Tales of the Tournaments

July 31, 2023

Australia vs. Canada, halftime, 2-0

"What the hell is going on."

Christine Sinclair faced her team, glowering at the Canadians with her best Extremely Displeased look. "What's happened to you lot? We're Olympic Champions, we're better than this! Sheridan!"

Kailen Sheridan jumped, looking extremely guilty. "Yeah, Sinc?"

"You and Raso, what's the deal?"

Kailen lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug. "I...I dunno, Sinc, she's just..."

"Yeah? What's she doing? Why has she scored a brace on you?"

Kailen cringed. "I don't know, fuck it, Sinc! I've been trying! At least she's not Em, okay?"

"Well, you better know how to keep van Egmond out of your net, you play with her," Christine Sinclair snapped. "Whatever Raso's doing, make her stop doing it."

"Okay, Sinc," Kailen agreed meekly, hanging her head. "I'll do better. I'll be better."

"You'd better not fuck this up. If they score any more on us, and we can't get back up, we're definitely going home. And that's fucking unacceptable." Sinc stared at the rest of the team. "Got it?"

"Yeah, but Sinc, what happened to your awesome goalscoring?" Vanessa Gilles threw back at the Captain, getting a swat for her trouble.

"Bev's having me off at the half, that's up to Lacasse now." Christine looked at Cloé Lacasse, who was feeling the pressure of her first World Cup. "You hear me, Cloé? You get out there and get that score up, all of you. We can't go home like this."

"I'll give it my best shot, ma'am," Cloé said quietly, and Sinc nodded to the younger striker.

"See that you do."

When the second half began, Kailen Sheridan returned to her place in goal, eyes finding Emily van Egmond across the pitch. The Australian, her San Diego Wave teammate, was hard to miss. When she was on the field, Emily wanted to be seen.

If Emily had known Kailen was thinking those things, she would have agreed. This was their game, their field, their time to shine. They had this in the bag. Well, mostly. A 2-0 deficit wasn't impossible to come back from, she knew, and she knew the Olympic champions were hungry to prove themselves.

But the Matildas had the ball, and they were going to keep it. Emily watched Caitlin Foord cut a long cross to Mary Fowler, who shot the ball past Kailen...straight into the post. Emily grimaced as she saw relief bloom on Kailen's face - for a second.

Then the ball bounced backwards off the post, into the goal.

3-0.

Sorry, Kail, but not really sorry this time, Emily thought, running to hug their team youngest and let her know just how proud of her they all were. Maybe, someday, this kid could be the next Sam Kerr.

Emily and Caitlin spun Mary around, laughing and cheering, and they knew Sam was watching proudly from the bench. 

Then, Canadian Adriana Leon knocked down Katrina Gorry, and the Matilda crumpled to the ground. It looked accidental, but Emily saw red.

"Is Kat gonna be alright?" Mary whispered, as the med staff went to check her over. Emily nodded, hoping it wasn't a lie, and hurried back to her position. She would deal with Adriana later.

Only she didn't get to, because a couple minutes later, Hayley Raso and Clare Hunt barreled past Adriana, Clare's elbow sending the Canadian to the ground. Hayley went down too, but she got up almost at once. Adriana...was much slower to rise, getting the concern of the med staff, and something lurched painfully in Emily's stomach as she spotted Kailen's national teammate on the ground. 

Adriana Leon was duly subbed off for Evelyn Viens, and Emily pushed Adriana to the back of her mind. The Canadian wasn't her business, after all, and she was thank fuck being taken care of. Emily had to focus on winning. Not that they weren't going to, of course.

A few minutes later, the ref had awarded the ball to Canada, but Emily found herself getting in the way. She hadn't even thought rationally about delaying Canada's restart, but there she was - and there the yellow card was. Emily's jaw dropped; she hadn't even thought about what she was doing, and now she'd been yellow carded.

Steph was going to be pissed off. Chancing a glance in the vice-captain (and acting captain)'s direction, Emily grimaced to realize that she had read that situation entirely correctly.

Unfortunately, Steph wasn't going to be pissed off with the ref. Not this time. 

Well. Now she had that hanging over her. Wonderful, Emily thought, feeling sullen. Fuck the ref and fuck the stupid Canadians. Well, except for Kail, she hadn't done anything. Not really.

Of course, when you were a keeper, not doing anything would be enough to earn your captain's displeasure. Emily winced, pitying her San Diego teammate having to face Sinc when this was over. Sinc was, Emily thought, probably worse than Steph.

Probably.

"You're dead, van Egmond."

Emily whipped around to see Vanessa Gilles there, rubbing her side and glaring murderously. "I hope Catley's taken lessons from Sinc. Or Renard. What'd you think you were doing, tripping me?"

