AN: Requested!👇🏻 Feel free to send requests and I'll do as many as I can:-) Hope you guys enjoy it! Sorry for not updating for a while, I've been busy with other stuff. I want to wish y'all a Happy New Year! Hopefully see you sooner in the next chapter/one shot x
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Leah's POV:
I'm going into my first ever World Cup today and I couldn't be more excited. The team flew in to France about a week ago, and ever since I've been waiting for this particular day to come. Our opening game of the tournament is against Scotland. It'll be tough but I'm sure we got this.
"Alright girls, time to get ready!" Steph shouts across the changing room.
Now it's time, we better make it one to remember. I'm not in the starting XI, but I'm hopefully making an appearance as a sub later on. With Phil as manager you never know though.
Walking out the stadium with the team was quite special, not to mention the big crowd in the stands cheering us on. It's so much to take in at the same time and just the fact to play in a World Cup feels unreal. We're clearly the favorites beforehand, but I have to admit that Scotland is a pretty good football nation as well.
Looking at the game from afar is something I'm not too used to do. At Arsenal I play consistently from the start and I'm always given as one of the starters. Being with the national team is a different story. First of all we got Phil as the manager, which is kinda self explanatory. Secondly, his tactics are shit and he doesn't understand it's his fault we're losing to inferior opponents. Last thing is he neither sees the potential nor have faith in younger players like myself. Most of our starting XI today is made up of his favorites, and worst thing is that most of them shouldn't even play because they're no good. What irritates me the most is that he can't even see it, like where is our midfield? It's a hot mess and looks like an accordion that has been broken in the outer position. And as if that wasn't enough, our back line put together has to be one of the sloppiest back fours of all time. The only position we're decently good in right now is attack, but it doesn't matter if we can't even defend ourselves...
After the first half we're down 0-1. Not a surprising standing with all honesty, the most surprising is that we can't perform better than we do at the moment. If Phil will ever realize he got players on the bench for a reason, well then we're talking. But it's him so it's never going to happen anyway, my bad.
Sitting on the bench starts to effect me in ways I've not thought it could before. It's getting warmer for every minute that passes by, and I'm out here with a thick ass jacket on. I don't know what has gotten into my mind, like for fuck's sake Leah it's summer you won't be that cold watching the game from the sidelines.
"Congrats on the win today girls! Good work from all of you, especially in the second half. Go back to the hotel and get some well deserved rest and I'll see everyone gathered at breakfast tomorrow morning." Phil announces after the game. We turned the game over last minute and came off with a 2-1 win against Scotland in our first group match. I can't agree with him that we played good, but a win is a win I guess?
~1 week later~
We won the rest of our group matches and finished first in our group. Two solid performances from the team secured a spot in the round of sixteen that's coming up in a few days. First we won 1-0 over Argentina, and a couple of days later we beat Japan with 2-0 on the scoreboard. I've yet to make my World Cup debut... I try to have my hopes up still, but it's hard. If I'm going to get any minutes it must be next game, that's my only chance. If we advance from there Phil would never play me against the top teams.
Currently me and Keira are hanging out in our shared hotel room. We are having a good time until my mood suddenly changes.
"Leah are you okay?"
"Erm, not really to be honest..."
"You're gonna get your World Cup debut, I know you will! Don't worry abo-"
"No Keira, that's not why I'm down." I cut her off, with tears streaming down my cheeks. "Or well it might be a mix off that and some other stuff..."
"What other stuff Le?"
"I miss Jordan so much, I haven't seen her for two weeks straight!"
"Oh I'm sorry Leah, I didn't think of that... But I'm sure you'll see her sooner than you might think."
"I don't understand Kei, sooner than I might think? How long is that?" I say confused.
"Well, she might be one of the BBC sport commentators for our next match..."
"Wait what? You mean she's here in France right now? As an expert commentator covering the World Cup?"
"Yeah that's right, didn't you know?"
"No, like I knew about Alex, but I didn't expect Jordan to do it also. She never told me."
"Oh Le, come here." Keira says as she pulls me in for a hug. "I thought you knew..."
