After the win against Spain, the team was determined to bring a strong front to the game against Germany. After the week of training between the Spanish game and the up-and-coming Germany game, the girls were hyped to be taking on the team who they beat in the Euro final.
"You ready?" asked Leah as she sat beside Cameryn on the bus heading to London Stadium in Stratford.
"I'm excited for my family to see me play, hopefully, but I'm still scared of what will happen on the pitch," she responded. Cameryn was sat with her legs across Leah's lap after somehow getting the window seat once again.
"I know you're not in the Starting XI but it is only your second game for England, you'll get there eventually," responded Leah. The team had been told the Starting XI before leaving the hotel so they knew the set-up. The only change was putting Lauren James in for Chloe Kelly, which was a strategic change by Sarina to get them all decent game time. "Your mum is going to be so proud of you," continued Leah, "and your dad will be too". Cameryn looked out the window and up into the sky where she knew her dad would be looking down from.
"I hope I can make you proud," she whispered loud enough for just herself and Leah to hear. Leah smiled in response before pushing herself deeper into the chair to enjoy the rest of the ride to the stadium.
The bus pulled up and cheering fans could be seen all around, it was an even bigger turnout than the game against Spain, which was expected since this one was at home. Even then, Cameryn was still absolutely fascinated by the insane amount of people supporting them. As they climbed off the bus people were calling their names asking for signatures and selfies.
Most people were calling out for Leah, Beth, Chloe, Ella, Alessia, or anyone but Cameryn. Except for one girl, she appeared around 16 or 17 years old. She wasn't calling out but instead stood still holding out an England home shirt with May printed on the back and a pen. Cameryn tapped Leah's hand indicating she was going to go sign the shirt.
"Be careful," said Leah as Cam began to walk away. Suddenly, the paranoid blonde appeared by Cameryn's side, "I'll wait for you, in case you get lost going inside". She shrugged and stood back allowing Cam to go talk to the girl alone.
Cheers were still coming from the fans for Leah but her full attention was on Cameryn and the fan. Cam reached out and gave the younger girl a hug before taking the pen and signing the jersey. She then took the girl's phone and they took a selfie before Leah was waved over.
"Ava asked for one with you too, if that's okay?" asked Cameryn on behalf of the girl.
"Nice to meet you, Ava," spoke Leah as she took the phone to take the selfie. "You excited for the game?" she asked further.
"Yes, it is going to be insane. I haven't been to a game before so I hope it goes well."
The girls said goodbye before parting ways and heading into the stadium and further into the locker room. For the second time ever, Cameryn saw her jersey hung on the wall, number 8.
"It's as beautiful as the first time," said Cam as she admired her name and number hanging on the wall.
"Trust me, it feels like that every time," replied Leah as she guided the brunette over to the cubby. They took a seat side by side in the cubby. Cam changed into her shorts and the warm-up shirt before beginning to tape her ankles. One at a time she wrapped them in the CM and JM engraved tape, she began to slide her socks on before Leah stopped her.
"Don't forget the new tradition," she spoke. Leah pulled a pen out of her pocket and wrote 'DAD' on Cameryn's right ankle. She began to move to the left ankle where Cameryn snatched the pen away from her.
"I write the other one," she responded and began to write 'LEAH' on her other ankle. After the tape and names had been properly done she slid her socks on and her shin guards in. She picked up her boots from the cubby and began to undo the laces of one while Leah did the same with the other. "You know I don't need help getting ready, right?" asked Cameryn.
"Yeah, but I need to be here to write on your ankle, and I want to be by your side for each of the games this camp. It's also good to be near the team, it lets me feel involved."
Cameryn accepted the reasoning and slid both of her feet into the boots tying the laces as tightly as she could without cutting off the circulation to her foot.
"Let's do this thing," Cameryn said as she noticed the squad walking out to warm-ups. Leah walked with her and went to stand with Sarina on the side of the pitch where the pair shared whispers as they assessed each player's warm-up.
"Grab Cameryn for me why don't you," said Sarina to Leah.
"Sure," to which Leah waved Cameryn over.
"Cameryn, I want you to come on at the beginning of the second half. You proved yourself worthy with the number of chances you created last game, I'm just hoping that we can finish some of them this time."
"Thank you so much," responded Cameryn as she spotted Leah standing to the side smiling.
"I'm so proud," she whispered as Cam ran past to join the squad again.
The warm-ups finished soon after, as the team made their way back through the tunnel Cameryn saw her brothers, sister and mum sitting in the family section of the seats. She waved with a visibly happy smile across her face.
Once in the locker room she took her jersey down from the wall and changed it out for her training shirt, slipping into it for the second time. The number 8 had begun to feel like home, nothing compared to wearing the blue and white in front of a crowd of 50,000 + people.
After a quick team debrief in the locker room to confirm the plan of attack and hype up the team it was time for the walk-out. Cameryn made her way over to the bench the same way she did for the Spain game. The national anthems played out filling the stadium with slightly off-pitch singing from the crowd and players.
Nothing could compare to playing for your country on an international stage. Even though these games were purely friendlies, it was leading up to the Olympics and the team needed to be prepared for everything.
The whistle blew and England kicked off. The team pressed up the field very quickly attempting to catch the German side off guard. Germany were caught on the back foot having to retreat in order to slow down the very fast-moving attack of Tooney, Russo, Hempo and LJ.
LJ made a run through the middle taking the ball from Tooney and causing confusion for the German players. Her intricate footwork created holes in the defence resulting in a place for a through ball to open up. Alessia spotted it immediately and made a sprinting effort into the box where she received the ball and lightly tapped it into the back of the next.