"Didn't see you," Emily said abruptly. It was true, she hadn't. She'd been moving in a haze practically since Leon went down after tripping Kat, only half-conscious of what was going on. She'd let her anger rule her, she realized, coming swiftly down out of it and feeling strangely empty.

Shame gnawed at her belly. Gilles was right, she was well and truly fucked and it was all her fault. Her vision cleared, and she took a breath, trying to put herself back in the game.

Then Clare Hunt and Vanessa Gilles went down.

Emily rubbed her temples, shaking her head. Clare had clearly been hit in the head, though whether by the ball or by Gilles, Emily couldn't quite tell.  They were both declared fit to continue, and Emily breathed easier again. Football was physical by nature, but this seemed somehow...more than normal. Or maybe it was just her emotion getting to her.

Soon after, in the eightieth minute, another effort from Mary Fowler almost had the Australians up 4-0. It bounced off the post, again, but this time it didn't go in. 

The ball went to Canada's Jessie Fleming, who tried unsuccessfully to put the ball past Mackenzie Arnold. The Matildas' keeper stopped the ball, and seemed in no hurry to give it back.

As Mackenzie was booked by the ref, yellow card flashing out once more, Emily stomped away with a snarl. and Steph put her hand on Emily's arm. "What's up with you, Em?"

"Go away and leave me alone."

Steph shook her head. "That's enough attitude, little one. You're going out as soon as Clare can be ready." She indicated Clare Polkinghorne, already warming up by the bench, and Emily's stomach fluttered anxiously at the sight of the older woman, who'd captained the Matildas previously. 

"No Steph, please, I can do it, I can focus!"

"No," Steph said flatly. "And that's captain to you."

Gulping, Emily dropped her gaze. "Sorry, Captain."

A few minutes later, Emily was subbed off, and she winced at the look Clare gave her as they swapped places.

"You're fucked, van Egmond."

"Thanks ever so, Polkinghorne," Emily said, trying for some of her customary sass. It didn't land well, and she had to duck away from a swat as Clare passed her. She returned to the dressing room, sitting beside Hayley Raso on the bench.

"Hey," she tried, and the younger girl gave her a brittle smile, staring at the floor.

"Hey, Em." Hayley swung her legs slowly. "D'you reckon a brace is enough to get me out of hot water with Steph?"

"You?" Emily gave Hayley a startled look. "You didn't get carded."

Hayley gave a slow shrug. "Maybe I should've been. I dunno. Steph seemed pretty annoyed when I got taken off for Cortnee."

"Did she? I didn't notice," Emily admitted.

"You didn't notice much, running round like a mad cow," Hayley snorted. She paused. "Not calling you a cow. Just, you know."

"Bull in a china shop, just switch the gender?"

Hayley nodded, relieved. "Yeah."

"I'm not sure what it is," Emily admitted reluctantly. "I mean, if it was Kat I could tell you in half a second that she needed some settling down. But--"

"I hear it can happen to Tops, too, sometimes," Hayley said cautiously. "Not usual, but if they've been under a load of stress, sometimes they need something to keep them from cracking."

"A load of stress," Emily said dryly. "Fuck, no, I've got no idea where that could be coming from. You got any idea, Hayley?"

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Oh, I dunno, only being co-hosts for this bloody tournament and then having Sam yanked out from under us at the last second? What the hell happened anyway, 'incident in training' my arse, it was before we did our last training before things kicked off. We all know that."

"Well, clearly someone wants to hush up what actually happened," Emily grumbled. "Like that's not just making the stress worse."

"Good thing for you we can fix that."

Startled, Hayley and Emily looked up.

Katrina Gorry.

They exhaled in relief as their teammate joined them. "How...how's it going out there?"

"Well, Mac went and got herself yellow carded for time wasting, if you didn't hear, Hayley," Katrina said, and Hayley shook her head.

"Em probably didn't notice."

"Didn't notice much," Emily agreed reluctantly. "What the hell is our keeper getting it for?"

"Time wasting," Katrina said dryly. About the only thing a keeper would normally be carded for, unless things went seriously wrong.

"Steph's going to love that," Emily replied in the same tone. "She's already pissed off."

"M-hmm," Katrina nodded. "She'll be in with the other girls any minute. She scored, by the way, so we've finished 4-0 barring a miracle, but I wouldn't count on her goal making her any more lenient with you."

"I wouldn't either," Emily sighed, staring at the floor. "How mad do you think...slipper mad?"

"Definitely," Katrina confirmed, and Emily's cheeks flushed.

She was still looking at her hands when the rest of the Matildas returned to the locker room. Steph immediately spoke, getting Emily, Hayley, and Katrina’s attention.

“Van Egmond, Arnold, Hunt, Polkinghorne, Kennedy, Carpenter.”

Mackenzie Arnold had scuttled over to sit beside Emily, taking Clare Hunt with her, but now the three of them looked up at Steph. Katrina and Hayley, relieved not to be the center of attention, moved away from them quickly.