We chatted away for a while, making the time pass by fast. I'm happier now that I know Jordan is here. Hopefully I'll be able to see her after the game as well, or I'll be totally devastated.
~A few days later~
Another day and another game. Could this be the day I've been waiting for? Honestly I have no clue, but I'm at least hopeful. There is exciting times ahead, that's for sure.
With our game starting in less than three hours time me and the rest of the girls are about to leave the hotel. As usual I sit next to Kiera on the bus. Even though she's young, just like me, she's still managed to get much playing time in a tournament like this. Both of us were hoping to maybe get some experience by being subbed in late in a game. As a youngster it's all about hanging around to see and learn from the stars and to have a good time, not having to feel the outer pressure to perform well. I know Keira has felt the pressure and that she's been taking the criticism way more personal than she should. For me personally it's been a completely different story. I've not made my first impression on this big of a stage yet, and I've made sure that I enjoy the things outside of football as well. I've got nothing to worry about.
Later on we've arrived at the arena and the game is about to start in a couple of minutes. I'm starting on the bench, as suspected. During the national anthems I can't help but scan the stadium for a chance to see Jordan. After a minute or two of searching I spot a yellow banner in the top right corner. The massive black letters on the banner reads "BBC". It's quite a bit up so it's hard to recognize the people standing there, but at least I know one of them is Jordan.
A first half that seemed to secure the bag, might I actually get the chance today? We convincingly took control over the game right from the start and have so far managed to score two goals. We've got superior the most possession with the ball and they haven't created a single threatening chance on target so far. After the first half the second half awaits with the same expectations as in the first for a confident England team. Are we able to handle the pressure or will we be too confident for our own good? Sitting on the bench it's hard to tell, you don't feel the same way as if you would've been on the pitch. For being approximately twenty minutes in into the second half I would like to say that it looks pretty decent. Once again a solid performance, even tho the intensity may have dropped a little from our side. We've also managed to score another goal, putting us up 3-0 near the 60th minute. The goal scorers so far has been Houghton, White and Greenwood with the latest hit in the back of the net. Twenty more minutes passed by, and I estimated it to be around the 80th minute. The game is soon to be finished and I'm still stuck on the bench. I guess all the hard work building up to this moment might not have payed off this time... That's when Phil calls me over, making me snap out of my own bubble.
"Yes Phil" I say without even looking at him.
"You ready to make your World Cup debut?" Phil asks.
At first I'm in some kind of shocked state. Probably because I didn't see it coming so close to the end, but i also feel like I've never been more ready to do something in my whole life. Without even hesitating I respond "Hell yes I am! Never been more ready than this, trust me!".
After a quick warm up I'm standing beside one of the referees who's holding a big digit sign above their head. I wait impatiently for Nikita Parris to come over so I could make my debut. Phil told me I was supposed to replace Parris in midfield and play there for the rest of the game. It felt strange being a defender, but as a natural midfielder and a very versatile player I didn't think too much into it. As Nikita finally reached to the sidelines I gave her a quick hug and ran out onto the field, excited to get some minutes and even more important, experience, under my belt. I got cheered on from the England fans coming on, and they seemed to get impressed of the few things I got time to do at the end. After a bit of drama the last few minutes and added time by a total of seven minutes in the second half, the referee blew their whistle. A 3-0 win in the round of 16. This means we're in the quarter finals, the opponents are yet to be chosen.
"Leah I'm so proud of you mate!" Keira shouts at me as she jumps up on my back. "I told ya your chance would come..."
"Thanks Kei, I'm glad to have such a good friend like you by my side!" I respond.
"Let's go celebrate with the team!"
"Go first you, I think I'll stay out here for a bit longer. Tell the girls I'm on my way..."
"Okay Le, see you later then!"
"Thanks Kei, see ya!"
I look up to the BBC corner at the top of the stadium hoping to spot Jordan up there, but it's pointless. It's too high up to get a clear view. Most people has now left the stadium and there's still no sign of Jordan. Did Keira really knew she was here or did she say that to make me feel better? I tell myself to stop overthinking, I know my best friend isn't a liar so can I calm the fuck down. I take a deep breath before getting myself together. After a few more minutes of waiting I just had enough. The fact she wasn't going to come see me hit harder every second that passed by, so I thought it would be a good idea to save myself from any further pain. I start to walk off in the direction of our changing room. My feet moving so fast it feels like I'm trying to escape my destiny.
