Tales of the Tournaments

Emily van Egmond sat on the Matildas bench, dreaming of home. Not the one she was currently in, but her found one in San Diego and slightly consoling her club captain while helping the team strive for the shield, all while getting to see her Kat while doing it.

Her daydreaming was interrupted by the referee's whistle.

Clare Hunt had pushed Stina Blackstenius, leading to a penalty kick being awarded to Sweden. Emily cursed under her breath; she knew how Sweden was with penalty kicks. Instead of looking at the Swede stepping up to take it, her gaze sought out Sofia Jakobsson on the Swedish bench. The two San Diego teammates looked at each other.

Three, two, one, Emily counted silently, watching Sofia’s reaction. She didn’t need Sofia so much, though; the response from the Swedish fans was electric. 

Goal. They were half an hour in - Emily checked the clock - and now Sweden were ahead 1-0, thanks to Fridolina Rolfo, and to Clare’s carelessness. Damn it. It wasn’t made any better by Sam trying for an equaliser, assisted by Ellie, and missing.

 Well I know how Alex feels, though I wished we could've done the 99ers proud. They didn't get beat by the frigging colonizers that abandoned us! Maybe Cap will give me some tips on how to throw their tea in their faces. If she's Captain Morgan she might also give me a bottle of rum to drown my sorrows, Emily thought with a snort. Maybe she’d have some for Sam too.

She was brought out of her rambling internal monologue by the referee's whistle once again. What now?!

‘What now’ had Sofia and others on the Swedish bench scrambling to their feet, Emily saw. Magdalena Eriksson had slammed the ball for a header  - so hard that she was down on the ground, reeling from the impact. She was being checked by the med staff now, for concussion protocol. The header hadn’t even gone in, which was the only good thing Emily could see about that. She knew how worried Sofia would be about her captain and their friend.

Finally, Magda returned to the pitch, looking at least reasonably well.

Or was she? Emily wasn’t sure, and her gaze tracked the Swede, frowning. That had been a pretty hard hit, and she was sure if Sam had to take anyone off for concussion protocol like that, they wouldn’t have been going back in.

Come to think of it, Sam was going to be losing her mind having seen this, and Emily couldn’t help worrying about that. Magda was one of Sam’s ‘adoptive mothers’, that made her important to the Matildas altogether, even though they were opponents today. She frowned. No doubt whatever the outcome was, Sam was going to be out of sorts at the halftime whistle. That was gonna be fun to deal with - not. 

Sam wasn’t the only Matilda feeling out of sorts either, it looked like. As the minutes ticked down toward the halftime whistle, Katrina Gorry was getting more and more out of control of her emotions.

And no wonder - Magda being knocked down is making Sam reckless, this is the Swedish match after all and what will Clara think, and her recklessness is spreading to Kyra, which makes Kat more worried, Kyra’s practically her kid. It’s like a contagious disease I swear. Thank fuck I’ve got Alanna here on the bench, but if Sam doesn’t watch it her anxiety’s gonna spread to Ellie, and the last thing we need is half the squad going Little on us-- An exaggeration, really, but as Kat snapped, pulling down Kosovare Asllani, Emily figured it wasn’t an unfair one. Kosse reacted by shoving Kat in return, making Emily shake her head in disbelief.

Halftime whistle. Well at least it couldn't get any worse, in that moment at least. Now to get a verbal thrashing in the locker room.

***

As they returned for the second half, Sofia tried to reassure herself that Magda and Kosse would be alright. This is the third place match after all. It’s the last chance we get. Plus the Matildas and we Swedes are known for physicality, though not as rough as some of the teams we’ve faced already. Still, two captains being taken down… Sofia couldn’t help worrying about that. 

As if the match didn’t give her enough to worry about, she found her mind spiraling back to Alyssa and what was going on back home. Looking across the pitch to the Matildas’ bench and seeing her San Diego teammate, Emily van Egmond, through the first half had kept her thinking of things back home. I hope Alex is taking care of her like she ought. I hope she’s not too…upset? Depressed? And I hope she doesn’t think it’s her fault, or AT’s. What happened, happened. It was a penalty shootout, it could have happened to anyone. Not to mention that damnable goal line technology. I’m glad to still be in it, I suppose, but I’m still not convinced we got the goal…

Not to mention, of course, that the Dutch had left their most annoying teammate, Lineth Beerensteyn, in Linda Sembrandt’s care. Sofia would rather not have to deal with her. 

She was brought out of her monologue by the referee's whistle. 