“What is it, Auntie Steph?” Ellie asked, clinging tight to Sam’s hand.

“That’s Captain Steph, Ellie,” Steph sighed, shaking her head. “I want you six to come through to the recovery rooms with me. Sam, go across and get Sinclair and anyone she wants to bring with her, please. The rest of you, go do whatever it is you need to do.”

Sam gently disengaged her hand from Ellie’s and nodded. “I’ll be right back, baby Roo,” she comforted Ellie. “You know you can trust Steph, my little Joey. Behave for her.”

Ellie nodded. “Yes Mummy.” She pressed close to Alanna as the six of them followed Steph into a room where massage and chiropractic tables had been set up.

Emily looked warily at Steph. Somehow, she didn’t think Steph was about to help soothe the aches they’d picked up during the match.

“All right,” Steph said firmly. “Van Egmond, Arnold, you two got yellow carded. Hunt, you very well could have been carded, taking out Leon like that. I’m surprised you weren’t, to be honest.”

Clare Hunt stared at her hands, grimacing. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“You will be, you three.”

“Auntie, I mean Captain Steph, what about us?” Ellie asked anxiously, and Steph shook her head.

“You’re not in trouble El. You, Alanna, and Clare - big Clare - are here because I’ll be needing your help.”

Clare Polkinghorne turned to look at Steph. "How can we help, Captain? You know you just have to ask."

Steph nodded appreciatively. "I'd like you to take your mini in hand," she said, and the older woman snorted.

"Calling her my mini makes even less sense than the two Rileys on the Ferns, but whatever. Alright, Hunt, you're with me."

Clare Hunt looked at the older Clare warily and nodded, sidling over to her. "I didn't mean to give Leon a concussion. Or whatever happened to her. Ma'am."

Polkinghorne nodded and rested a hand on her head. "I'm sure you didn't, but you're still going to learn to watch where you're going."

Wincing, the younger Clare nodded. "Uh huh. Yes ma'am," she corrected herself.

"Alanna, you've got Maccy."

Mackenzie blushed at the nickname. Steph and Alanna were her best friends on the team, but she hadn't expected to be referred to by Steph's fond nickname for her when she was in disgrace. And to have their younger friend 'helping' Steph with...whatever...worried Mackenzie immensely.

Ellie looked at Emily.

Emily looked back at her warily.

Without being prompted, Ellie approached Emily, holding out her stuffed Roo. "You can hold Roo, if you want," she suggested, and blushing, Emily accepted the plush.

"Thanks. Um...what do you think Catley's going to do?"

"Umm...well, considering it's Auntie Captain Steph, and you got yellow carded, she's probably gonna smack your bottom. Like with the slipper." Ellie grimaced in distaste. "Ew."

Emily blushed bright red. "Uh. What does she need you for?"

Ellie shrugged. "I dunno."

"We'll get there. Maccy, get up on a table," Steph ordered, and the keeper obeyed, trying to keep her game face on and not betray her nerves. It seemed as though Steph was trying to unnerve her, by using her nickname while she was definitely in trouble. "Oh, good girl," Steph added, getting a light blush to rise in Mackenzie's cheeks. "Emily, Clare mini, you too, pick one and get up there."

Emily took her eyes off her fellow miscreants and obeyed, unsure what exactly Steph was about to do.

Steph kept them waiting until Sam returned with Christine Sinclair, Kailen Sheridan, and Vanessa Gilles in tow.

That wasn't all. Sinc was holding Kat Thompson by the back of the collar, marching the young American photographer and digital artist along, and Emily's mouth fell open as she caught sight of her fiancee in Sinc's grasp. 

"Kat?"

“Hi, Em,” Kat said. “Can you tell her to let me go please, I have a right to be back here, I have a pass.”

Emily fidgeted. “I don’t know if I have the right to ask for any favours right now,” she admitted, casting Steph a sidelong glance. “But, um, Sinc? If you don’t mind, could you let my fiancee go, she didn’t do anything to you?”

Sinc snorted. “Caught her snooping around and Kerr insisted we bring her with us.” But she let go of Kat’s collar at least. Kat grimaced, running her fingers around the leather band to loosen the pinch.

“I’m a photographer covering the World Cup, and Em got me a pass, I can go where I want,” Kat muttered.

“Come here, Kat,” Emily said, and she felt immensely better as her fiancee came to take her hand. She rubbed Kat’s neck, soothing the spot where Sinc had pulled her. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

“You really should have your bum smacked too, for sneaking around like that, pass or no pass,” Steph retorted. “If you were one of ours there’d be no question. I assume Emily would normally take care of such things, but considering she’s got herself in trouble too…”

Kat flushed pink. “Ma’am?”

Emily grimaced. “It happens,” she sighed reluctantly. “And I trust Steph with you.”