"Hey, you think you could run away from me just like that?!" I hear a familiar voice from behind me.
"Jordan?" I let out.
"Yeah. I thought you would be glad to see me here."
"I am! Keira told me you were here, but I started to doubt it as a didn't see you. I've been waiting for at least a good ten minutes, that's why I walked away though..."
"Wait a second, you're saying you thought I wouldn't want to check on my girl after not being able to see her for two weeks or such?" Jordan says sarcastically, laughing at my stupidity. "I want you to know that I'm proud of ya! It was a pleasure watching the last few minutes of the game, apart from the whole drama scene of course. Cameroon got wild, like so madly!"
"Yeah I guess so... Thanks for always being honest with me, I appreciate it! I'm just sad you couldn't be there by my side. You matter so much more to me and this team than you'll ever know, don't you ever forget that!" I say, trying to hold the tears back.
"I might not have been on the pitch with you, but I've still been by your side the whole time and that's never going to change. I would've loved to be out there with you if I could. I'm glad I took the offer to be a commentator, otherwise I wouldn't be here right now. It wasn't as bad as I imagined!" She says happily. "Oh and congrats on your World Cup debut, well deserved I would say!"
"Thanks Jord! What would I do without you?" I say, pulling her in for a hug. As I let go I catch my breath. It hasn't hit me until now how stunning she looks in those clothes.
"Is there something wrong Le?" A concerned Jordan asks.
"Erm no... Those clothes suits you well tho!" I reply with a smirk.
"Guess I should wear suits more often then..." She says smiling back at me. "Let's go somewhere more private, I can't wait any longer!"
We leave the pitch side and start searching for a more private area. After a while we find an empty corner. I've missed spending some alone time with Jordan. Now that we're together none of us are in a rush really. I wrap my arms around her neck, letting my gaze drop down to her light brown eyes. I feel her hands on my waist as I'm about to lean in. Our lips touch and just like all other times the sparkle between us lights up my whole body. We make out for a good couple of minutes before breaking apart. I look at her with a smile plastered on my face before realizing that the girls must wonder where the heck I am. I tell Jordan I need to hurry back down and give her a quick hug before basically running towards the changing rooms. Halfway there I bump into Keira.
"Don't worry Leah, I covered for you!" Keira says with a knowing voice.
"Oh okay. Thanks mate!" I say as I slow down.
"No problem, see you later on the bus!"
Jordan's POV:
It's been a few days now since the round of 16 game. I'm glad I got to spend some time with Leah after that game, I've missed her way too much. Today it's time for England v Norway in a quarter final. An exciting game to say the least from a commentator point of view.
Me, Alex, and our two colleagues Nathan and Josh are ready to go. The match is about to start so we head towards our positions in front of the camera. With mics in hand, we start talk about the two national teams and discuss their respective lineups.
An early goal from Jill Scott set the bar for what to come next. Norway fought well but were a bit unlucky.
"Conceding a goal in the third minute seem to have had an impact on Norway's self confidence in this game. They're still up for a fight, but so far it doesn't look promising from their point of view." Alex comments.
"And that's all that the first half had to offer. England takes a comfortable grip on this game, going into the break with a 2-0 lead. Norway has forty five minutes to turn this around and prove themselves on the world's biggest stage." Josh says, wrapping up the first half of the game for the television viewers.
I take a quick look down on the pitch before the start of the second half. I spot Leah on the sidelines heading towards the England bench. I know she can't see me, but that won't stop me from sending a wave her way.
"Oh, I guess you've spot her! Am I right?" Alex whispers in my ear as she takes a stand next to me. I don't feel like answering, but I know she knows she was right.
"I miss her Al, like so bad!" I let out rather quietly.
"I know Jord, but you have to stay strong for one more week. You've got this!" She gives me a quick hug and takes me back to the others for the last forty five minutes to be kicked off.
