
"Whatever you want to believe" she patted my side.
"Where's J-Flem?" i questioned.
"Probably late" she replied. Just as she said that i felt hands push on my shoulders and i jumped out of my skin. I turned to look at Jessie who was dying of laughter.
"Fuck you Jessie. That was the fright of my life" i said placing my hand on my heart.
"That's karma for trying to scare me" Niamh said with a smirk.
"Be quiet" i rolled my eyes.
"Love you lots Rena" Jessie said.
"Clearly" i said sarcastically, rolling my eyes again while i walked off to my stuff and getting into my warm up kit.
Me and Guro partnered up while we were doing the group warm ups. The gunners were out on the other side of the pitch warming up too. With Leah and Beth both being out with their ACLs, Lotte was the only other current lioness on their side. I waved over to her and she smiled back.
Lotte towered over me, which kind of sprouted our friendship. She was telling me on her first day of England camp that she was half Dutch and i responded with how i was half Spanish. She then pointed out that we could've never met each other if we had chosen to go to the Leeuwinnen and the Selección Española. It's a weird way to become friends but thats just how it happened for us i guess.
Both teams went back into the changing rooms to get into our proper match kits and then Emma did her usual talk with us, running through what we needed to know. She also pointed out how this was my 200th game, causing everyone to look over at me. I smiled awkwardly which made everyone giggle. The blues and the reds entered the pitch and we took our team photo after shaking hands with the opposition.
The formation for today was 4-2-3-1 and the line up was,
• A.Katrin Berger
• È.Périsset
• M.Mjelde
• M.Eriksson
• N.Charles
• E.Cuthburt
• R.DeSantos
• L.James
• P.Harder
• G.Reiten
• S.Kerr
We got into our positions and waited for the ref to blow her starting whistle. Arsenal started with the ball and had possession for a while unfortunately. They obtained a corner which Katie McCabe took but it got cleared away by Maren. Eventually the Gunners got the ball back but struggled to get past our defence. Lauren ended up stealing it off Katherine Kühl. She dribbled it up then crossed it over to me. I passed over to Ève who was free and she created a chance but just couldn't get close enough to goal. She chipped it over to Guro and she struck it into the netting.
The fans cheered in the stands and we all ran over to Guro. I was the last one there after everyone dispersed away. I placed my hand on her cheek for a brief second and smiled at her.
The ball went back to the centre mark and we began playing again. Pernille had the ball but before she could really get anywhere with it Lotte was pulling her back, mostly by the shirt. Gaining us a free kick and her a yellow card.
The ball was getting smashed around all over the field and somehow it ended up at my feet. McCabe was challenging me the entire time i had it and i managed to nutmeg her while i was working myself around her. I kicked to ball to Sam smugly as i heard Katie swear at me from behind. She passed it to Magda who miraculously got it past Manu Zinsberger and into the goal.
That goal carried a lot of emotion, the fans didn't know that this was most likely going to be her last goal in our iconic blue shirt. They will be announcing the news in a few days to the public. I gave her a tight hug and patted her head just like the others and then we went back to our positions for the remaining few minutes.
The ball was at my feet and i was getting a personal attack by the one and only Katie McCabe. That woman truly had it out for me. She ended up tripping me over with a slight push, making the ball go out of the pitch. The ref blew her whistle signalling Katie would be receiving a yellow but just as she did that i stood up and shoved the Irish player backwards. The ref then gave me a yellow card as well. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.
I went and got the ball for a throw in and a minute after that, the whistle went for half time.
I walked into the changing rooms and sat down next to Guro. She looked at me and smirked.
"What's up with you and getting yellow cards recently?"
"People are pissing me off" i shrugged.
"Scary, can't be doing that on your 200th appearance" she said sarcastically and i smirked back at her while maintaining eye contact. Just as i was about to speak again, Emma started talking about what we needed to do. She congratulated Magda on her goal and we all clapped for her.
There was only one substitute going into the second half, and it was for Arsenal. Steph Catley on for Katherine Kühl.
The remaining half started and the possession was practically fifty-fifty. The ball was in the penalty box Ann was defending and it was getting thrown around. All of a sudden there were a bunch of hands in the air, claiming that Lauren touched the ball. Personally i think that the ball touched Lauren but clearly some people have very different opinions, including the ref who gave out a stupid penalty to Arsenal.
McCabe stepped up on the spot, preparing herself, Ann was doing the same. The whistle went signalling she could take it, and as she hit the ball, it flew towards Ann. I couldn't tell where it was going but when i heard it hit the crossbar, i knew it had missed.
Katie pulled her hands to her head and pushed her hair back in disgust. The rest of her team was disappointed. Regardless of that, it was good for us, so i was happy.