Kat nodded slowly. “What’s she going to do with you, Em?”

“I think we were about to find out, except things keep distracting Steph from telling us,” Emily said dryly. “Not that I’m thrilled about finding out.”

Steph snorted at this. “Yes, well, I’d think not. Sheridan, Gilles, pick a table and get up like the others,” she added, gesturing to the massage tables.

Grimacing, the two Canadians obeyed Steph’s command.

Steph pulled out the slipper. “Alright you lot, you all either got yellow carded, or fucked up bad enough that it deserved it,” she said firmly, getting a nod from Sinc. “You’ll all be getting a good dose of the slipper for it. Sheridan and Gilles too, if Sinc agrees, though I imagine you wouldn’t be in here if she didn’t.”

“Exactly,” Sinc said grimly. “I’ll deal with mine, you deal with yours?”

“Right,” Steph agreed. “That’s where you three girls come in, I’ll need you to hold your teammates still. On your backs, legs up.”

The order froze the girls cold. Emily let out a soft, anxious whine, blushing when Kat squeezed her hand. Normally she’d be the one comforting Kat through a punishment.

Instead, she found herself on her back in the unfamiliar but loathed ‘diaper position’, legs pinned to her chest. Ellie was holding her in place as Steph approached.

“You do not interrupt a match from restarting, Emily Louise,” she said firmly. “Understood?”

Emily nodded quickly, and closed her eyes tightly as the first smack fell over her shorts. Steph was using the slipper from the beginning, laying on six hard smacks while Kat held one hand. Emily’s other arm was wrapped around Ellie’s Roo.

“S-sorry Steph, sorry Captain, please, I w-won’t interfere anymore,” she begged Steph. “Fuck, that hurt…”

“Alright, I have others to get through,” Steph said grimly. “Kat, are you prepared to take smacks from me for your spying? Three, say?” 

Swallowing, Kat Thompson nodded, and thenEmily was permitted to sit back up. At Steph’s direction, Kat climbed over Emily’s lap on the massage table, making Em hiss in pain as she had to settle on her sore bottom. Steph didn’t move the photographer’s leggings out of the way, merely giving her three half strength smacks with the slipper. They were enough for Kat to crumble, and she whimpered, sobbing apologies. “Sorry, sorry ma’am, for misusing my pass…I’ll ask permission before coming back here in future…”

“Alright, little girl,” Steph agreed. She gave Kat a pat on the head and righted her, letting her sit in Emily’s lap. The position was comfortable for neither, but the closeness helped immensely.

While all this had been going on, Sinc had smacked first Kailen, then Vanessa, in exactly the same manner as Emily had gotten it. The three Canadians were waiting quietly, and so Steph moved on, finally.

“Alright Maccy.”

Mackenzie Arnold sucked in a breath, but took the required position, on her back with Alanna holding her legs for her. The keeper bore her six smacks as stoically as possible, blushing as she felt Kailen Sheridan’s eyes on her. The only consolation was that the other keeper had been smacked, too.

Then, Clare Hunt was held by Clare Polkinghorne in her turn, as Steph delivered the punishment. She wanted to struggle, but couldn’t against the older player, and mercifully it was over quickly. Finally all the girls were sitting back up, squirming on their sore bottoms and apologizing to Steph, Sinc, and even Sam for their mistakes.

“It’s forgiven, little girls. Just don’t do it again,” Steph said firmly. “And you, Sheridan, Gilles - do try not to cause more trouble for Sinc, or to hurt my girls again.” 

“Is Leon okay?” Emily blurted out, getting everyone’s eyes on her.

Sinc sighed. “Concussion. But she’ll be okay,” she said. “At least she’ll have plenty of time to rest now.”

“At least there’s a bright side, Cap,” Kailen said glumly. “Even if it’s just that.” 

“Well, the Olympics are next year,” Sinc replied. “We won’t lose sight of that.”

The girls nodded.

“None of us will,” Steph agreed. “Thanks for taking the time to come in, Sinc, glad I could help with your girls.”

“They’re not,” Sinc snorted. “Thanks for having us. Australia’s a beautiful country.”

“It is,” Steph agreed. “Enjoy it for as long as you’re allowed. Stick around some if you want. I know Em will be glad to have Sheridan.”

Sinc nodded. “Thanks, Steph. I think we will.”

With that, the girls were allowed to go to the baths and soothe their aches, and Kat went with them, keeping her hand in Emily’s.

“Sorry you had to see me that way, Kat,” Emily said reluctantly.

“It’s alright, Em,” Kat said coaxingly. “I still respect you, love. More, even, since you faced up to your smacks without fussing about it. But now, all we have to worry about is the round of sixteen.”

Emily blushed. “Thanks, love..”

Kat was right. The round of sixteen awaited the Matildas.