Nathan takes the command at the start of the second half, beginning with a briefly summary of the previous half before continuing to comment the ongoing play. "England goes into the second half as the stronger team and probably with a lot of confidence. After two superb strikes hitting the net behind the Norwegian goalkeeper, I'm sure Norway are hungry for revenge. I guess that only time can tell."
"England still looks sharp, even tho their play were way better in the first half. Some intensity has dropped from both teams, none of them has lost their fighting spirit just yet. Norway are doing well, but they're not able to create dangerous enough chances in front of the English goalkeeper. For new viewers that missed the first half I can say it's been a good game so far. England are up 2-0 against Norway as we're approaching the 55th minute. The goal scorers so far are Jill Scott, 3rd minute, and Ellen White, 40th minute..." Nathan continues, before being abruptly cut off.
"YEEEESSSSS LUCE!!!!!!!!!!" I scream, unaware that I might have interrupted Nathan's commentary.
"Jordan love, don't forget you're on live broadcasted television!" Alex swung her arm around me where I was standing and looking out onto the pitch. Her laugh made my face turn into a slight tone of red. "Don't worry, I've done more embarrassing things in front of the camera than that, trust me. I don't think it'll bother Leah that much to see this afterwards either, the team will have a good laugh at this Jord!" Alex whispers in my ear, making my face turn even more red than before. A few seconds later I turn around to the sound of both Josh and Nathan laughing.
"What?" I ask, with a guilty smile plastered on my face.
"That was the funniest thing to ever happen, and the fact I didn't expect it to happen made it even funnier." Nathan lets out in between laughs. "You just cut me off and I didn't understand why at first. Then I saw the ball was in the back of the net and I kind of realized."
"You're so unintentionally funny Jordan! If no one has already told you I would happily be the first one to do so!" Josh chuckles from the other side of the table. "Funny thing is I'm not even joking."
"Thanks guys for the compliments, but I'd rather forget it ever happened..." I respond jokingly. I decide to save the live broadcast by picking up where we left. "Welcome back everyone! The game just got even more exciting in this particular moment. After receiving a free kick just outside the box, England takes care of it in the best of ways. Beth Mead strikes a backwards sideway pass from the right side of the penalty box towards the foot of Lucy Bronze. Bronze doesn't hesitate and strikes a very hard ball over the head of the keeper and into the net roof. England are 3-0 up against Norway after 57 minutes of play. I see it as very difficult for Norway to even stand a chance to turn this game around with a total of half an hour left on the clock."
"That's it! England grabs a pretty comfortable victory in their quarter final against Norway. The result being 3-0 in England's favor. Thanks for tuning in and hope to see you in the semifinals!" Alex says, rounding off the broadcast.
After today's work I can finally relax and talk to Alex like back in the days. God I miss the good ol' days way too much. Alex and I are back in our hotel room again after a long day. Sadly we don't share hotel with the players, but that's understandable in one way.
"Alex?" I let out.
"Yes Jord?"
"Well, they're supposed to play the US in the semi final... Do you think they've got what it takes to beat them?" I ask nervously.
"Honestly I'm not sure, but I hope they're ready to fight for what they really want." Alex says.
"I want them to win so badly! Not only for Leah's sake but for the whole team. I think most of them deserves the recognition of being named the best nation in the world..."
"If everyone wants the same thing out there and do what they can to get there, I'm sure they'll be just fine. To win gold you don't prepare for a certain game, you need to be prepared and in the right spirit throughout the whole tournament. It's all in or nothing, only the players can decide the outcome."
~A week later~
Leah's POV:
I'm alone in mine and Georgia's room, just laying on my bed and staring at the ceiling. I can't stop myself from thinking back to the game against USA two days ago. We lost 1-2 with Ellen White as the only goal scorer for us. As if it wasn't bad enough to lose, Millie bright got a red card in the final minutes of the game and are therefore suspended from playing in the final. It still hurts to think about how close we were to advance to the final. Even if I didn't get any minutes that game it hurts as hell. In fact I think it hurts more not to play, knowing you couldn't have done anything differently. Imagine being champions for the first time in my first ever World Cup, how cool wouldn't that be? That dream might be over, but I still hope to leave France with a bronze medal around my neck.