It was just a few minutes before the hour, and Australia’s youngest, Mary Fowler, had kicked Kosse in the leg, which Sofia was sure ought to have resulted in a yellow card. It was called a foul and free kick, instead, which irritated Sofia. Maybe it’s because she’s young, they’re letting her off. I bet Kerr and Catley won’t, though.

The 60th minute came, and Sofia saw Emily van Egmond take the field. Her San Diego teammate was brought on for Katrina Gorry. Sofia gave her a small smile from the bench, and looked back in time to see Kosse score an absolutely beautiful goal, bringing Sweden up 0-2 over the Matildas.

Sofia frowned as she watched the match. It was clear that Ellie Carpenter was starting to spiral; over the next ten, almost fifteen minutes her playing had grown more erratic.

She’s probably worried about Magda, given how close Sam is to Magda. Me too, little one, me too. 

It didn’t surprise Sofia in the least, then, when Ellie was subbed off for another Matilda, Courtney Nevin. Sofia hoped Ellie could properly calm down once she was off the field.

Just in time.

If she’d stayed even a minute longer, Ellie would have been present to witness Magda - in a totally uncharacteristic move - bring down Sam Kerr. 

Okay yes they were opponents right now, Sofia reflected. But Sam and Magda weren’t just long-term Chelsea teammates. Sam was special to Magda and Pernille, having been called their ‘adopted child’. Sam’s Littles were special to Magda and Pernille. 

How, then, could Magda explain wrapping her foot around Sam’s ankle and yanking her to the ground? Thank gods Ellie hadn’t seen that; she would have absolutely broken.

Worse, Magda didn’t even stop to check Sam or help her up. Sofia couldn’t imagine how Sam must be feeling as her Mamma left her behind on the field, dazed and confused.

Sam received some medical attention and returned to the pitch a few minutes later. Sofia watched through narrowed eyes as the Matildas captain tried to put a brave face on things. Probably trying to prove herself to Magda. I know I would. She’s pretending like it doesn’t hurt, when any idiot should know it did. Sofia suspected both Sam and Magda would be in trouble for that one - Sam needed to be honest when she was injured, especially given her history of injury at this World Cup, and Magda needed to take better care of her charges, even if they were on opposing teams. For goodness’ sake, Frido checked on Aitana the other day and she’s not even the Spanish kid’s official Caregiver.

There was the ref's whistle again. Elin what are you doing? We're ahead! And a yellow, great just great! She might have a yellow card, but Miss Pernilla will turn her bottom pink. Glad that's not me.

Sofia shook her head as Alex Chidiac staggered back to her feet, the Matilda recovering remarkably well from Elin’s shove. In the meantime, Australia had gained possession of the ball, and in the second minute of stoppage time, Kyra Cooney-Cross made an effort on goal, missing when her shot deflected off the crossbar.

This gave Emily van Egmond an opportunity for a second chance, but her shot was wide of the goal.

It seemed that Emily’s shot missing had infuriated Kyra, because she took her anger out on Stina, pushing the Swede in the back and shoving her to the ground. That would definitely be a yellow, if we weren’t in stoppage time already, Sofia thought, hoping Stina was alright. 

And a couple minutes later, Alex Chidiac found herself on the wrong end of a Swede’s wrath again, as Lina Hurtig shoved her backward, while facing each other, in clear view of the ref.

Sofia wasn’t surprised when that was called a yellow, even though it was right before the match’s end. Lina, what the fuck was that? She shook her head. Miss Pernilla was going to be busy. Yes, they’d won, she thought as the final whistle blew - they’d be taking bronze home from this World Cup, not an unfamiliar place for Sweden. But Sofia suspected there were a number of her teammates whose bronze medals would be accompanied by red bottoms.

Maybe it’s just as well I didn’t come off the bench. She hadn’t had an opportunity to make trouble.

The next moment, Sofia joined her teammates in shaking hands with the Matildas, and then she stepped aside with Emily, looking her San Diego teammate and friend over. “Are you alright? Other than, well, you know.”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Emily said quietly. “Not like some of my teammates. Or yours, I suppose. They’ll want you soon for the medal ceremony?”

Sofia nodded. “Probably, though I didn’t actually play this match, so…”

“Just as well, the way some of both our teammates are playing you might have wound up back in San Diego with a concussion.”

“Rachel and AT would want to commit murder if that happened.”

“And Alex.”

Sofia nodded. And Alex, if Alex wasn’t mad with her, anyway. There was more to say, but she saw Peter beckoning her and nodded. “We’ll catch up later. You played well, Emily.”

“Thanks. See you at home, if we don’t get a chance here.” 

Sofia ran to join the other Swedes, heart pounding. Third place. It’s over. We’re going home.