The stadium erupted in cheering and screams with the team having a quick celebration themselves. Only two minutes in and England were up one to zero.
"Good work," called out Millie who was captaining the game, "let's keep this up don't slack off." Millie patted Alessia on the back in congratulations before ushering the girls back to the game.
England kept heavy pressure for the whole first half with a number of chances coming up but none of them being finished off. The halftime whistle blew and the teams headed back into the tunnel and into their respective locker rooms.
"We've been working hard girls. That first goal helped scare Germany off a bit, but they are working equally as hard to try and bring this game back to their side. We need to keep pressing and finishing off some of these chances. Georgia you will be coming off for Cameryn, LJ for Chloe at the beginning of this half. Later into the half around the 60 to 70 minute mark, I want Alex to come off for Esme and Lucy for Jess. I'm hoping some of these changes will bring new life into the game, and more specifically new legs." The little joke at the end prompted a giggle from the team but everyone quickly returned to their more serious selves. "Leah, would you like to say anything?" asked Sarina stepping out of the way.
"Sure. Uhh, I feel like you guys are scared by the German team. It's as if you're scared because they are Euro finalists. Hate to break it to you, but we are the European champions, we have beaten them before and with the game we are having we can easily beat them again. Stop thinking about the team they are and how strong they are and play some football. Kick the ball into the net the way you all do every training session. Pretend you're out on the pitch when you were seven years old and the boys were picking on you because you had long hair and were half their size. Show them that we are still the European champions and haven't changed since that night at Wembley Stadium. Hands in."
The team chanted and hyped themselves up. Cameryn began bouncing on her toes trying to suppress her nerves. Leah gave her a tight hug and the team headed back to the pitch. Cam heard her name announced into the stadium along with Chloe Kelly's. As Cameryn ran into her position on the pitch she turned around to see her entire family on their feet cheering at the sight of her on the field. Her being in the jersey was enough, and now she is on the pitch representing her country, her family couldn't be more proud.
Cameryn noticed how easily the chances were being opened up for the team. Every time the gap opened in the middle of the pitch from the swift passes between the mid and front lines. Chloe Kelly was slotted a carefully placed ball by Keira but the shot was deflected by the goalkeeper and set out by one of the centre-backs.
"Now I see why none of these chances are coming off," Cameryn said to Keira, "we're too crowded in the box. We need to open up play."
"You think so?" asked Keira. Cameryn nodded and the pair spoke about how they were going to open up the front of the field with such a tightly packed German defence. Instead of Chloe attempting to take shots from out wide they decided she needed to draw out the players before crossing into Alessia in the middle. Cameryn jogged over to Chloe while the ball was still out of play to explain the plan which she quickly agreed to.
A gap opened the same way it had time and time again and the ball was sent out to CK once again. This time though, she held onto it dribbling it between her feet. Keira and run over to provide her another option to draw out the players. The box was quickly emptying allowing for more attacking space to be gained for England. Chloe saw the opportunity and made a short dash forward before crossing the ball into the box.
Alessia and Hempo both leapt up into the air hoping one of them would connect their head with the ball, but there was no sound. Until a giant thump was heard, it hadn't come from either of their heads, instead, the ball had flown straight past and Cameryn had volleyed it into the top portion of the net from the edge of the 18-yard box.
Leah had jumped out of her seat in the sub box cheering loud enough for Cameryn to hear on the pitch. She hadn't reacted just yet until she was swarmed with hugs from her teammates, she was still attempting to process what she had just achieved.
After the hugs ceased, she saw her family standing on their feet and cheering her name with the rest of the crowd. She spun on the spot taking in the entirety of the stadium before gripping a tight fist. She kissed the side of her fist and pointed to the sky to show gratitude for her dad. She saw Leah still standing in the box shifting on her feet restlessly. Cameryn sprinted over which confused the rest of the team until they saw her jump into Leah's arms.
"I'm so proud of you Cam, always and forever," she said smiling at the younger brunette. Leah pushed their foreheads together before letting her run back onto the pitch.
The game continued with similar chances opening but nothing came from them again. Finally, the whistle blew ending the game. England and Germany shook hands and England began their victory lap thanking the home fans. It was always a surreal experience to play at home, there was nothing that could compare to it.
Leah joined them in their lap around the stadium to thank all the fans, "We are definitely getting 'always and forever' tattooed after today."
"We'll talk about it later," responded Cameryn before rushing off to sign a few jerseys.
"Okay, love." Leah couldn't believe she was back in the stadium with her team in front of a crowd of tens of thousands. Even if she wasn't wearing the number 8 jersey, she knew someone special to her was wearing it in her place and that seemed to make everything feel better.
"Cameryn, I think there are some people who want to speak to you," Beth said pointing to Cameryn's family who were calling her name and waving at her frantically. She sprinted over to join them and hugged each of them.
"We're so proud of you Cam," her mother said after congratulating her on the win. Each of the family took turns sharing their favourite parts of the game before the attention was turned to Jayden.
"What'd you think Jay?" she asked.
"He'd be so proud of you Cami, and so am I."
"Thank you. Oh, and look." She pulled down her sock to show him the tape on her ankles.
A smile lit up his entire face, "two rolls down, two to go."
WORDS: 2430
a/n: bit of a rushed chapter but wanted to get something out, I'm trying to write a chapter a night but it's becoming a bit hard to keep up, might have to slow down to one every two nights or something but hope you all enjoy