The next day we headed off to the stadium for the last, and most important, game of the tournament. The bronze medal game that is about to be played between us and Sweden. I haven't seen much of Sweden myself, but the things I've seen so far has been promising. They seem to be a nice bunch of people having fun together, both on and off the pitch. Some of their players are young and fresh, like myself, but they also have many older and very experienced players.
Sitting on the bench and hearing the final whistle being blown by the referee wasn't what I imagined it to be. I had much higher expectations on this team. It is a disappointment, not only for myself, that we didn't succeed to bring at least a bronze medal home to our nation. Sweden played good and so did we, but in the end our performance wasn't good enough. They took the lead early on, a shot from Asllani in the 11th minute found its way into the bottom right corner after some horrible defending from our side. About ten minutes later it was time again. Jakobson ran from the left hand side towards the penalty area. She used the defender as a screen and put the ball into the right side of the net near the post, leaving our keeper clueless behind. We were down 0-2 after approximately 22 minutes of playing, but we were determined not to give up just yet. Fran Kirby got the chance to put the ball in behind Swedish keeper Lindahl in the 31st minute, which she coldly did. The second half ended goalless and now it all was over just like that. Sweden deserved the win, they were better in total throughout the whole game. This hurts more than the loss to the US. It feels like a double wave off disappointment washes over you over and over again without a clear ending. I can't move, every time I try to get up or doing smaller movements nothing happens. It's like my body just decided to betray me and left me functionless behind. In the corner of my eye I spot something yellow approach from afar. I figure it must be one of the Swedish players. A few seconds later I feel a hand touching my shoulder lightly.
"Hey, are you okay?" I hear from behind me. Yep it's definitely a Swede, I recognize it on the accent. I turn around to answer, not wanting to be rude.
"Erm, I'm okay thank you. It's kind of you to come over to our side, but don't you miss out on the celebrations?" I ask a bit confused.
"Don't worry about it, sportsmanship is way more important to show one another. Especially in such a tight game as this was, right?" The Swede answers. "Oh and my name is Magdalena, Magdalena Eriksson to be correct." She jokingly adds.
"Nice to meet you Magdalena, and congrats on the bronze!"
"Thank you! Sorry what was your name again?"
"Oh I forgot to tell you... I'm Leah Williamson!"
"Wait a second. You mean Leah Williamson who plays for Arsenal?!"
"Yeah that's me. Why?"
"Just remember your name since playing you in the league I guess. I'm playing for Chelsea by the way..."
"Well that makes sense. Thanks once again for coming over to me, I appreciate it more than you'll ever know! I hope to see you on future games against Chelsea in the league then!"
"No problem Leah! Take care and hopefully see you soon back in England!" Eriksson says, giving me a quick and comforting hug before leaving to celebrate the bronze medal success with the rest of her teammates. I'm glad Magdalena came over, she made me feel a lot better, but I'm still not satisfied. I need to find Jordan and that quick. I'm about to cry once again and she's the only one who can stop me from a total mental breakdown. I run off of the pitch as fast as I can before heading towards the media lounge. My thoughts tells me to run and don't care about anything else, so that's what I end up doing. A corner is approaching but I can't care less as I don't slow down the tiniest bit. Just as I'm about to round the corner I run straight into something tiny. I'm about to fall forward with my head inches away from the floor when I get picked up.
"You okay young lioness?" The familiar voice catches me a bit off guard.
"J-jordan?" Is all i can manage to say at the moment.
"Yes love, I'm here! Tell me about it, or just stay here in my arms. You decide baby." Jordan says calmly.
"I'd rather stay in your arms for the rest of my life than even give a try to explain how broke I'm feeling! I promised myself that I wouldn't leave France without a medal around my neck, whether it be gold, silver or bronze, nothing else." I tell her.
"I know you had high expectations, but you really shouldn't have had. You're young, promising and a real talent. Just because one doesn't succeed the first time it doesn't mean one can never get another chance. You're an upcoming talent Leah, just what English football needs in the future when the older ones isn't that good anymore or decides to retire. From what I can tell the future is looking very bright for England, that's for sure!"