There were then some subs for both sides, Jess on for LJ, Jessie on for Pernille and Jodie Taylor on for Blackstenius for Arsenal.
The last 10 minutes went agonisingly slow and the opposition kept on creating good chances but kept getting deflected by our strong defence. After six other minutes of injury time, the referee blew the final whistle. Showing that we had won a successful 2-0.
Erin came over and had her hands on my shoulders as if we were in our own conga line. She pushed me towards where Emma was, waiting for me with a framed Chelsea shirt with my name and the number 200 plastered over the back of it. She gave me a hug and then handed me the frame. We took a photo together and then i had one by myself.
"Thank you!" i said to her smiling.
I then gravitated towards my girlfriend who was with the usual, Sam, Erin and Millie. Millie wasn't on the bench tonight as she twisted her ankle in training, but she still came to support the team.
"Oooh, here comes little miss 200 appearances" Sam said in a sing-y voice.
"I'm just too good" i shrugged.
"You're just too modest. That's what" Millie said.
"Shush, you're just jealous" i fired back jokingly.
"Um i reached my 200th appearance way before you" she said smugly
"Who's the modest one now?" i rolled my eyes at her.
"Alright no more arguing please" Guro laughed.
After i went and spoke to some of the Arsenal girls, we all headed back in to the changing rooms. I checked my messages to see that the chelsea media team had sent me the picture from earlier and i decided to upload it to Insta straight away.
@renadesantos3's post,
Liked by @chelseawfc and 41,389 others
renadesantos3 Wow, i can't believe it. 200 appearances for this club, it's gone so fast! Forever proud and thankful to be a blue 💙💙 #upthemightychels
Comments,
mbrighty04
special game for a special girl 💙
↩️
renadesantos3
oi are you calling me special 🤨😞
↩️
mbrighty04
i was being nice 🙄
zeciramusovic
proud bus buddy moment
↩️
renadesantos
bus buddy 4L
erincuthburt_
welcome to the 200 gang
↩️
renadesantos3
privilege
I turned my phone off and stood up so i could get changed. Once i finished i looked over to see that Guro was waving me over. I walked over to her and she patted the seat next to her. Signalling i should sit, which i did.
"What's up?" i smiled.
"You know how the season is coming to an end now?" she began.
"Yessss" i dragged out the 's' at the end.
"Well, i think we should go away together! Just for a week or a couple days before the world cup starts" she beamed.
"Definitely! Where would we go though?"
"I was thinking maybe Norway? I want to visit my family anyway and now that we're together, it would be so nice if you could meet them" she said grabbing my hand.
"I'd love to Guro," i smiled. "But as long as i get to take you to Spain after the world cup"
"Duh" she joked and stood up, letting go of my hand which i forgot she was holding. A sense of coldness rushing through me after her warm touch left. "Let's get you, and your fancy plaque thing home"
I stood next to her and grabbed my bag and the massive frame that was given to me earlier. We walked out of the changing rooms after saying bye to the team.
After what felt like forever, due to an agonisingly long line of traffic, we arrived back at our apartment. I unlocked the door and entered the empty home.
"Where should we put this?" Guro asked, referring to the frame she had in her hands. She had offered to carry it up for me when we got out of the car a few minutes prior.
"I have an idea! In the spare office room or whatever it is. We should convert it into a storage like room and we can put all of our medals, trophies and special shirts in there!" i said excitedly.
"Oh my god. That's such a good idea"
"I know right" i said smugly with a smirk plastered over my face.
"You made me change my mind" she said coldly.
"I hate you" i said.
"Sure you do, Roo" she said picking up on the most obvious lie.
"We'll have to get some shelves and stuff like that soon so we can do the room. Ooh, and a sign for the front of the door saying 'Guro and Renata's trophy room'"
She laughed at my sudden idea and placed the frame on the side. It wasn't massively late when we got back but the sun was slowly starting to set. We had agreed to make Caesar salads for dinner so i started to prepare while she had a shower.
We ate the food and then it was my turn to clean myself up. I had washed my hair so once i got in my pyjamas, my damp locks created wet patches on my shirt.
Today the weather was rather humid so we had the windows open and we're watching The Last Of Us on Prime, cuddled up together with a thin blanket covering our bodies.
As the final episode ended, i turned off the tv and went to say something but i stopped myself when i heard light snores from the girl laying next to me. I giggled at the sight and got up as slow as i could, trying not to wake her.
I picked her up bridal style and carried her our bedroom, i tucked her into the sheets and then got in next to her. I turned off the lights and slowly dozed off, lost in my thoughts.
Authors Note -
SORRY FOR BEING SO INACTIVE! Theres only like eight maybe nine chapters left now guys i can't believe i've written this much but i will definitely be finishing this book and maybe soon? idk at this rate 🤗
- M